I Am Waiting by George Hodan

With the explosion of texting as a means of communication has come a newish way of “breaking up” with someone. It’s called the Fade Out.

A Fade Out occurs when there has been ample communication between parties and then that contact starts to slow down, then it trickles, then it stops all together. It’s a slow process leaving the non-fading party slightly bewildered and a little upset. Be a (wo)man and just break up for heaven’s sake. Relationship wise I have been faded out once, in college. Confusing to say the least and a very undergrad (read immature) thing to do.

What I’m talking about in this post is, however, a type of rejection that performers experience. It’s not a perfect analogy to a relationship Fade Out, but it’s close enough. The scenario I’m describing is when a performer has made it through the first round of auditions and has been called back. After completing their call back the casting director/director/etc. says that we’ll let everyone know either way by such and such date. And then, the wait begins. No Facebook posts on their page hint at their decision, no emails are forthcoming, no telephone calls congratulating or explaining that they went in another direction. Instead, it’s as if the audition never happened. A few weeks later they post the cast list on Facebook, you’re not on it.

Most of the time, I fully expect that if I’m not cast I won’t hear from anyone about it. I’ll find out who’s cast on Twitter or Facebook. That’s the Silent Rejection, which isn’t as good as the Band-aid Rejection, but is preferable to the Fade Out. The only time I expect to hear that I didn’t get cast is when I am specifically told that I will be informed either way. Then, once the deadline has passed and I haven’t heard I still wait. Maybe I got it, maybe they’re just slow, maybe, maybe, maybe…

What do you all prefer? Band-aid? Silent? Fade Out? Let me know in the comments.

PS Happy St. Patrick’s Day.