A few years ago, I took a UCLA Extension writing workshop. As an icebreaker, the teacher asked everyone to share a crime they would commit if they could get away with it.
A couple people announced that they would rob banks. Someone said, "murder." But then one guy said, "rape."
Everyone shifted in their seats. The teacher cleared his throat and mumbled something like, "okay," and then moved onto the next person.
For the rest of the semester, that guy was known as "The Rapist."
He was a good writer and seemed like an okay guy. But that initial faux pas stuck with him like a disease.
Have you ever known someone to make such a bad first impression that they never recovered?
xoxo,
Suzanne
About Me
- Suzanne Casamento
- Author of Fingerprints, Choosing Tally, and All the Moments in Between. Tweet me @suzannecasamento
Wow! That's a doozy! I kinda want to feel bad for the guy, but of course you wonder about his character.
ReplyDeleteSo the answer is no, never known anyone to make such a bad first impression.
Happy Tuesday! :D
Wow! Wow, wow, wow! No ... not to THAT extent!
ReplyDeleteWow! Don't know what to say about that except that I was interviewing a woman who candidly/proudly? told me that she had Klu Klux Klan robes in her attic that had been worn by her grandfather and such and sort of brushed it off! That was in NJ!!! I couldn't get past that! AND of course the fact that she lacked experience "did her in" :) Never did forget that interview.
ReplyDeleteWierd interview.
The guy at my husband's staff Christmas party who insisted on making dead baby jokes throughout dinner. I was 4 months pregnant at the time.
ReplyDeleteThere was also the car salesman who felt it was okay to smoke while trying to sell me a car, and yelled out in a gravelly voice "WHAT'S STOPPIN' YA?" as some sort of attempt to endear himself to us and close the deal. I walked away without saying a word, never to return.
Wow -- that's pretty extreme. And yeah, he deserved to be known as that for the rest of the semester. What a freak. I'm sorry, but that's terrible. Knowing me, I'd say ripping off a candy store or something silly like that, not rape or murder. Wow.
ReplyDeleteAs for someone who made a very bad impression on me from the start -- Howard Stern. I had just heard about a baby getting killed by a family dog and then a friend of mine played an audio tape of Stern talking callously about it with a dog barking frantically in the background. Sick.
Wow, can't come close to that
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I know a ton of people, but no one THAT awful. He deserved the shunning.
ReplyDelete