The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Ken Mansell A grapevine is used to bypass official information sources, especially when none is forthcoming. It spreads, almost instantly, due to the means of instant communication available. When I was a teacher, the staffroom was the fastest way to find out or speculate about the latest events. Some true, hardly ever black and white, but filled with enough information to listen. Lines like 'just between you and me' were familiar. Could you trust it? Of course not, but it created a social bond. People like to talk to one another. The grapevine can keep people honest by dissuading them from engaging in behaviour they don't want others to know about.
