Hey there, stranger.
I'm calling you X, obviously to make your story more enigmatic.
I'd like to know your name, and know more about you. And I'll tell you why in a second.
But for now, hi. :)
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, is one of those things I've heard too often to count. I just realized that I always arrogantly believed my intuition about people based on how my first interaction with them. The quickness of that first smile, the accent, the clothes you wear etcetera etcetera.
A spur-of-the-moment judgment I make of you, marred by microsecond subconscious attempts to match you with others in my life.
You haven't ever spoken to me or met me, but I have seen you and heard you. You've made an impression on me. Your stance, your hairstyle, your look, your tone, your words have reminded me of someone who has behaved like a jerk with me. Yes, unfortunately, my first impression of any one person is always one of skepticism. And so, my first impression of you is that you,X, will be yet another jerk.
But, wait. First impressions aren't permanent, are they?
I'm thinking that just by making this on-the-spot judgment of you,based on my not-so-nice prior experiences, I'm the jerk here.
For all I know, you may be the nicest person in the world, and may turn out to be one of the most important people in my life. So I'm going to review my entire experience of you right now. I see now that there is room for doubt, and my first impression of you was just based on my preconceived notions and life experiences. But you deserve better than that. You deserve to be judged with an open happy mind, and I shall strive to see the best in you now onwards.
So, I've decided to take the time to understand you, rather than misunderstand you from the get-go.
I write all this, because I realised today that every friend of mine was once a stranger to me. And I love my friends, and am there for them, come what may.
And hey, if you turn out to be the jerk I originally thought you were, then lucky for you, I believe in second chances. Guess I'm just a silver-lining kind of girl.
That's why I want to know you.
If you don't want to talk to me right now, then talk when you want to. Coz I want to all about you.
Just tell me your name first. Calling you X is getting lame. :P
Bye, X. :)
5 comments:
This is one of the awesomest posts I've ever read! Seriously. Its intersting to see how we all are so quick to judge, when, for all we know, that person may be the nicest person in the world, as you say.
I went to a camp this summer and there was this guy who was sweet and help me put my bag on the high shelf in the train but the next day, I saw him wearing a jacket which was uhh, very tight and I got really turned off so we barely spoke but 3-4 days later, I found out that he was so much fun and sweet. So I felt really bad later and decided not to just trust my first impression.
This post reminded me of my resolve, and really, I love the way you've written it! :)
First off, thanks Srishti. That was a really sweet thing to say. :)
And I wrote this post ten seconds after finishing the book Blink, which is all about how people make snap judgments in a "blink of the eye"! And I realised that not only is it inaccurate, it is downright judgmental, and sooo I just let the words flow. :)
P.S.About guys in tight jackets, jeans, gunjis etcetera.. Don't even get me started. :P
the name is whiskey.
*grr...* you promised you wont judge!
the last comment was supposed to be in this post ;(
as for that one, here it goes.
being an atheist is great. i actually was one for years. but somehow you do start believing in a god. more often than not. the god has no name, but dear god :P
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