A Cautious Exterior...

I think I make a good first impression. I could be wrong, but I feel pretty good about how I first meet people. It have been interesting meeting new people, however, since I moved to Edmonton. One thing about McMurray is that most people didn't start out there. They are used to the influx of new people looking to find friends in the new place that they might be in for awhile. In Edmonton it has been different. I have noticed that a lot of people are far more guarded when I first meet them. I am not sure why that is. What I have learned to do is discard the first impression and go on the 2nd or even the 3rd meeting as my gauge for who this person is. What is even more interesting is that I have had friends on both sides of a meeting tell me that they didn't think the other person liked them based on their first impression. They are both being territorial and guarded and they both are seeing that in the other person and so they both come away from the meeting thinking the other person stand-offish or unfriendly. I don't know what to say. I generally say, Give it another time or two... I like them, you trust my judgement, don't you?

Anyhow, I have noticed this at parties, at meetings, at baby showers, at auditions, and at first rehearsals. I know that some of those situations have tensions associated with them. At others I look for our common friend. If I trust their judgement in a person, I give the individual a pass on that first meeting and hope for better at the next. That's all you can do.