Appearances Can Be Deceiving!

Do you remember that old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover?

How many times do we look at a person’s appearance and make a quick decision on what kind of person they are?

We must or there would not be so much information on how many seconds it takes a person meeting us for the first time to decide if they like us or not!

There have been many physiological approaches to dressing, make-up, gesturing and even how we sit in a chair. Many articles and books have covered these topics.

Well, as we age, and have more experience “under our belt”, we learn that perhaps our first impression is not the one that should be the lasting one.

We have a friend who was interviewed for a job but later was told someone had been hired. About a week later, our friend was called to report for work. What was it that the first person did to impress the employer that our friend did not? Knowing this particular friend, he probably put on no airs at all and was just himself.

So, can we conclude that sometimes just being ourselves is going to end us at the bottom of the heap? Not really, because eventually, the cream always rises to the top.

Today, unlike in the 60s when I was being interviewed (or as they say today, “interviewing”), people are more casual about business attire, social attire, church attire and how they dress, period.

The Women’s Lib Movement probably had quite a lot to do with that. As women worked harder and harder to have equality, the dress for men and women became more similar. More and more women wore trousers and today, we do not even think about that.

But do we still make snap decisions about people based on their hair color, their make-up and their choice of clothing? Probably yes.

I went to schools where we wore uniforms and that made us – you got it – “uniform”! That is probably a good idea for students who are, or should be, busy learning! It is becoming popular again to wear uniforms in schools and that is a way to help students focus on their studies during the school day.

What if a woman has her hair tinted or wears sexy outfits or extreme fashions? Perhaps we should read this as someone craving attention. Or, is it because her husband or boyfriend encourages this?

Well, perhaps we need to learn a little more about someone before coming to any conclusion about how that person would treat us. After all, that is exactly all we should care about! All we need to know is: Will that person treat us in the manner we would like to be treated?