mum's the word

Bermuda is so small an island that inevitably people find out about other people's business. Makes sense for an island that houses 60,000+ people; someone's bound to know someone who knows someone. The ex pat community is even smaller. With the island being so competitive a place especially among the ex pat community, you best keep things quiet until you're satisfied with your final results & are ready to share. Try as you might to keep things under wraps, there's always a mole.

For example:
Being offered a new job does not guarantee that you have it until your work permit gets approved. And that could mean waiting for weeks, months in some cases. It can be a very stressful & frustrating time. There's nothing worse than the waiting game. And it's no source of comfort that the reason for the endless wait is that Bermuda's immigration always seems to be overloaded with work permit applications & so, are constantly reported to be backlogged.

Or another example:
Do not even think about discussing things when you're out & about. You'd best find a quiet place to dialog the events of your work day for you never know who's passing by. You can forget about mentioning names. It's funny how many times people avoid trying to mention names when relegating stories, but inexplicably the name is dropped. An innocent mistake that's caused no harm if the name means nothing to you...

Or another:
You've recently met someone you don't like. Pissed you off have they? Too bad! Suck it up & don't even think about sharing & naming names. You never know who knows who on this island. Sometimes even newcomers have friends in high places.

In your big hometown city back home you could tell Tom, Dick & Harry & none would be the wiser. In Bermuda, 'Ex pat discretion is advised', as Tom, Dick & Harry may know each other very well indeed!