Rumors: The Ugly Side of Small Towns...And Smaller Minds

I have a problem. Actually, it is people who live in my home town who have the problem, but have decided to inflict their problem, and themselves on me. The problem they have, and i am guessing, is the lack of a human soul. They seem to be dead inside, so spreading a rumor about someone somehow gives them the feeling of being alive. I don't get it...you probably don't get it , either.

Small towns have always been a hot-bed of this sort of thing, and always will be. But, Glen Rose, my town, seems to be infected with more than its share of gossips and rumor-mongers. If you have a fender-bender on one side of town, you will have been pronounced dead on the scene on the other end, before the day is up. So it is with rumors. All it takes is for someone to start it and the damned thing sprouts legs and is off and running, fueled by peoples need to cause others pain.

The rumor in question is that I, Ron C. Baker, Sr. have AIDS...just wonderful. This may sound humorous to some, i wouldn't blame them for snickering. Mostly, I guess, because they know how ludicrous it to be. But, there are many people here that will take it for gospel, and there in lies the problem...now, my problem!!!

The problem is, how do I combat this rumor. Do I have to have an HIV test and have the results published in the local paper? that seems to be a little extreme, but i have thought about it. Do i just forget about it and wait for it to run its course? I just can't do that, because it is already showing signs of spreading and i think i have already seen its potential damage. I think that this thing is just getting wound-up, and I don't know what to do.

First, I think a little back-ground is necessary. Some of you may know of my town, i have mentioned it many times. Glen Rose is about 50 miles south-south west of the Ft. Worth-Dallas area. The population is only 2,500 people, and that is part of the problem. The fewer people, the better the chances that those spreading the rumor know you, some well. In my case, I grew up here, went to school here. my family settled here in 1960 and my siblings and i all graduated from here. My twin brother and i are the youngest of five kids, and we started school here in the first grade. so, now you can get an idea of how long I have lived in Glen Rose and just how much this can hurt, for i am 52 years old now. And i am willing to bet real money I know the names of those, if more than one, that started this friggin' thing.

I found out about this rumor through my oldest brother roger. he found out about it through our own mother...who does not speak to me because a) I am bi-sexual, b) I had to quit work nearly 2 years ago due to disability from back and neck problems that became so severe i could not continue to work, at all. Though I am fairly certain to receive disability from Social Security, mother refuses to have anything to do with me. Apparently someone, a friend (?) told her of the rumor. My guess is mother heard this at her local beauty salon...exactly where I believe this friggin' thing started....I know the owner and her hand is on this like a stink. I have no proof, but....

As I've said, this rumor has already started to bring forth fruit, if that is the right word for it. and what about daily life? How am I to know if the person serving me my cheeseburger hasn't heard this. how about the people where i do my grocery shopping. My twin brother's sister-in-law is a manager at the store i shop at. She isn't all that friendly, so when she saw me on Monday, she seemed to be a little over-concerned when she asked me how i was feeling. I can barely get hello out of her on most days. Paranoia? Well hell ya, wouldn't you be paranoid? There are possibly people talking about this who couldn't pick me out of a one-man line-up. So they will not have a real problem spreading it around. But its those that do know me that hurts the most, for they should know better. many have seen me virtually every day when i was still able to work. Many shopped at the convenience store I worked at for over four years prior for leaving for reasons I have already stated.

Okay, what I would like to know is what would you do in my place? How do i deal with this and come out with even a little of my dignity and sense of honor, not to mention my sense of humor. I tried to be a little humorous about this, but I failed miserably. So, please be gentle with me, I am feeling very vulnerable right now, hahahaha

luv,

ron

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