Are you often genuinely surprised by the opinion of you that other people have?

-- Catherine (catherine@cmjcom.com), January 12, 2000

Answers

No, I'm not often surprised by other people's opinions of me. Some love me, some hate me, some are indifferent to me. I think that's pretty much par for the course for human beings and their opinions of others.

Opinions, opinions, it's all just opinions. And it's attachment to opinions that's the source of all conflicts, or so "they" say, and I think "they" have a point! :)

-- Judy (judy@judywatt.com), January 12, 2000.

I certainly am. I remember in high school, a friend telling me how surprised she was to see me lose my temper one day. "You...I don't know, you always seem so...regal, like a queen. You never get angry, you're always very quiet and polite."

Now, that description of me is nothing like how I see myself. Well, the quiet and polite part, yes, but not the "never getting angry" part. Or the regal part.

I have to admit though, I do love hearing what other people think of me (not that I'd ever ask outright or even admit it anywhere other than the internet). I just love seeing what happens to my self-image when filtered through the lenses of someone else's perceptions.

-- Brianna Privett (occupant@brianna.org), January 21, 2000.