Science Of Small Talk

The science of social behavior, one interaction at a time

by Sam Sommers

Return of the Prodigal Spitzer

By Sam Sommers on April 7, 2009 in Science Of Small Talk

Last fall I was discussing with my students the psychology of second chances in American life (insert your own F. Scott Fitzgerald allusion here). I argued that today's pariah is often tomorrow's comeback kid. As an example, I suggested that within five years, I fully expected to turn on MSNBC or CNN to see Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced former governor of New York, serving as a political pundit analyzing election returns or campaign developments.

So now I'm ready to admit that I was wrong. By approximately four-and-a-half years. Read More

another for your files

Submitted by Christopher Ryan on April 8, 2009 - 12:52am.

This one amazes me. The guy is arrested in Central Park with a rope tied from his genitals to his neck, a sex toy in his boot, and methamphetamines in his pocket. A year later, he's back on CNN as if nothing ever happened. Amazing.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/21/1208629777924.html

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very true

Submitted by Anonymous on April 8, 2009 - 7:40am.

As a female I feel your point very well. I cheated on my husband with a friend who was also married. It was a painful time and I took full responsibility for my actions. When news broke of the "betrayal", the man I cheated with was soon fully accepted back into our once shared social cirle. I was ostricized, especially by the women. The moral judgements from women who have never been married were so incredibly harsh I haven't spoken to them in 4 years and from what I hear they still speak unkindly of me today.