Replies: 7 comments

I don't think it is a faux pas really - do you know if they talked more after that quite dramatic 'ice-breaker'? I recall an event at university when a friend started slagging off another house member when we were all out for a drink, as all others around the table were responding with "Well, that's a bit harsh" or "I don't think that", etc, he responded with "Oh, come on! You all said so yourself, last week". Unbeknownst to him, the young lady in question had joined our table two places to the left of him, and was listening in with growing shock (hence every one elses protestations), it was like seeing an accident in slow motion. This was a real case of foot in mouth disease.

Posted by James Tuddenham @ 11/14/2001 07:43 AM EST

The point of such wigs is to give the cancer patient a better look so people don't ask questions. Making it a point to say it is a wig defeats that purpose. I think to me that it is an invitation to further conversation.

Posted by anrkngl @ 11/15/2001 08:46 AM EST

What a great compliment! I don't think it was a faux pas at all. The woman with cancer could have just said thank you. Sounds as if she wanted to talk.

Posted by Jan @ 11/15/2001 11:12 AM EST

What an interesting reaction you had - personally, that wouldn't have occured to me. It's all in the motivation that drove the spontaneous interaction between those two people.

My guess is it was all about simple human curiosity and the universal need to make a connection.

So the information revealed is conventionally judged as an "uncomfortable" topic, but in this day and age where reality-this and reality-that consummes our popular attention on TV and movies, why not the real thing?