As it was, I couldn't ignore it: the subject line carried the news - six words making up a brief headline which told me everything, whether I liked it or not.
What did I do to deserve this? I don't remember giving permission to be firebombed with this kind of toxic canister of news! It was though someone had popped over to my desk, sprayed me with poison gas and then skipped happily back to their own, thinking they'd done me a massive favour.
Now I know something I don't want to know and have no business knowing. When (inevitably) those six words become public knowledge, I will be faced with the choice of explaining how I already know or pretending that it's news to me, guv'nor.
Eyebrows up, mouth slightly open, eyes wider than dustbin lids. Whistle, then say 'Man alive' and shake your head thoughtfully.
Hopefully I won't have to do that.
Gossip undermines people. It destroys relationships and erodes trust; it forces you to lie about what you know, what you don't know, what you shouldn't know and who said what to whom. It creeps into your world like an invisible parasite, gnawing at you from the inside out, begging to be let out, to be shared in secret whispered conversations or private emails. It devours your concept of the truth, chomping away on your integrity. It convinces you that you're doing something good for the world, when in reality all it does is separate you out to propel itself further and wider. It makes me nauseous, even thinking about it.
What about you then, Stubbsy? you might wonder, Surely you've indulged in a bit of hot gossip in your time? Yep, yes I have - and it's delicious, that's the problem - like pure sugar tripping off the tongue, addictive and sweet with the flavour of power and self-righteousness. It never ends well though, does it?
That's why this latest piece of information is going nowhere further than me. I've got no time for parasites. Here's the other thing about lapping up gossip that's good to remember:
He who gossips to you also gossips about you.
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