PP Arnold: What disappointment has stayed with you longest?

The question

What disappointment has stayed with you longest?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

It has been in myself, for allowing individuals who I relied on to make important decisions in my life that left me alone to pick up the pieces.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗

Others on this question

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Rob Lowe American actor

That I wasn't able to stay on The West Wing longer.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 August 2011 source ↗

Olly Alexander English singer and actor

Early in my career I got really close to being one of the kids in the Narnia movie. I remember being crushed.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 March 2025 source ↗

Jason Manford English comedian and singer

That I go to the gym a couple of times a week, yet I am unfit and overweight.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 July 2023 source ↗

Katherine Parkinson English actor

Not getting into MI5.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 September 2020 source ↗

More from PP Arnold

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Question What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you? Failure & regret

My father was a very macho, controlling man and we clashed a lot. He told me that I would never be able to keep a husband with my attitude. He was right! I’ve had two short, unsuccessful marriages.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗

Question What is the worst job you have ever had? Craft & work

I worked in a Helms Bakery assembly line that separated egg whites from the yolks and from time to time a box of rotten eggs would come through. Need I say more?

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2023 source ↗