"When I First Saw You..."

Judging people from first impressions can make you feel silly later. at least for me.

i LOVE to meet new people. people from different cities, ethnicity, religions, and back-rounds. it opens my eyes to different lives besides my own. i get to experience different family values and traditions and food that isn't in my family tree. and i love it!

sometimes when you first meet someone, you forget their name. or you get a bad impression. maybe they had a lot of acne that day, or had a stain on their shirt. maybe it was a bad day and you caught them at a wrong time. or maybe they were TOO friendly and you didnt like how comfortable they were. or they were geeky, stupid, silly, special, spunky, pretty, or [fill in the blank]. meeting people for the first time, you don't know what just happened that day before you spoke to them! and dont who they are, and their life is a complete mystery. thats why i like meeting new people. i wanna meet their world!

sometimes, though, seeing them on those bad days can throw me off. i'll quickly say to myself 'well i'll never be friends with THAT person...', but life is quick to teach me that first impressions aren't always what they seem.

They first time i met one of my now best friends i went to dinner at his house. i thought he was skinny and weird. i didn't even talk to him! i actually kinda avoided him due to an age difference and also me being a bit shy. later down the road we found out we had the same friends. then we found music we had in common. they we decided to trade music and all of the sudden we were friends! it goes to show you that sometimes you can't spot a 'best friend' on your first meeting.

Another time i met someone who didnt even introduce themselves to me! they almost ignored me, and i was offended they didnt ask my name, since i was new to the school. later on at a dinner party we were talking in a group and she remarked on my cute outfit and, you know girls, we hit it off! we then were able to have such fun times together! if i had continued thinking she was stuck up then i would have never bonded with her.

I sometimes think, 'what if i had stuck with my first opinions?'. it goes to show you, maybe you have missed a 'best friend opportunity' and didnt even know it. i wouldn't have known what i was missing if i had not talked to those two people above. i would have gone on in life thinking that i had all i needed. in reality, you could meet ANYONE and they could potentially be your new friend. so don't pass up an opportunity to meet someone new, you never know who this stranger will be in the future!

Allie xx