Hello, I’m Rob Ford. No, not that Rob Ford.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
Rob Ford, the Toronto Mayor, has been making headlines lately for smoking crack cocaine and other disturbing behaviors, all caught on videotape.
But Rob Ford, a lecturer at the University of Manchester in England, can't run from his own non-reputation.
He and other Rob Fords in cyberspace have become Twitter celebrities or pariahs — depending on how you think about it — in the past few days.
"Somebody called me the Chris Farley of Canada," said Ford, "So I had to reply to him and say no, actually, thankfully I don't quite look like that."
He has in fact heard from people in favor of the mayor and his lifestyle choices but most reponses on Twitter have been overwhelmingly negative. His own opinion of his doppelganger is somewhat sympathetic.
"I feel sorry for him, not because he shares my name but because he's not the kind of guy that's cut out for that kind of role," said Ford.
Ford has been tweeting back to his mistaken naysayers. And a new hashtag was recently trending on Twitter: #NewRobFordForMayor.
That's right, his Twitter foes have turned to fans, apologizing according to Ford when they realized their mistake, which perhaps points to something far more poignant about the country.
"Canadians certainly live up to their reputation for being a very civil bunch," said Ford.
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