5 ms·

"I couldn't mess up even once". Except he did. And yet it worked out. So clearly the headline is an exaggeration.

• __jal 10y ago
  Was the most notable part of the article to you the headline writer's word choice?
  • systems 10y ago
    well, it is the headline .. the premise of the story and the headline should not contradict each other
  • forrestthewoods 10y ago
    Generally speaking you state a thesis then give supporting evidence. Making a strong statement and then immediately disproving it stands out. Click bait gonna click bait I suppose.
  • M_Grey 10y ago
    When there is nothing constructive to add, especially when an ideological nerve is struck, pedantry and semantics take over.
• dbshapco 10y ago
  I think it is the feeling that you can't mess up that this references and which persists. My past was a single mother, deadbeat dad, welfare and food banks. Now I have a comfortable six-figure income and have been employed for over two decades. I still feel like I'm one bad break away from being on the streets.
  • roel_v 10y ago
    I grew up in a stable working class family where I was encouraged to study, and feel the same way. Why do all articles like this assume it's related to an upbringing in poverty?
    • pessimizer 10y ago
      Because if you belong to a stable middle class family, it's not only not true, but has never been true for you for a moment?
      • forrestthewoods 10y ago
        But, as discussed, this article is about feelings not truths.
        • st3v3r 10y ago
          Feelings dictate how one acts. Even if you can fail, if you feel you can't, that is going to affect quite a bit how you approach things, or if you approach them at all.
          • roel_v 10y ago
            Right, so how is that different for someone who grew up poor than for someone who grew up not poor?
            • st3v3r 10y ago
              That's what the entire discussion and article are about.
              • roel_v 10y ago
                No it's not, the unspoken assumption of the article is that it's specific to poor people.
      • roel_v 10y ago
        What is 'not true'? That I can fall to where I came from when I fuck up? Why would it be less true for me than for someone else?
  • tome 10y ago
    I'm not quite sure what you're saying. Do you mean you feel like you're only one bad break away, emotionally, but rationally you know you're not? Or do you mean you still are actually one bad break away, for some reason?
    • dbshapco 10y ago
      Emotionally and quite illogically. You can take the kid out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto out of the man.
  • wehadfun 10y ago
    I just pray to God and am thankful for everyday I can sleep in my bed and feel relatively sure I can sleep in it tomorrow.
• jorjordandan 10y ago
  He got a second chance where most people in his position wouldn't. He got lucky - his point is that most people don't get a second chance. Also, I think more than the facts of the matter, he's talking about the feeling of not being able to mess up even once. Also the fact that he was haunted by that one mistake - not getting some trivial forms in on time could have ruined his life. Pretty harsh if you think about it.
• ritchiea 10y ago
  Headlines are usually picked by an editor not the author. In this case the author had even already published another version of the piece with a different headline "Lost Diamonds, How a financial aid form almost convinced me I wasn’t good enough and how our current system is failing underprivileged talent". Can we discuss the content of the piece now?