No Billy was 'such a bastard' that she slapped him and went back home; Mick on the other hand....

She isn't getting revenge on her sister.

Well... When in Rome.

I'm sure I'm the only one who thinks this, but what is the point of a diary? Can't people keep their "secrets" and anything else private in their head, and not on a physical piece of paper for anyone to find? And then they get mad when someone does read it... I don't get it.

"The road to hell is pawed with good intentions" If you're spying on family member, then you're a failure because you don't trust them and can't talk it out. People that disregard privacy are arrogant, because they THINK that they know better what other person should do. If you'll invade somebody's privacy too much, you might end up losing the family member anyway. People need "safe place" where they can relax without fear of intrusion. Take this place away, and you might drive person to mental illness or suicide. Disregard for privacy is suffocating and stressful. Invade somebody's privacy too much, and the said person either will get paranoid, suspicious and violent or will move away permanently, cutting all contact with you. Regardless of outcome all trust will be lost, possibly permanently.

Basically, it goes like this - if your parent's/siblings are routinely invading your privacy by reading your diary/etc. then they won't change when you grow older. Even at the age of 40, they will routinely dig through your things as if they were they own at every opportunity they get - only because they grew up with idea that they are smarter than you and have some kind of authority to know everything about your personal life.

38- Your opinion is crap and so are you.

41 the way I understand it is diaries exist for 2 purposes; 1 to store the secrets you really want found out but think you don't, or 2 to keep track of the events in your life for future recollection. 53 that's rude.

56 - I can understand the second reason, and to want to remember specific dates of events, but I think I would write those down and perhaps not elaborate so much as to write a diary entry. At any rate, I still don't understand why people have diaries or journals.

This was kind of a knee jerk reaction to all of the comments about invading peoples privacy. I was kind of wondering just what people thought privacy was and what it was for. I am a fairly open person but personally I don't think I would want people in my business 24/7. I think some people have a hard time drawing the line between breaching someones privacy for a good reason and giving someone no real privacy like overprotective parents. Anyways this was my contribution to philosophic debate. Now back to puns.

I will explain my viewpoint now since this will probably get buried by new FMLs. 1. most of the little secrets we keep nobody but ourselves really cares what they are. 2. privacy is an illusion because we constantly expose ourselves anyway by writing in diaries or posting our thoughts on the Internet as if those mediums really provide us confidentiality. 3. I used the word soul even though I am an atheist, but I am referring to those secrets we dare not tell anyone and those are the ones we should share. If nothing else to seek an objective opinion. I don't think the inability to communicate with someone who is afraid to open up to someone constitutes a failure on the congregate part. if they wanted your help they would ask for it, but sometimes they can't muster that inner strength.

#41, for some people, having a diary allows them to put their feelings and thoughts into words and sort them out logically. It's the same reason why some people like to talk to others about their problems without wanting advice. It also allows them to reflect and see what progress they've made, what their triggers are, etc... Well, most people don't think of it in those terms, but that's the idea. It's like therapy for those people, I suppose. I'm sure this has been answered already, but I'm too lazy to read through that whole thread, so forgive me.

85 - Thanks! And no, no one answered like you did. I can understand what you're saying, and why people keep diaries. I guess my mind just doesn't work that way. Writing it out doesn't help me much.