Rumor and Suspicion
Apparently, one of the students brought to the US has been attempting to single-handedly destroy her host family's lives. Such is the nature of small towns and their rumor mills, that when someone says something vague it gets blown all out of proportion.She cries a lot. Oh God something horrible must be happening in her home. No, actually she's homesick.
She's a teenager who gets upset when her host parents question who she is riding with to the football game in a town 45 miles away. Oh the horror!
Her host parents are in the final stages of an adoption process. Any whisper of anything, true or not, could destroy their chances of getting a baby.
When shown the words rumors, misconception, and gossip in her native language and told of what was happening, the student became very upset and said, "but they are very nice people. I never meant anything like that."
In case you're wondering, when asked if anything bad had happened to her or if they had ever hurt her, she flatly denied anything of the sort and said they are extremely nice people. It's too late now. She's already got the whole county talking.
I like small towns but here's a story where one homesick, spoiled teenager who isn't getting her way may have just completely crushed the lives of people who opened their home to her.
posted by E @2:50 PM