“There’s an expression in Hebrew called ‘hafuk al hafuk,’ which means like a reverse on a reverse, and he kind of does a ‘hafuk al hafuk,” Tarantino said on 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast when asked about Hitchcock movies.
I have found out that the way you respond to an unfortunate situation can sometimes change the outcome in your favor. A Reverse on a reverse.
That has happened to me before with a certain job. They really jerked me around with multiple courses of interviews, changing meeting times the last minute, asking to send in examples of my writing which never got properly read by any of the main editors as they admitted themselves just to delay the final verdict and a month later emailed me that they have finally found the best match for the position, and, no surprises, it wasn’t me. When I received that letter, I honestly felt like telling them to fuck off and that their work ethic sucks big time. A moment later I realized that I’m not going to waste my energy on an angry response, I will simply ignore it. But another 5 minutes later I typed: “Thanks for letting me know. Best of luck with your future endeavors.”
9 months later an editor from that company sent me an email and offered a freelance gig. He had heard good reviews from his colleagues and read some of my articles. We had a fruitful collaboration for the next year and a half and I had the creative freedom to write only what I wanted.
I also have a cautionary tale about what happens when you lose your temper and make a situation ten times worse. So, long story short, I had plane tickets to go and meet up with a man. The trip was planned a couple months before I had started a new job. As the date of the departure came closer, I understood that the work-load would not allow me to take a full week off. Was puzzled about what to do and texted the guy about my situation, explaining that it looks like I will have to work during the trip. I have a remote 9-hours-a-day office job and the country we were supposed to travel to was in a similar time zone. It would mean we still could spend afternoons/nights and early mornings together. Just during daytime I would have to stay in. But his reaction to these news was an unpleasant revelation of his character. Basically he blew up and angrily accused me of simply wanting to cancel the trip. And, yeah, after experiencing this short-tempered outburst I indeed wanted to cancel and never talk to him again. This was the last straw that broke the camel’s back or, in other words, I have had a hard time with him before, but still believed in his ability to redeem himself. More understanding, patience and a positive outlook most definitely could have done a reverse on a reverse.
My dorkiest and nerdiest trait is to bring up a movie reference in almost every situation. As the title may give away, this one is dedicated to the brilliant “The Shawshank Redemption”. Andy Dufresne is the master of a reverse on a reverse. He never lost hope, looked for solutions and remained level-headed. The next quote of Red reminiscing about Andy may or may not be dedicated to a certain person.
“Sometimes it makes me sad though– Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more gray and empty that they’re gone. I guess I just miss my friend.”
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