gossip and petrol

Margaret Sentamu told me on Saturday that gossip is good!

I probably should say she wasn't just talking to me - though I did have chance to chat to Mrs ABY a couple of times while at the MWiB roadshow as I was being the techy and clicking buttons for her powerpoint.

She used the african proverb - "if you educate a man, you educate an individual. If you educate a woman you educate a family" to justify that statement.

Now I liked that. I like a bit of gossip. I'd like to clarify that, by saying it's cos I'm nosy, I'm good at keeping secrets so don't worry I won't tell everyone that it was you who...

But I also understand that gossip can cause real issues. Like for example petrol. No strike has actually been decided on. But gossip can very easily be spread and grows out of proportion. When the media take hold of something like the possibilities of a petrol strike, and then people with authority say something about it, folk devils are created and we go into a moral panic (See I knew AS level Sociology was worth it). In this case losing trust in the people who provide the fuel we need to get around and panic buying. Which is a silly phrase in its own right, but that's another story.

Now I haven't been out to panic buy fuel, and I'm now at a stage where some point tomorrow I am going to need to get some. Living a in rural community I have no choice but to drive to most places I go. The buses don't go on the right routes or at times that work and its too far to walk, and you can't really carry stuff on a bike - ignoring the fact I can't ride one. One again the rural communities miss out.

We live in a society where information is constantly being spread. Blogging is easy, tweeting is even easier, and we share our lives on facebook. Occasionally we go back to emails so that things can't be mixed up with our facebook lives. We share information, opinions, and prayer requests. I wonder where it is all going to end.

And I'm here, sat at home cos it seems silly to go out to have an excuse to get petrol, spending even more time in the digital world.