We’ve all heard it said that you shouldn’t talk bad about people behind their back. We all know it’s wrong, yet as a culture, we do plenty of it. It’s a damaging habit in so many ways and really doesn’t benefit anyone involved – the victim, the gossiper, or the receiver.
And perhaps one of the worst forms of this behavior is when someone talks negatively about their spouse to other people.
A couple of years ago I was working out at a gym near a personal trainer and her client. Since I don’t wear headphones when I work out, I happened to overhear their conversation. Though I don’t remember the specifics, I do remember that this personal trainer was completely bashing her husband. And not just one or two statements. This went on for probably ten minutes. I found this to be very unprofessional. I felt bad for the client since she was spending so much money for a training session, only to have her trainer tear down her husband when she should have been focusing on the workout and her technique.
The more I heard of the conversation, the angrier I became. I felt really bad for this woman’s husband. He had zero defense for the things she was saying about him, and as a result, this client’s impression of his character was inevitably quite skewed. Even if the things the trainer was saying were true, it was completely inappropriate for her to be telling her client.
