What you see ...

... is not necessarily what you get.

Look, I have never blogged before, and I am not sure I will continue to blog. I am hoping that by doing this little bit of writing, I can improve my communication skills, and maybe let the world know how this average American feels.

Is it important to agree with me? Yes, but it's only important to me. If someone agrees with me, I'll feel a little tingle of 'hooray!' If they don't, I'll defend my position vehemently. I can't help it, I am who I am.

When people look at me, they make assumptions. This is natural! It's how we initially evaluate each other as friend or foe, potential mate, competitor, leader, follower or acquaintance. That's not the full list, but it's a start.

I make assumption about people I meet, as well.

Do I judge them? Of course I do! We all do. We are humans in a human world. Our judgements are based on a host of different criteria, some of which are: Race, religion, nationality, political leaning, sexual orientation, sexual gender, age, experience, weight, size, and many many others.

Our judgements are based on things we 'know' about ourselves and what makes us comfortable.

But ... just because we automatically judge someone when we meet them, does not mean we cannot be friends (or more) with them. We can also be wrong about them. People we immediately like can turn out to be the worst enemy you've ever had. People you don't seem able to get along with can turn out to be some of the best people in the world.

It doesn't mean we can't set aside those initial judgements and see that (for example) just because Chauncey is a liberal democrat, doesn't mean that he and Joe "Leans-to-the-Right" Sixpack can't be friends, or can't find some middle ground to agree on.

My take on it, anyway.

DeMann