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Question of the Day | 05/13/2009 11:00 pm

Have you ever done something you feared would come back to haunt you? Did it?

Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean has come under fire for recently resurfaced topless photos. Have you ever done something you feared would come back to haunt you? Did it? Did you ever not do something out of fear it would come back?
© WireImage
Candice Bergen

Candice Bergen | 05/13/2009 11:00 pm

Candice Bergen's 'Murphy' Advice to Carrie Prejean

This whole Carrie Prejean thing. And THEY paid for it!! I happen to know because I read US magazine! I am talking about her implants. Big effing deal. Well, they are, in fact, pretty good-sized, but are ANYONE’S authentic anymore? Except my own tinies. And of course I have done things that I prayed would never be revealed. I mean, please. And when "Murphy" was at its height, I had to watch myself. For instance driving. Someone cut me off during the early years of the show when I was very visible and I caught up with the car and gave the driver the finger and her mouth dropped open.
Joan Ganz Cooney

Joan Ganz Cooney | 05/13/2009 11:00 pm

Joan Ganz Cooney: From a 'Generation That Didn't Take Nude Photos of Each Other'

I have lived most of my adult life worried about the front page of The New York Times. As in how would I feel if this were on the front page of The New York Times? Thus, during my entire career, I’ve been careful … certainly in letters (except once and it came back to haunt me), conversations with people I don’t know well and now with e-mail. In terms of personal life, I came up in a generation that didn’t take nude photos of each other.
Liz Smith

Liz Smith | 05/13/2009 11:00 pm

Liz Smith's Southern Baptist Guilt

A Miss USA runner-up topless? Heavens! Well, it may be a matter of taste but it’s not really much of a scandal these days to show your body. And that’s in spite of the Mrs. Grundys who have made Janet Jackson’s costume “malfunction” into a federal case, as if it mattered.     

And, yes, of course I have done many things I feared might come back to haunt me and I am constantly toeing the line because I am such a coward. Isn’t that partly what one’s conscience and common sense are for? I was raised with lots of Southern Baptist guilt and it’s still working.   

32 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Jeannot Kensinger

I am sure I did a few things in my life better left undiscovered.

For the life of me, right now, I can’t remember one.

But then most of my closest friends are already gone so I have nothing to worry about. 

By Jeannot Kensinger on 05/14/2009 8:46 am
Andy C

I do try very hard not to do things that will come back.  But at this vast age, of course, there are some things that still haunt me — oh, that Jewish guilt.  Candice’s finger would be one; small things usually, granted, but to me shameful nonetheless. 

As far as topless?  Who cares?

By Andy C on 05/14/2009 9:13 am
James the Game
Dozens of times. And I’m glad I got haunted. Sometimes, it’s better to burn a bridge than cross it. Relationships with people who prove to be disloyal, jobs where you’re disrespected or treated like slave labor, better off putting a quick end to them, in my opinion.
By James the Game on 05/14/2009 9:44 am
nanchan u

Yessir.  I’m not ashamed of burning those bridges either.. and have found that often Karma gets its own sweet revenge.

But ashamed?  No way.  Some people need to be exposed.

By nanchan u on 05/14/2009 11:57 am
EKA -

Yes I did something that I was ashamed of, haunted me for years, and yet, though I remember the shame , I cannot for the life of me remember what it was, seroiusly, I’ve been racking my brain and it is gone.

I have finally found something good about getting old !

In the long run, to quote Candace  "Who effing cares "

By EKA - on 05/14/2009 10:11 am
Mommy Dearest
My dears, I embrace all parts of myself, including those that behaved in a, shall we say “interesting” way. All that can come back to haunt is that which was hidden, and, as you know dahlings, I have hidden nothing.
By Mommy Dearest on 05/14/2009 10:58 am
Karleen S

Having been the one who did "take it all off," I remember towing the party line about the freedom and empowerment, but really it only empowers you around people who believe it’s empowering. It’s like pro sports. Athletic celebrities are only such to people who know who they are. I would never let one jump ahead of me in line because I’m not a fan.

As far as this whole Miss California controversry, it’s only "newsworthy" because she claims to have a moral compass through god and faith. It’s brought a hoard of "Christians" out of the woodwork to support and defend her who, I can personally vouch, would have otherwise burned her at the stake. Members of my own family included. They aren’t acknowledging her hypocrisy and biblical cherry-picking, but desperately seeking a "Christian" spokesperson who has the public’s attention… for now.

Personally, my only issue with her is one that everyone seems to have forgotten. She started her comments with "Everyone has the right to marry…" For a California representative she was not only woefully out of touch with the national same-sex marriage issue, but current and very recent Prop 8 issue in California. No, everyone does not have a right, and her own state just said so. I know beauty queens aren’t known for their brain (Ms. Palin), but that level cluelessness doesn’t deserve a reward.

By Karleen S on 05/14/2009 11:10 am
nanchan u

And I would post it on the Internet, WHY?  What a ridiculous question!!

OK: since you twisted my arm.

1.  There was my short stint as a hooker/CIA informant in Brussels during the Bosnian War…. let’s just say that it was a quick skirmish, but I’m constantly paying off Democrats not to sell the pictures of me in bed with "Bill" to the Enquirer.

2.  My sordid dating history before marrying: there was that married guy from Arkansas (we hooked up again a few years later in Europe…. oops you already know about that one!), then there was "the one that got away"…. he chose to go to the other team recently.  A few nights in Rio back in the late ’80s with Duran Duran… well, that was about the time they were concentrating on other things and their record sales slipped.

Come on, WOW!   Like anybody would really answer that question honestly…… :) 

(sighs, singing, Hungry Like The Wolf)

By nanchan u on 05/14/2009 11:45 am
Becky R

Haven’t we all? Come on be honest! Would I do a few things differently if I could go back. Yes I would. Were they stupid things? Yes they were! Did I think them through before doing them? No….because I didn’t want to. But I also believe…."he is without sin, let him cast the first stone!"

 

Sound familiar?

By Becky R on 05/14/2009 12:52 pm
Livia Jones
I wonder what she really looks like. Is there a pretty young woman in there somewhere? I wonder if you could perform all of that cosmetic hocus pocus on an average-looking girl and still get a plastic doll pageant queen like that. 

Stand this girl next to Kate Winslet and see the difference. When her pageant days are behind her and she’s grown up a bit, maybe we’ll see who Ms. Prejean really is. Right now, I have no idea and I doubt if she knows either. 
By Livia Jones on 05/14/2009 1:19 pm
under stimulated
jealousy isn’t very becoming
By under stimulated on 05/14/2009 4:04 pm
Susan Crawford
Yes, I’ve done stuff I fear will someday pop up and nip me in the behind. Yes, some of the stuff has already done just that. But I don’t live in fear, probably because I’m just too darn old to be worried about what folks say about my checkered past. Checkered? Plaid would be more accurate! But as Frank Sinatra said, "I did it MY way."
By Susan Crawford on 05/14/2009 1:43 pm
Deena B.
I’ve done really, really stupid things but nothing shameful.  I always knew I would get caught, so I just didn’t go there.  I could never even successfully lie to my parents.  As soon as they told me to look them in the eye, it was all over. 
By Deena B. on 05/14/2009 3:49 pm
under stimulated
carrie—did nothing wrong—(if anyone did something wrong, it was the photographer who released her photos without her consent). good for her for standing up for her values—she’s a beautiful young girl that has a very bright future.
By under stimulated on 05/14/2009 4:01 pm
R M

Carrie Prejean is a hypocrite. And Karleen, Biblical Cherry Picking is exactly right. Model or no, if she was as Christian as she claims or even if she had a little bit of self respect, those photos never would have been taken.

I’ve done lots of stupid stuff. Stuff I probably won’t tell my kids about until they’re grown. But nothing I’m really ashamed of. For most of it I was young and I was always having fun and I don’t regret it. Such are the fortunate who have the opportunity to embark upon such stupidly enjoyable, mistake-ridden adventures!

But I’m also a proponent of doing the right thing. And while I’m nowhere near ashamed of it, I quit the best job I ever had for ethical reasons and haven’t been able to find full time employment since. It’s as though I’m being punished for it. But I’m quite proud of my resolve and will continue to be so. Karma will see its way through.

By R M on 05/14/2009 9:13 pm