Excerpts - The story of Mrs. Brown

Excerpt from Unknown Workshop*
(*Audience participation is in parentheses--notations in brackets have been added for clarification )

Dr. Bob told this story from time to time. Here it is.

One time I heard about a bunch of ladies that had a meeting every once in a while that the husbands referred to as the "home-wreckers" club. I think the girls called it the homemakers club, but the husbands called it the home-wreckers club. So, in one of these meetings they were having, which was as usual, most of the ladies were giving somebody in the neighborhood, a man that wasn't there, of course, all kinds of derogatory statements about him.

And there was one little lady named Mrs. Brown who always piped up and said something very nice about everybody. So while they were giving this man such a terrible put down, Mrs. Brown piped up and said, "Well, you will have to say he's a very good provider for his family." And one of the ladies looked over at Mrs. Brown and said, "If we were talking about the devil, you'd have something nice to say about him.

Mrs. Brown said, "Well, you'll have to admit, he's always on the job!"

So, you see it's about as easy to be complimentary as it is to be otherwise.

[I have experimented with this idea; and it, at times, has annoyed people as it did the "home-wreckers" club; but I have also seen the "mood" and conversation of the moment go in a new direction with everyone having a nicer inner feeling with laughter and fun, creative subjects being discussed. It works much easier when I have someone else doing it with me.]

(Dictionary: gossip - idle talk or rumor, esp. about the personal or private affairs of others. Small talk, hearsay, scuttlebutt, and rumor. Scandal is rumor or general talk that is damaging to reputation; it usually more or less malicious.)