I’ve got a wild personal story for you that I’ve been eager to write about publicly for a few weeks.
I’ve been mistaken for someone else in one of the weirdest possible ways, and it has been a major test to my philosophy that, “it doesn’t matter what other people think, so long as I am honest with myself.”
It’s also somewhat funny in a very twisted sense.
You see, some people think I am a pedophile.
I wish I were kidding.
I grew up in Guelph, Ontario, born Matthew Vincent Marcone on June 20, 1987. In 2010, I received a text message from an acquaintance wondering if I was in jail, because a story came out in the Kitchener Record (30 minutes from Guelph), about a 21-year-old Burlington man named Matthew D. Marcone, who was charged with luring a 13-year-old disabled girl into a library following a chat room meeting. He is now a registered sex offender.
I was 23 at the time, read the story and then pretty much forgot about it, until I moved to High Level.
Being single and alone in a new town, I went on Plenty of Fish, a popular online dating site, and upon interacting with one particular girl, was informed that she didn’t care about my past, because people can change and she wasn’t judgemental.
Good to know.
It honestly took a couple days and a Google search before I figured out what she was talking about. Upon searching Matthew Marcone, I was reminded on page two of Google, “Sexual touching of Kitchener girl followed chat room meet.”
My initial reaction was to break out laughing, before explaining that this is another person.
Again, time passed and I didn’t think much of it, until a few weeks ago when I learned that a friend of three years in High Level had quietly been thinking that I was Matthew D. Marcone.
I searched my name again and was surprised to find that the story had climbed to the top of Google search results, higher than my website, Twitter account, Facebook account and previously completed media work.
The good news was this meant a lot of people were searching my name, presumably because they were interested in the work I am producing. The bad news is this article skyrocketed up the Google search results in the process.
You know the expression there’s no such thing as bad publicity? I beg to differ!
Suddenly, I had an “aha!” moment. I started thinking about some awkward interactions that I’ve had with a few residents over the past few months. People who were once quick to submit story ideas or strike up a conversation suddenly had no interest in speaking to me and were getting the creeper vibe.
I could feel it.
One person even refused to make eye contact, which I’m convinced stems from this article on Matthew D. Marcone.
Couldn’t Matthew D. Marcone have been an inventor or do something cool? It seems like a cruel way for the universe to teach me a lesson.
Long story short, I consider this to be a blessing in disguise. Aside from adding “Vincent” to my profiles, it really has been a phenomenal test to accept that I cannot control what other people think, even when they assume the worst.
It’s also been an ongoing topic of great humour among my friends.
I’ve been debating contacting Matthew D. Marcone on Facebook to get the full story, where he has a profile, but haven’t been able to pull the trigger.
If I ever do, I’ll be sure to write another awkward follow-up!