On September 8, 2010 at 9:04 am I was woken up by a phone call from my father. The conversation only lasted two minutes but it will stay with me forever as probably one of the weirdest things that have ever happened to me. The night before there was an arrest in Bridgewater of three individuals for the possession of some type of drug (not sure exactly which one). By complete chance one of the perpetrators was named "Stephen Tocci" (or some variation were it sounds exactly alike). The news ran the story and my grandmother assumed it was her precious grandson getting hauled off to jail. She then decided to call my father in tears wondering why I would do such a thing. My father being the person he is kept his cool because he was not 100% it was me. The phone call the next day cleared the air but it does not give the night of no-sleep back to my grandmother. What I do not understand is why my father did not try and call me that night; I assume that the story was run at a reasonable hour because my grandmother was still awake. This whole situation could have been solved the night before if someone just called me. It would have gotten weird if they did call me the night before and I did not answer, they would most likely assume I was in a jail cell. Sadly I cannot find the story anywhere online but if anyone needs proof they are more than welcome to call my grandmother for the verification. My question to all of you is, has something like this ever happened to you? I have heard of worse things happening in the same context but never to anyone I had personally known.
Lastly, I would like to send a message to this other "Stephen Tocci" out there: there is only enough room in this town for one of us, so watch out.
Neat story. Glad it wasn't you. I haven't been in that situation but I have had a few cases of mistaken identity. Like once a professor for one of my classes assumed that I was the son of a famous person from his field because we had the same name. He just came up to me one day and started asking me questions about my 'dad'. I had no idea what he was talking about...
ReplyDeleteIf I were you, I'd edit this post so it didn't have your complete first and last name. Some day, when you are job hunting, you do not want the first result on Google when people search for you to be about drug charges. I mean, it's funny that it WASN'T you, but people on hiring committees tend to skim.
ReplyDeleteGood story, btw.
It actually has happened to me, sort of...there is another Dave Copeland, also a writer. But he writes really cheesy books and runs seminars for dorky guys on how to pick up women.
ReplyDeleteThe only person that ever assumed I was him was a woman I was on a blind date with...
A good reporter would have gotten more identifying information: for example, if the story were about me, it would have said "Dave Copeland, 37, of Medford" at the very least, and may have gone further and said I was a professor at Bridgewater State.
Whenever you interview someone, at the very least you MUST get their age and the town where they live. It's not just about character details -- it's about not getting sued. Because what if Dave Copeland, 60, of Bridgewater's family reads about him getting busted for drugs simply because the reporter said "Dave Copeland"????
A lot of people are weird about asking interview subjects their age; get over it. It's much better than asking your lawyer if you're going to fight the lawsuit or settle.