Too Much Information...

Recently I made an appointment to have an old tattoo reworked... To me, the getting of the tattoo was no big deal, especially since it already existed.  When I was asked to go for a drink after work on the night of my appointment, I casually said I could not make it because of my tattoo appointment.  I said this innocently enough, and quite honestly did not really consider that anyone would be particularly interested in the fact that I even had a tattoo.  However, it apparently turned out to be a topic of conversation for the group of people that did go out that night.  And another friend in that group proceeded to lecture me the next day about "sharing my personal information".

So, I am asking myself... do we share too much information?  Do we know when too much is too much?  In a facebook, twitter, blog age where we tend to talk about the day-to-day of our lives and "post" it for all to read, have we lost our boundaries of privacy?  Are we so accustomed to knowing all about our friends, family, and even acquaintances that we have forgotten how to keep some things to ourselves?  Where are the lines?  What do you guard and keep as your own?

Having thought this over the last several days, I find myself regretting I was so specific about what I was up to that night.  I naively believed that my one comment would not be interesting enough to fuel an entire conversation.  And perhaps because I did not share any details, that just caused more speculation and discussion.  While none of it is anyone's business, I made it their business when I was so clear about where I was going. 

I find that I am lecturing myself about learning to keep my mouth closed...something that is not particularly easy for me to do.  I am a generally open person... I do know when it is inappropriate to share most personal things, but I tend to be fairly open about a lot of general things.  The lesson for me here is to try and be more thoughtful before I throw out those general things to anyone for public consumption...there tend to be consequences for sharing.