Have you ever heard a piece of a conversation that had you dying to find out more? Ever sipped from an empty cup for 20 minutes at your local Starbucks just to find out what Becky did to Craig or why Susan was crying last week? And after you finally walked away, did it hit you like a ton of bricks that you don’t even know who Becky, Craig, or Susan are?
If so, well — you’re certainly not alone. Deny it as people might, we’ve all been captivated by a story that has absolutely nothing to do with us, and a recent TikTok video plays upon that very idea and highlights how far people are willing to go to receive a venti iced (spilled) tea.
Naomi O shared a picture of a note she found on an apartment wall — though calling it a note almost seems a disservice to the situation at hand. What Naomi saw in the hallway was a bit of an exposé, and what she did next had us laughing harder than we have in quite some time.
Yep, you read that right — there’s some pretty intense airing of dirty laundry happening in Naomi’s apartment complex, and she is trying to find out exactly whose side she’s on — now we are, too. Do we need to be putting team 1B or 2B in our TikTok bio? Are we taking this as seriously as the Team Conrad/Team Jeremiah battle in The Summer I Turned Pretty? Do we need to make shirts? Oh, and why are the animals being brought into this?
The biggest plot twist comes in the form of there being no animals at all — at least, none that are noisy. The note actually refers to the children as animals, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Naomi provides us with an update, which we’ll share below, but first things first — why are we suddenly so compelled to know what’s going on? Well, to put it simply, it’s because we’re human.
Professor of psychology at Georgia Gwinnett College, David Ludden, says that gossip isn’t always negative, although its connotation certainly makes it seem like such. A 2019 meta-analysis focusing on 467 subjects breaks it down like this: With 52 minutes a day of gossip, three-quarters of it was neutral conversation.
Time Magazine shares the following quote from Ludden, signifying that gossip plays a key role in social evolution:
“We are much more social [than our evolutionary forbearers], so it can be very helpful to get information about people [from others] when this network is too big to observe by ourselves.”
The study mentioned above saw about 15 percent of chatter as unfavorable, with only 9 percent being truly positive. While that statistic sure is a bummer, it proves that when we talk about our people, more often than not, it’s informational or situational. Of course, we wish the positive chatter percentage was higher. Still, it’s nice to know that, generally, gossip is just a normal part of being in a society that evolves, grows, and has people who want to have friendships and relationships with others.
So, as we dive back into this story, let us remind ourselves that it’s human nature to be interested. Okay, here goes. Naomi’s husband had more information to share with her in the hours since her initial post, which is where the information about no animals being involved came in. Her husband saw police at 1B talking to kids, and from there, his details become — quite frankly, nonexistent.
“I didn’t get more information… than that from my husband. I tried to figure out what age the children were, but he didn’t have that information because, as usual, men never get the full story.”
Come on, guys, a study says that gossip is part of societal evolution. Can you come back with some actual information next time? Leave it to Naomi, however, to get the full story because she’s not afraid to get involved; we still have to pick sides, remember?
Naomi saw a few comments about nosy neighbors who had baked cakes and delivered them to get the details, and she fancies that a pretty great way to bridge an otherwise too-wide gap.
There’s also a bit of a personal tie-in for Naomi here; she believes she knows the woman in apartment 1B, and she’s not exactly the most warm and welcoming of neighbors. In fact, Naomi says some of her behavior is very Karen-esque, especially calling the police on kids.
At the end of the update video, Naomi really channels all of us as she has a bit of a conversation with herself: “Is this a lot? Yes. Can I be doing better things with my time? Probably. Am I still going to do this? Yes.”
If nothing else, we appreciate the dedication, and we really want to know who her nail tech is.