Gossip-free Beauty Parlour

Determined to defy the belief that juicy conversation is as common as hairdryers in a beauty shop, Mildred Fister's beauty parlour in Jefferson, Iowa, has an unusual rule—no gossip allowed.
"In my shop, there is absolutely no talking about other people," Fister says. "Talk about you and yours if you like, but in the meantime, no gossip."
Fister tries to be a friend to everybody who comes in. And because of the no-gossip policy, they know she can be trusted.
"Sometimes people don't have anybody to talk to," she says. "So they confide in me. They tell me things about themselves. They know I'll never repeat what they say."
As one Iowa reporter noted, that's better than gossip—that's friendship.

Source: Des Moines Register (May 8, 2005)