You are right. Usually the busybodies question why somebody DOESN'T pioneer. I was criticized because I work full-time. My critics?? Comfortable retirees and housewives who didn't need to work. These self-centered idiots couldn't care less about me but yet they talked about me behind my back !
I had the same thing, being a single sister working full-time. I didn't have family members to live with so I HAD to work.
And the elders are often the worst gossips. The ones in my cong had to know what everyone was doing and why. No allowance for people to act like adults.