On Coldplay and Jumbotrons: don't you shiver?
This shot, of Chris Martin, is from a Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium in July 2016. No affairs were outed that night.
Timothy Tai for The Boston Globe
This shot, of Chris Martin, is from a Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium in 2016. No affairs were outed that night. Timothy Tai for The Boston Globe
Unless you were on vacation last week … on a remote island with no wifi … you probably saw the
The awkward big-screen discovery became a ubiquitous meme within 48 hours.
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Within days, the CEO had resigned.
I guess I should weigh in on all of this, as a relationship writer.
My thoughts on this breaking, local adultery news, in no particular order.
Cheating aside, I have long had a fear of Jumbotrons
. I worry that if a camera pans to me, it would find me picking a wedgie or blowing my nose. Even worse, it might find me
unenthusiastic about the event
— or not paying attention. That's my real fear, that I'll be caught in
apathy.
It's a strange thing to panic about, but it relates to the anxiety I experience when
Worth noting: I despise Kiss-Cams, which I always fear will land on siblings.
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My enemy, the Jumbotron, in 2021. This on at the TD Garden. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Elise Amendola/Associated Press
This whole thing reminded me of how much I love the Coldplay song '
My real thoughts about this: We posted a callout on the
how
they'd
caught someone cheating
(or how they were caught cheating). The post was meant to be fun, but someone said, in the comments, 'You know … for people who've had this happen to them, all this joking about affairs can be a little triggering.'
I've thought about that quite a bit, that if you suffered through a major betrayal, this past week — and the jokes that went with it — might have been tough to take. I will also say: A lot of people said they've felt vindicated seeing cheaters exposed.
My PERSONAL feelings are less about the cheat and more about the workplace/power of it all.
Because people cheat — and get cheated on —
all the time
and get over it. They might not talk about it, but they do.
There are OTHER terrible things that can happen in relationships, and while I do not endorse affairs, some of my favorite long relationships have survived them.
What I truly worry about is abuse of power in the workplace, the assumption that those who report to you are fine with whatever happens. I do hope that this Coldplay situation is a reminder to people with great power that
whatever you do affects the people around you
…
… and that even if you
think
something's cool, people might be telling you it's cool because they feel they MUST, because
you are the one issuing their paychecks
.
Basically, I've seen a lot of people posting about workplace misery caused by executives behaving as if there are no consequences. If this Jumbotron fiasco helps people process those bad experiences — if it exposes that they happen — maybe something good can come of it.
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This whole situation reminded me of a podcast episode we did in Season 2, about two people who fall in love at work. It's called
'
'
I highly recommend it.
This is the
This is an
This is a GREAT time to
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Pickled
I'll leave you with a photo from last night's event at Lovestruck Books. I moderated a talk with Kate Spencer about her new romance novel, 'All's Fair in Love and Pickleball.'
It is a book that does make pickleball sexy.
Thanks to everyone who came to the event.
-Meredith
Meredith Goldstein can be reached at Meredith.Goldstein@Globe.com. Find her
or
to the Love Letters column.
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