Friday, September 12, 2008

Life as a Sponge

Mine began in earnest my senior year in high school....one of the greatest times in my life (hold on now-- those reflections are for another day's entry). A classmate, who was the class president, gave me an off-the-cuff compliment one day after a class we were sharing that caught me totally off-guard. (Background: It surprised me because first, we weren't at all close friends, and secondly, she wasn't the type to hand these out. During this point in the school years we had been working on a Class Board project together. I found her comfortable to work with and she found me efficient and detail-oriented.) She told me that she knew she could tell me anything knowing I would keep it to myself. She was confident there would be no leaks, no fodder for gossip. She thanked me and told me how much she appreciated that from someone she didn't know very well.

WHOA. Now on the one hand that is very, very nice to hear. Yet, on the other, I now had a big responsibility to really watch what I said. No room for inadvertent comments. No "Oops! I didn't mean to say that!" moments. No excuses for slippage. I had become a designated Person-To-Trust.

You know how hard that is in high school!!?? Man, you get a juicy piece of gossip dropped in your lap and you just want to share it in a big way because of the power that tidbit gave you especially if it was about someone super popular or someone you really didn't like. And what if the news was one of those jaw-dropping you've-got-to-be-kidding-me spectacular bombshells??! Well, shoot. Those prospective bright and shining moments in the "whispered comments" world had just been swept away in a heartbeat.

So as I walked down the hallway lamenting the loss of great and endless possibilities, I was also rejoicing in my new found status. Because you know what?? I found I learned a whole lot more keeping my mouth shut than I ever would have if I was still a regular cog in the rumor mill. Pretty cool. And it is true. Knowledge is a formidable power to wield in the hallowed halls of high school. Life WAS good and still is as my role hasn't changed in all the years since that defining moment.