by Krystal Nicole Jimenez

Created on: April 07, 2010   Last Updated: April 08, 2010

The tattletale or the gossip, are they equally annoying or is one more so? When it comes to co-workers the tattletale and the gossip are often on two opposing sides, but which is more annoying? Simply put, if you are doing your job correctly the more annoying will be the gossip, as it should be.

Anyone who has ever been in a job where they have been asked to do extra work because of another employee slacking at their positions has been in the shoes of the tattletale coworker. Although tattling may be annoying to the guilty parties, or the employers themselves it is an often needed resource to make sure that employees are micro-managed by their co-workers and more likely to work correctly so that there is less chance of being “told on.”

As for the gossip no one is safe from their wrath. Gossips keep their taste for information throughout their lives, building a strong foundation in schooling. Once they become a product of the corporate world it becomes a terror for all, including the gossips themselves.

It is safe to say within a good sized office space, there is never just one gossip, and in fact the characteristics of a gossip often associate them with similar personalities. Gossips often talk about most if not every other co-worker, but will focus their main gossip on those that they do not like, or who have had a confrontation with. The gossiping about employees is not only harmful to the individuals that they talk about, but also business itself.

Many times people who spend a good amount of time gossiping about other co-workers take time away from their work in order to fill the need to gossip. If they intern gossip to another co-worker who also has the gossiping trait, then their work will also suffer as they further spread the gossip.

Gossiping can sever numerous relationships, in and outside of work and disrupt the work environment as a whole. Although we often frown upon both tattle-taleing and gossiping in the workplace a person who gossips is not only far more annoying but also far more detrimental.

Although the other half of the debate hates having to look over their shoulders at their work, if they had no fear that their job wasn’t being done correctly they would be able to be more fearful of the gossip that is happening daily in the office. What makes the gossips truly more annoying is that they cannot be eliminated; gossiping is part of their nature. Where as a tattletale usually can control their urges or will cease when they feel things are being done properly.

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