Have you ever overheard people talking about you?

[Collins567]

It was a previous houseshare. We'd all gone out to a bar and I was wearing open toed heels, another girl accidentally stamped on my foot with her stiletto and wow, that was painful.
She was really apologetic, then I said to my housemate, 'Someone's just stood on me with their heel ' as it was bleeding and so I ran off to the toilets.
The next night I was in my room and I overheard the flatmate of mine talking to her friends. She said 'She came and told me someone stamped on her foot, and I was thinking, well what do you want me to do about it?!"

I don't know, help me maybe? 🤔

On another occasion I dyed my hair quite a bright burgundy colour. I heard her and a male housemate saying 'Why the hell has she dyed her hair red?!". I didn't get it everywhere or anything.

Anyway, never nice to overhear people slagging you off!

There is one occasion that’s always stuck in my head. My husband bought me a spa day pass for my birthday one year - I fell pregnant a month later. I decided to use the voucher as a pregnancy treat at around 6/7 months pregnant after confirming they could adapt it. I went on my own as no one around to go that day and it was quite an expensive place - I didn’t mind as it was just a lovely relaxing day,

I was in the pool between treatments and there were two women in there who asked me when I was due etc. we talked for maybe 3/4 mins.

I went for my next treatment and as I came out, walking along feeling nice and content I realised I was walking directly behind the same two women as they were clearly just leaving the pool area. I heard one say to the other how sad it was that I was here on my own and that I didn’t have any friends to come with me. I don’t think they were being nasty, but with pregnancy hormones etc it really upset me and what had been nice just made me feel sad that I was there on my own.

That was 18 and a bit years ago now, but I do still feel a little wave of sadness when I think about it. So strange!

I was given a bit of a hard time by other girls at college who were meant to be my friends. They would go quiet when I walked in the room and I knew they were talking about me. Around the time I had started doing modelling and my photo was in a lad's mag. I walked in the room to them with the magazine out, saying that I looked fat and ugly in the photos. They got more and more toxic about me and I was so glad to leave college. I never kept in touch with them again after that.
Then a few years later, I bumped into one of them in a bar, with my boyfriend at the time. I told her I was pregnant and we chatted for a bit. Then a few nights later, I got a call off a random number. It was a girl screaming that I had slept with her boyfriend and I was a disgusting cheat. I asked his name and I'd never heard of him. I never found out who it was, but have a feeling it was her.

In work I once walked past someone's open door, and they were really slagging me off for something that had definitely been annoying but also unavoidable.

I emailed "Your voice really carries when your door is open, you never know who might overhear you."

She never mentioned it, and nor did I, but she's been nothing but pleasant ever since.

Well handled.

As a shy childcare student, I used to overhear some comments about how shy I was etc which just made it worse. To be honest, most horrible words have come back to me via someone else. So called friends would tell me horrible things someone said or kids would repeat back something that their parent had said about me 😔

With that said I have definitely walked into a room at work and one of the staff has muttered to the other 'Wait, NurseryNurse10 is back' so very aware I get gossiped about in some form.

Honestly OP if those are the only nasty things they can think of to say about you, you must be a lovely person. Some people are just like that.

I retrained as a teacher in my 30’s and my first job was for 1 term of an accounts evening class. Mid term, 10 minutes before the class started a man walked in and asked for everyone’s attention. He then explained how the current teacher was about to be replaced as a lady who had been on long term sick was about to come back to work and was being given my job. I asked if she was qualified in accounting and he said she was a geography teacher. After a few more minutes extolling the virtues of my replacement he said “I’d better leave before she gets here” and i replied “I already am here”. Hilariously, he got into such a flap he ended up falling off the wheelie chair he was sitting on.

I was doing parents' evening for my Year 2 class. A mum and dad came in and I spoke to them for 10 minutes about their wonderful daughter. She really was a star - polite, kind, great at reading etc. I finished and they both looked happy, we said goodbye. As they got to the door, I heard the dad turn round and say, "oh my God, she's such a minger!". The mum slapped him on the arm, and looked around at me horrified, in case I had heard, then she practically pushed him down the corridor. I was so hurt. I know I'm not pretty, I have mirrors. Then I had to smile and ask the next set of parents to come in. I cried when I got home.

I'm sorry that happened to you @MrsMcisaCt Unlikely his daughter got her kindness or politeness from him. 🌹

I am so sorry @MrsMcisaCt . Can't imagine how that must have felt. 😞

How rude of that parent to say that :(
I hope the wife had a word with him.

Not talking about me but I did have an email about me sent to me once. I managed to forward it to myself before the original one was recalled. And then sent both the email and the recall notice to HR.

@Cooroo - perfect! You’ve made want to revisit Trollope now.

I started a new job in and had to book appointments over the phone, this one woman wanted an appointment so I was very polite to her while I tried to find an available appointment. As these were home visits, my company liked to keep them local and grouped to save time & money, fair enough. I was perhaps a few minutes trying to find a few appointment times but of course she couldn’t do any of them. I suggested the best course of action was to get back to her once I’d moved a few appointments around.. I had the phone still to my ear, she thought I’d hung up and proceeded to tell her husband how thick I was! Not as thick as you love, you can’t hang up. So I waited on the line until she realised she was still on the phone.. needless to say there was a huge gasp when she realised 🤣

Yes I've heard people talk about my partner probably not realising I could hear, or that I was his partner/wife.
I let them know and made them squirm for sure.

I regularly hear a group of women backstab another & when she joins them, they effusively greet…

I’ve noticed the neurodiverse get disproportionally singled out & anyone slightly cowed & vulnerable. There were ‘piled on’ at school & sometimes became shells, sadly, over time & then some adults smell blood/weakness & pile on again.

What do they say? Small minds discuss people, bigger ones, ‘concepts, things’.

I notice a senior manager at work, he attacks the ‘weaker man’ as Taylor Swift says ;) And the lyrics of the great woman’s ‘Mean’ come to mind as I reflect on my own life I am very glad to say & now I regard these ‘attackers’ with curiosity & feel rather sad on their behalf, not mine.

As they got to the door, I heard the dad turn round and say, "oh my God, she's such a minger!"
@MrsMcisaCt

Wow how old was the Dad, 13? I'm so sorry that you had to hear that from such a disgustingly misogynistic man. If that's the first thing he can think to say after his daughter's just got a glowing school report, he must have some severe unresolved issues about himself

Not long after we first met, overheard DH's friend ask him what it was like to go out with someone so good looking. Annoyingly DH mumbled a reply and I didn't hear him.

Yes it’s happened to me. We moved to a new area and my child joined the local rugby club. I didn’t know anyone and one mum introduced herself to me and we would chat occasionally (during matches). She knows everyone there and one day I happened to be standing next to her and overheard her say to another parent “why do new parents always think I want to speak to them? I have enough friends thank you very much” and then she laughed. I was the only new parent at the time. I felt my body go cold and never spoke to her again.

Ahh there always one.

I wouldn’t say anything obvious to her, just be the better person and that will be obvious to everyone else :)

it is weird when you hear people talk about, I remember being in the garden and I’m not sure which neighbour was having a bbq (we are terraced houses) but they were talking about me, who is she , how many kids. What’s her name… I continued to paint my wall outside as this went on 😂

@MySugarBabyLove I'm so sorry. There are many cruel AND stupid people in this world and it sounds like a lot of them went to your school. Don't let it affect the rest of your life.
My mum always says: "The people who mind, don't matter. The people who matter, don't mind."

sounds like my mum

Yeah, I have heard the boss slagging me off for no particular reason at a casual job (basically the thing was impossible for me to do without any information that I tried to prise out of my unwilling boss) I'd forgotten something and had to go back for it before leaving. I quit the next business day. Good riddance I say.

Get rid of them from Facebook I did similar. Felt great to never see their posts again!