MetaChat - When a crazy person from your past

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09 June 2005

When a crazy person from your past finds you through Google, what do you do?→[More:]

As far as I can tell, this is a multiple choice question.

(a) Pretend you never got the email.

(b) Respond, and try to somehow politely say that you don't think you and said person have much in common anymore (and somehow try to refrain from pointing out that the content of the out-of-the-blue email only confirms said person's lunacy).

(c) Send some snarky response in reply.

(For purely hypothetical purposes, let's say that this is a crazy ex-roommate, not an ex- of another kind -- so it's both more and less complicated than it otherwise would be.)

post by: mudpuppie at: 18:37 | 50 comments

You could either ignore it completely, or respond politely but very briefly, and then ignore any replies to that.

posted by Orange Swan 09 June | 18:49

I'm with Orange Swan.

posted by Specklet 09 June | 18:56

But mudpuppie, didn't we have some good times together????

posted by Doohickie 09 June | 19:03

I would have to go with (a) - ignoring right off the bat, to tell you the truth. Just because they found you doesn't mean you have to acknowledge getting found, right?

posted by iconomy 09 June | 19:17

I would ignore too. With crazy people, any engagement is positive reinforcement... they will be encouraged to keep contacting you.

posted by gaspode 09 June | 19:18

Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking. Writing back with a polite kiss-off opens the door for further communication, and ignoring anything from that point on makes me an asshole. Which I am. But I don't like to be so upfront about it.

posted by mudpuppie 09 June | 19:26

Do you really care if a crazy person thinks you're an asshole?

posted by gaspode 09 June | 19:38

Hey, why not give it another go? Maybe the crazy will be more fun this time! Can't hurt to try, right? Besides, maybe your sane presence will have a positive influence on them, maybe you're the only thing that keeps them going, maybe its selfish of you to even think of leaving, why do you want to hurt them? Why? WHY?

posted by nickdanger 09 June | 19:52

Respond briefly, but with cunning, to draw out the one piece of information you need, i.e. their current address. Then send a ninja hitman to knock them off.

It's the only way. Crazy people from your past will never, ever give up.

posted by taz 09 June | 19:55

If I knew the answer to this question it would explain why all those emails I've sent out have never been answered.

posted by mr_crash_davis 09 June | 20:02

*snaps fingers*

Ninjas. That's IT!!!

posted by mudpuppie 09 June | 20:04

D - tell him/her you're now employed by the [insert scary gov't agency here] and you can't talk people who don't work for same agency. Ask for his/her street address in some sort of vaguely threatening way.

posted by deborah 09 June | 20:21

Send them a picture of the new roommate

posted by mss 09 June | 20:37

deny, deny, deny

posted by caddis 09 June | 21:16

ignore, ignore, ignore

you don't need that Opti-grab money

posted by ethylene 09 June | 21:25

Thanks, but I'm not sure I want to feel like a lion and dance like a bunny.

posted by mudpuppie 09 June | 21:45

oh, speaking of crazy people from the past, is anyone watching Hit Me Baby One More Time?

posted by amberglow 09 June | 21:54

Nope, just you.

posted by yhbc 09 June | 22:00

oh well--you missed The Motels singing Norah Jones "Don't Know Why" and The Knack singing "All the Small Things" and Holloway singing "Toxic"....too too weird.

posted by amberglow 09 June | 22:08

I've been afraid to tune in.

What's that show about, anyway? What's the premise. My favorite media writer thinks it's the next big thing, and I'm scared.

posted by mudpuppie 09 June | 22:12

It's great--and really weird. They take has-been music people, have them sing their biggest hit live, and then have them sing a current-ish hit. They do it in their "style"--The Motels turned "Don't Know Why" into a new wave song, for instance. All the people have gotten old, and fat or weird and stuff--and they do segments on what their lives are like now.

Like Bands Reunited but with out all the reuniting part. : >

posted by amberglow 09 June | 22:29

Oh, and the audience votes for who they think was best at the current hit--Vanilla Ice won this time, but he sucked--he was the cutest tho--the audience is all 20-something and teen girls it looked like. They had no clue who Holloway or the Motels were at all.

posted by amberglow 09 June | 22:30

(I heard about it bec apparently last week Tiffany (of malls and "I think We're Alone Now") was on and dressed like a 20-pd sausage in a 10-pd casing--at work they were laughing about it, so i had to tune in.) : >

(nothing as horrible this week tho)

posted by amberglow 09 June | 22:38

i would have watched to see what the Motels look like now.
could you be my talk soup so i don't have to watch?
(it's like missing the first five minutes of Best Week Ever if i ever catch it at all, you miss all the good stuff you don't want to have to know)

posted by ethylene 09 June | 22:41

oh, there are torrents of the first episode around.

posted by amberglow 09 June | 22:41

oh, some awful British host--Vernon Kay? Kaye?

posted by amberglow 09 June | 22:46

that "Tracey Ullman live" was like that, funny in itself, but that extra spicy layer of knowing what/when she was talking about

ab: oh god no, i don't actually want to see it. I need a filter.
Like the first time i saw Shatner sing on a video in the mid nineties: i remembered seeing it on tv as a kid. i literally had to go outside to keep my frontal lobes from exploding.

posted by ethylene 09 June | 22:47

Pretend you are involved in some sort of multi-level marketing scheme like Amway and try and sell him stuff. Do not allow the conversation to move away from Amway, do respond to anything he says or does that not have to do with Amway, just keep pushing the stuff like a robot.

Or substitute Jesus for Amway. "You think you made contact with me because you were just looking up old friends? Oh no. God directed your actions, old friend, so I could save you from the fires of hell!"

posted by LarryC 09 June | 22:48

OMG THAT IS SO GAY!

(nttawwt)

posted by mr_crash_davis 09 June | 22:50

it's taking far to much effort to watch the handful of shows i might give a shit about.
i'm hoping Mr. & Mr. Nash may save me.
i can't get enough alan cumming

posted by ethylene 09 June | 22:51

Larry: that's great until they tell you they are so glad you already have the know the good word--

Jesus is so gay
he loved a parade
riding that ass in the street

posted by ethylene 09 June | 22:55

She got big, eth--and they didn't really show the rest of them--maybe it wasn't them?

posted by amberglow 09 June | 23:16

they were big for all of five minutes, make it just stuck with her.
but how did she sound?

posted by ethylene 09 June | 23:23

she sounded exactly the same--that wonderful voice. : >

(i'm downloading the first ep now--i'll report back tom'w on that one)

posted by amberglow 09 June | 23:34

Back to the topic. Choose "A".

Chances are they only have your email. If they have more than your email, like your meatspace co-ordinates, they might show up anyway. Responding only confirms the relative accuracy of however they found your email and your meatspace location, and will make them more likely to actually appear.

posted by loquacious 09 June | 23:43

Hadn't heard of it, amberglow. Sounds ..interesting.. I must find a torrent.

Shamefacedly admits that 80s is a favourite (if not the favourite) music genre.

posted by deborah 09 June | 23:43

Back to topic C: who else doesn't want to knock off the last thread on the page?

posted by ethylene 09 June | 23:44

here's the link to a torrent for the first ep, but Motels were the second--Flock of Seagulls, Tiffany, Arrested Development, Loverboy, and Cece Peniston are on this one.

posted by amberglow 09 June | 23:57

Thanks, amberglow! I found a torrent and it wouldn't work for some reason and couldn't find any others.

posted by deborah 10 June | 01:18

Hmph. It came in a bunch of files. Please, kind sir, how do I combine them? (I've dl'd through BT before, but it's always come in one complete file.)

posted by deborah 10 June | 09:07

Nevermind. I used my brain (yes, even this early in the am!) and figured it out.

posted by deborah 10 June | 09:33

ok : >

did it work?

posted by amberglow 10 June | 12:02

oh, some awful British host--Vernon Kay? Kaye?

They've exported fucking Vernon Kay? I don't believe it! I feel sorry for you guys, you get all our worst television.

posted by dodgygeezer 10 June | 12:12

Is it a British show originally?

(he's appalling--gawky and over-whitened teeth, and awful, trying-to-be-hip haircut.)

posted by amberglow 10 June | 14:08

Yes! Although I haven't watched it yet (except to check that it worked).
Many thanks. :-)

posted by deborah 10 June | 14:09

oh, it's a wig!!! lol

posted by amberglow 10 June | 14:09

yup, british originally i guess, or simultaneous here and there? (the audience is definitely American on our version)-- He can also be seen presenting Hit Me Baby One More Time on ITV.

posted by amberglow 10 June | 14:12

HA!!! The show, which is yet another American remake of a popular British show, is hosted by British "personality" Vernon Kay, who looks like the secret lovechild of Ryan Seacrest and Steven Cojocaru.

posted by amberglow 10 June | 14:21

Yep, it's British or at least a co-production. Many of the same "stars" show up such as Tiffany and Howard Jones. Tiffany was bizarre. When she was seventeen she looked like a soccer mom and now she looks like Brittney.

posted by dodgygeezer 10 June | 14:22

ahhh

posted by amberglow 10 June | 16:52

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