Judge first

By: Dad AKA Matt

Popular opinion is to never judge a book by its cover. However, I disagree with this maxim based solely on that specific example alone. I don’t know about you, but I literally look at a book’s cover when I’m browsing a bookstore. If it doesn’t appear interesting, it’s time to move on. Same with people, we don’t always have time to get to know someone on a deeper level. It’s ok to form an opinion based on YOUR observations. That being said...be willing to alter your opinions.

The other day, a friend of mine called an agent with a local insurance company. This was the first time he had ever called this particular company. He wanted to get some quotes on life insurance policies, which he told the agent up front.  The agent said he understood, then began referring to my friend by his first name, casually cursing during the conversation, and insisted on trying to sell him other policies too. Terrible first impression! It did not take long for my friend to decide that he was NOT going to be trusting this company with his money and ended the phone call. Within 2-3 minutes, his opinion was shaped and his decision made.

The lesson to learn is NOT that it is OK to be shallow and always base your opinions on appearance. The fact remains that people don’t always have a chance to know the “real you”. That is why it is so crucial to put your best foot forward. Better yet, learn from my mistakes! Actually, I am going to place at least 2/3 of the blame for this on my father. I was 14 years old and getting ready for my first-ever formal dance in 8th grade. I was pretty naive about women and the social protocol but my dad assured me that he would help get me a nice suit and fill me in on what to do at the dance. I figured that he should know, he’s been married for over 10 years at that point! Little did I know that the only thing worse than his fashion sense was his dancing ability (Mom must have married him for his sense of humor). Long story short, I went to the first dance of my life and made a fool of myself. I won’t go into detail, but you can see the outfit he picked out in the picture below. When my date and I pulled up in front of the school, plenty of heads were turned! That one night set back my love life at least 3 years. It’s pretty hard for any potential girlfriends to forget that atrocious outfit combined with my less than rhythmic “dance moves”.  Now that I think about it, maybe that was my dad’s plan all along...well played, Opa.


Side note - my date was a nice young lady and was very sympathetic for me.

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