Who are "they" and why should we listen to them?

Have you ever caught yourself saying, "Well, people say..." or "they say..." or even "I've heard..." I do it all the time though I try not to. But who are they anyway? Where do they come from and why do they feel the need to stick their nose in my affairs all the time?

Apparently they know everything. They dress nicer, have more self control, slimmer waistlines and are experts in the field of psychology and finance. Modesty is not one of their strong suits as we talk about them all the time. People rarely challenge the they. We follow blindly feeling like we're smarter than others, like we've gotten a hot tip. We think of it as inside information only the privileged few have. I know something you don't know because I heard it from a supposed reliable source.

If all you're going to do is criticize than just leave my life alone. Go spend time with the rest of the sheep and see if I even notice. I'm tired of listening to them. I have enough to deal with without worrying about impressing the anonymous collective. They'll probably hate me for it. They always do.

I could be a they and you'd never even know it.