I hoped that the point of this story would not be lost on the
weatherman. I wanted him to be aware of a fact that is as true today as
it was in the time of ancient Persia, or, for that matter, in the time of
Shakespeare, who captured the essence of it with one vivid line. “The
nature of bad news,” he said, “infects the teller.” There is a natural hu-
man tendency to dislike a person who brings us unpleas-ant informa-
tion, even when that person did not cause the bad news. The simple
association with it is enough to stimulate our dislike.^20
But there was something else I hoped the weatherman would get
from the historical examples. Not only was he joined in his predicament
by centuries of other “tellers,” but also, compared to some, such as the
Persian messengers, he was very well-off. At the end of our session, he
said something to convince me that he appreciated this point quite
clearly. “Doc,” he said on his way out, “I feel a lot better about my job
now. I mean, I’m in Phoenix where the sun shines three hundred days
a year, right? Thank God I don’t do the weather in Buffalo.”
The weatherman’s parting comment reveals that he understood more
than I had told him about the principle that was influencing his viewers’
liking for him. Being connected with bad weather does have a negative
effect. But on the other side of the coin, being connected with sunshine
should do wonders for his popularity. And he was right. The principle
of association is a general one, governing both negative and positive
connections. An innocent association with either bad things or good
things will influence how people feel about us.^21
Weathermen pay price
for nature’s curve balls
By David L. Langford
Associated Press
Television weather forecasters make a good living talking about the
weather, but when Mother Nature throws a curve ball, they duck for cover.
Conversations with several veteran prognosticators across the country this week
turned up stories of them being whacked by old ladies with umbrellas, accosted
by drunks in bars, pelted with snowballs and galoshes, threatened with death, and
accused of trying to play God.
“I had one guy call and tell me that if it snowed over Christmas, I wouldn’t live
to see New Year’s,” said Bob Gregory, who has been the forecaster at WTHR-TV
in Indianapolis for nine years.
Most of the forecasters claimed they are accurate 80 percent to 90 percent of the
time on one-day forecasts, but longer-range predictions get tricky. And most con-
ceded they are simply reporting information supplied by computers and anonymous
meterologists from the National Weather Service or a private agency.
Robert B. Cialdini Ph.D / 143