while reading one of my many RDR (required daily reading) blogs, Elise posted a most interesting question: if you were reading a blog that you loved, then the author posted a picture of themselves and they weren't all that attractive, would you still read or would your vision of them be changed?
it reminded me of something that happened to me 15 years ago...(dissolve screen to flashback)
as an adult advisor for Rainbow for Girls, one of my responsibilities was renting vans to transport us to the state convention, which that year was in Fresno - up in northern California..about a six hour drive from Mostly Smoggy So. Cal.
i had been calling several rental agencies, and thought i hit pay dirt with one...good sized van, good rate, i was ready to book. i was also having a nice conversation with the rental agent...who proceeded to call me back. not just once, but several times.
he kept telling me what a great voice i had. then, he let me know he had frequent flier miles and was planning on coming to So. Cal. to visit "friends" and wanted to know if we could meet. being totally single and searching, i said sure. i told him i'd meet him at LAX.
can you see where this is going?
i arrived at the gate, even brought a rose. he got off the plane and saw me.
i watched his face fall.
nice, huh?
he couldn't look at me. whatever...i was laughing because not only was he as skinny as a beanpole (he had described himself as "pretty buff", i had said i was rubenesque...) with a cheesy moustache and poufy hair.
i took him to his car rental company, while he barely made small talk, then he actually stuttered "um, well...i could call you."
"that's OK," i said. "no need."
the shmuck actually had the audacity to look relieved. crap, dude...you could have the courtesy to look disappointed!
oh well....i found the whole thing funny. it wasn't the ego blow it could have been, but just hammered home the lesson: don't judge a book by it's cover. especially if the cover wears size 18 jeans.
and it certainly wasn't my last experience with blind dates...i married my last blind date.
oh, and there was the One with the Guitar Player Sitting on the Roof of His House...but that's another post.
now...if you've read Elise's post, i'm curious: if you had a visual of someone, then found out your vision didn't match the reality, did it change your view of them? discuss.
4 comments:
Oh Valerie! Yu are too funny...but it is so true. I am so sorry you had such a crappy experience with that stickman. *shiver* He sounds like HE was quite oooie but you would never have dissed him is such a manner.
I can't say that I have ever treted anyone differently because of a perceived notion but have been delightfully RElieved when meeting someone the first time. You know, thinking they are supermodel material and finding out they are "Just like me". IE overweight, wears glasses and NORMAL. Immediate relief!! Does that make me a bad person? Wait! Don't answer that! : )
Hugs,
Sue
It's strange sometimes to see how people stack up to how you think they'd look. I'm so sorry that you had that bad experience, but I'm glad your last blind date worked out so well!
I can't say that I would stop reading someone's blog because of their picture, but just that I'd have to adjust my "mental picture" of them a bit. You know, like the mental picture of you that I get, where you're on the couch in your Peeyamas (I think that's how you said it once!) with a laptop in your lap, sipping on coffee and petting your furbaby while you dispense your particular brand of wisdom to the huddled masses!
I think to a certain extend we judge like that. Like on CKMB, when you have a certain idea of what someone looks like... then you see a LO with their pic, and you're like "well I would NEVER imagine she looked like that!" Good or Bad, but you still wouldn't get all snotty with her just because she wasn't what you imagined. JMHO. P.s. - I got your comment on my blog! One of my first, thanks, lol!
I know I always have pictures in my head of what people would look like. If they posted a picture that was different, I'm usually surprised, but it doesn't cause me to think any differently of them.
Things like that make you wonder what people picture you and me to look like!
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