This
week I learned that first impressions are bullshit. Next time someone tells you
how important first impressions are, slap them and ask for a lawyer. I only handed
out two cards this week, both of which were examples of first impressions being
misleading. One was a female in the Onion and the other was a female in the
Geary Square. First things first, the girl from the Onion, henceforth referred
to as “PB&J.”
I was
eating breakfast on Tuesday in the Onion, trying to find someone to hand a
notecard since I had been slacking all week. I couldn’t see anyone alone, which
was a shame, so I collected my trash and stood up to throw it away. Just as I
was making my maneuver for the trash can, a girl sat down alone about five feet
away from me. Looks like I’m ruining her meal.
I sat
down across from her, and was greeted with a look of shock. I briefly explained
my project, handed her a card, and still got not a word from her. It wasn’t
until I said “Ok, well thank you” that she said “Uh, bye.” I had received this
response before, and I felt certain that this was the last I would ever hear
from her. I went out for a cigarette and pushed it from my mind. About twenty minutes
after I left the Onion, however, my pocket vibrated. Could it be??
It was
indeed an unknown number texting me, with a message saying merely “So what’s
this project for?” Nice. Two for eleven. I elaborated as much as possible, though
not so much to potentially offend her. We hashed it out, and we’re going for
coffee on Friday afternoon. I completely got caught off guard by someone that I
thought was entirely skeptical of me. Looks like my first impression betrayed
me. But my impressions won’t mislead me again, right?
Wrong. Thursday
morning, I realized I had only handed out one notecard, which is pretty lackluster,
so I rolled a cigarette and waited in Geary Square for a mark. Not a minute
after sitting down, a girl came strolling up the way alone. Go time. I went up
to her and gave the spiel, and got an atypically positive response; she smiled
warmly, thanked me, pointed out that we live in the same residence hall, and
went on her merry way. It may not sound like much, but cousin, if you could
compare it to the other reactions I’ve seen, this girl was a goddamned Mother
Theresa. But even with that great first impression, she hasn’t called. Granted,
as of this writing, it hasn’t even been twelve hours, but both responses so far
happened within six hours of the notecard changing hands, so I’m not holding my
breath.
So that’s
that; I was hoping this project would help me get a feel of first impressions
with people, but it seems that may not always be the case. But what do you think-- Are your first impressions of people typically accurate, or do you find people are frequently not what they seem at first glance?
People are never what they seem to be. I know from person experience and from the way that people percieve me to be. When people dont know me they either think im mean or rude and I am neither of that. I am one of the most friendly and outgoing people I know. Im glad that you realized that first impressions mean nothing. Maybe it will help you not judge when you pass out your cards and you may get better responses.
ReplyDeleteI am interested to hear back about what happens with the girl from the onion. I will say that maybe it is not your first impression that should not be judged maybe we should not judge those that we meet at first because people are curious individuals. The best stories come from the ones that are spontaneous. In other words beliefs on first impressions are trash. You can never get a good understanding of someone from your first encounter with them. In seeing this blog for the first time, I kind of want to try something like this in the summer, when I have more time to see if my reactions differ. There's something you can take away from me in this post I like challenges like this one.
ReplyDeleteI still think this is one of the coolest things to do on the side for fourteen or so weeks. One thing that seems overlooked is that some people purposely project themselves to be badasses, or at least less sociable, so that the general population will leave them alone and only a select few break the barrier. Others are nice to anyone and everyone so that they can build a bigger network of acquaintances; some do this with good intentions, others do so facetiously for the sole purpose of shallow popularity. I guess what I'm rambling about is that we never really know from the first glance because we could be completely right, completely wrong, or somewhere in between.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm curious to see how everything pans out from the Onion girl. (sheesh, I feel kind of mean calling her that) as well as Geary girl.
Nope!..yesterday, I learned that people come up with first impressions after the first seven seconds. Its inevitable, we form assumptions about people because its human nature. But we should all realise that its wrong; we shouldnt stick to what we think.
ReplyDelete