How Do Rumors Get Started?

 Once upon a time...I wrote fanfiction.  Some of it was published on line.  It's probably still out there floating in space.  If you search long and hard enough you may actually find it.

One of the stories I wrote was called Rumors. It took place in the late 1960s and in order to avoid sexual advances in the workplace, my main character made up a British boyfriend.  She never told anyone this fictional boyfriend's name. (It wasn't George Glass...does anyone get that reference?)   However, based on that little information, a rumor was started that quickly grew out of control and thus began the story.

The story was written approximately 20 years ago.  Why do I bring it up now? Certainly NOT to have you search the internet for my old fanfiction!  Right?) Well here's the thing...

I was out and about on Saturday.  No work, lots of things to do, but no rush to do them.  (Hoorah!)  I went to the local thrift/consignment shop and found a few things to purchase.  (There is a petite woman out there who is my size...please keep donating!)  I went to the Dollar General (where the staff is more friendly than the Family Dollar which is practically across the street) where very little is actually a dollar (and when did reader's get so expensive?).  I went to the library.  (Took out Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg, which I was able to read in one afternoon and was a pleasant read.)  I went to one of the local antique stores (think this one is my favorite) where I had previously purchased my Barrister Bookcase to check out what they had.  (And ended up talking to one of the owners who was in the midst of decorating the mid-century section with a silver Christmas tree.)  Then I went home.  While I was out, I interacted with a variety of different people in a positive way.  (Especially with the young woman with green hair who worked at the Dollar General...she was so upbeat and helpful.  That's why I shop there.)  It was a nice day and I got accomplished what I wanted to.

Although it was cold(er) out, I did manage to sit out for a bit and read in the backyard. Since most of the leaves have fallen from the trees in our yard (and there are a lot of trees and even more leaves that have filled the yard, the driveway...you name it), I could see my neighbor and her daughter out walking her dog about a block away.  Since I hadn't seen either of them in a couple of weeks I figured this would be a good time to go out to check the mailbox and meet them to say hi.

I met them before I got to the mailbox.  We made small talk and then the daughter said that there was a rumor about us in town!  A rumor?!?  About us!  We've lived here for 2 months (and change).  Turns out the scuttlebutt is that we are turning the house into an Airbnb!

Now I BARELY know what an Airbnb is.  (Yes seriously.)  How would I even KNOW how to turn my house into one?  More importantly WHY would I?  My husband and I have spent the past two month turning this house into our HOME.  I've spent a lot of money to make this house "ours."  My husband has put a lot of sweat equity and "elbow grease" into making this house "ours."  This is our home and it will not be an Airbnb.  (At least not as long as I am around.)

 We have never even said the words Airbnb to our neighbors.  (At this point we have finally met everyone in the immediate area.)  I have mentioned to them that we would probably be away 2 days a week as I had to be in a physical office in NJ, but nothing else.  There have been a couple of extended periods where we haven't been here (when I went to Disney World, my husband stayed in NJ and when my son came home for 4 days we also stayed in NJ), but for the most part we are here.  

We are quiet and unobtrusive.  So are the rest of my neighbors. (Which is why it has taken us so long to get to meet them.)  Is it because we are quiet that we were "suspect"?  Or is it, as my neighbor's daughter supposed, that someone who looked at the house and said that Airbnb was their intention?  (There was an open house the day we went to see it.  We viewed the house about an hour before the scheduled open house time and knew then that we wanted to live here.  I think we had our offer in before anyone else even saw the house, but I don't know that for a fact.)  That seems plausible.

So let me be clear to all those who live in the Poconos (specifically Barrett Township), this is our home.  This is NOT, nor will it be (as long as I am alive) an Airbnb.  That's that.  Start spreading that news.

And if you want a rumor about us/the house, come up with something more interesting.  Could I be a royal descendent living under the radar? (My choice).  Could we be part of the witness protection project?  (My neighbor's daughter's suggestion.)  I'm going to need something more original here.  

The next time I see a neighbor I expect a much better rumor.  Get working on it!