There’s a strange thing that happens when someone falls: Your demise somehow proves to everyone you’ve ever disagreed with that they were right, and you were wrong. They develop a smugness and seem to get a brutal enjoyment out of the fact that God is finally punishing you. People tend to have a schizophrenic relationship with winners—if you’re down too long, you become an underdog and they feel impelled to root for you. But if you’re ever unfortunate enough to be up too long, you better get a helmet.
