They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Technically, that's true. But I've started to wonder if first impressions should carry as much weight as they do.
I've been meeting a lot of people, and obviously I rate their first impressions. Sometimes they're good and sometimes they're not so good, but one thing is consistent. They're not accurate. There have been people I've met who made great first impressions; people who impressed me or made me want to get to know them better. A few months, weeks, or even days later I don't want to know them at all and struggle in figuring out how to cut them out of my life. Others make not so great first impressions, somehow make it through to round two and make me feel like I've known them my whole life.
So what is this business of first impressions? People come to job interviews in suits and after getting the job may revert to business casual. People primp for first dates and then feel all right with jeans and t-shirts by date 5. Maybe it has to do with comfort level. At some point you ditch the perfect look and get so comfortable that you're sitting in your underwear on the couch with a bucket of chicken.
Maybe rather than giving so much weight to first impressions, we should treat people the way we treat objects in the rearview mirror. You can make use of that first glance but only after you check your blind spot. Because don't people deserve (or at least require) a second glance?
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