What 5 traits do people first notice when they meet you for the first time?

I don’t know if these are traits as much as horrific defects. Lol. Okay, yeah, that’s a bit strong, but I did ask people in preparation for this post and I’m fascinated by the results.

Smile
Not so much a trait as a feature. I certainly don’t mind though. Its nice that something which comes so naturally to me seems to gather so much attention. I love smiling; it takes so less effort than many other things you can do with your face and it feels good too. Its also a reflection of the rest of me, since I hope that I’m a cheerful person…

 
 
Near Constant Cheeriness
…and apparently people agree. I remember a time back in the early days of my 9-5 job that I’d bimble in at 8am and anyone else unlucky enough to be there at hour would stare at me in disgust. When I began to wonder what it was about, I managed to collar someone long enough to ask and they said; ‘You shouldn’t be this cheerful so early in the morning.’ Ah. Well. Fair enough then. Lol.

 
 
Enthusiasm
Some of my interview feedback included this; particularly when I used my work on various novels to answer one of the questions. They said that the passion and enthusiasm shone through enough to make it one of the best answers I gave. Shame about the others really… but how easy it is it to get passionate and enthusiastic about a customer who can’t/won’t stop whining?

 
 
Confidence
Where people get this one from I don’t know. Maybe they’re looking at someone else? Most of the time I feel anything but confident; worried about what I’m doing, how I’m doing it and all that junk. You know, normal, human worries. But other people don’t seem to get that from me. I suppose that’s a good thing. Perhaps all that LARPing and make believe has rubbed off to the point that I really do believe I have nothing to fear because I’m an immortal elf. Bwa ha haaa ahhaa!

 
 
Weirdness
I think its thoughts like the above that leads to this last one. People call me weird with relish. And they get a grip on that really quickly. If they hang out with me for a little bit longer then they also add ‘geeky’ to the little list they’re making in their minds. Its fascinating to realise how much of myself I wear on my sleeve. I always figured that I was a private and quiet person but no… everyone knows about the stuff I like and some of the stuff I don’t! And the stuff I like is, for want of a better word, weird….

 

My 80 Post Challenge is brought to you with help from Tom Slatin’s 80 Journal Writing Prompts.