Reputations are always at risk because life can change in an instant. An involuntary life change severe enough could certainly trigger reputation-damaging behavior. But no, I'm not aware that my reputation has ever been at risk.
Not through anything I've done, but through the rumor mill, sure. All a person can do is live a good life and try to look out for others, but that's no guarantee it's what people will see.
I don't give a damn about a bad reputation unless I have earned it. Then, being a conscientious human, I try and correct the damage I have caused. Anyone who acts as if they have made no mistakes in life, had better come down to earth.
It is painful for a person of conscience to act in a manner that gives one ill repute. Some defend by denial, some are elevated enough to know that the pain is there for a REASON. SO I don't continue on that path of destructive action. Some wake up and change, some drink and never change. Some white-knuckle it and stuff the hurt and damage they feel upon realizing their faults and point the finger at others and all the reasons why they had to do what they did.
I prefer being brutally honest with myself and place the blame right where it belongs. I blame the person looking at me in the mirror.
[Does this mean that I can forget about that nasty incident we were involved in over in Toronto back in '08? Those Mounties had never dealt with anyone like you and I before, right?]
Thriftymaid 