North Carolina’s Outer Banks Motor Lodge posted a sign this week: “It’s all fun and games until Jim Cantore shows up.” Admittedly, I have the same visceral reaction about the weather warrior meteorologist. One look at him on the TV screen and I sense a hurricane headache coming on.
I kind of feel sorry for the guy. Who wants to be associated with fear and dread? This got me thinking about labels we connect to others. While weather reporters understand grim perceptions sometimes occur as a result of their jobs, the rest of us may bear a similar fate if we’re not careful.
You know the type — the person you see in the grocery store aisle that will corner you and rehash his personal everything-in-my-life-has-gone-wrong history for the next 30 minutes until the ice cream in your cart has melted. Or the neighbor who keeps a running list of grievances against fellow neighbors. The minute you see them, you’ve sized them up. Guilt by association, or, in many cases, historical evidence. So I’ve identified a few of these gloomy dispositions into what I’m unofficially calling The Jim Cantore Personality Type.
Type 1: The Worrier
For this person, the storm is always present. He lives in doubt and freely spreads his anguish to anyone close by. A worrier can’t enjoy life’s good tidings because he is convinced something bad is lurking just around the corner. If you congratulate him on an accomplishment, he’ll give you a list of why his success will be short-lived. And he is more than happy to tell you why your successes will be brief and rare, too. He’s the Debbie Downer who has a needle ready to burst an optimistic thought.
Type 2: The Alarmist
This storm is going to be the worst ever! And the one after that even worse! Consider this person as the Cassandra of friends and associates who make fear-mongering a full-time sport. It’s hard to breathe around an Alarmist because she is sucking all the oxygen out of the doomed room. She’s the co-worker who squelches collaboration on a project because it’s going to be shot down by upper management. Or the friend who dismisses your dream to return to college as a fool’s errand.
Type 3: The Impostor
The storm isn’t what it seems for those who have a flair for the dramatic. Dare I submit The Weather Channel’s Mark Seidel as evidence? Since reporting on a blustery street in Wilmington, North Carolina, he’s taking a pummeling from public opinion for acting pummeled by high winds as two passersby strolled easily behind him, seemingly unaffected by the storm. It’s hard to know where you stand with an Impostor because he shapeshifts more than a Harry Potter creature. He’s prone to gossip, making mountains from molehills usually at the expense of someone else. And bigger is always better for an Impostor when passing along a gossip about someone else. But don’t be surprised when you open Facebook the next day to see him gushing praise about that very same person.
In the spirit of ganging up on Jim Cantore, there’s actually a Weather Channel commercial showing people fleeing from restaurants and beaches when Cantore appears. Make sure people don’t flee from you because you’ve been tagged as a negative Nelly.
I mean no harm to Jim Cantore. I’m sure he’s a nice guy. I just don’t want to see him in my town anytime soon.
