Is it rude?

Questions.

I am, by nature, curious and gossipy. I want to know the things people don't want to say outright about themselves. I want to burrow into the sticky soft core of their psyche and find out what makes them so sickening and strange. But it's rude to pry. When you meet a middle-aged man who lives alone, you can't ask, "So you're divorced?" When you meet a 22 year old woman who lives alone in a one bedroom in Chelsea, you can't inquire "Do your parents pay your rent?" When you meet a thirty year old multi-millionare, you can't probe, "Aren't you worried the SEC will investigate you?" So I smile and nod, but inside my mind is whirring. I'm putting together clues, constructing my own dossier.