Just Impressions

My life and my work are all about people. I meet with them, talk to them, listen to them observe them -- and take in all of the nuances that go with them. I am always amazed at the way people maintain their fingers and shoes.

A few weeks ago, I met with a pretty high-profile-type gentleman who was nicely dressed in a suit, white shirt, and tie. As we conducted our business, I was in a postion to observe his shoes. They were worn and scuffed. They detracted from his professional status and caused me to make judgements about his attention to detail. I tried to find excuses to impair my judgement -- in a hurry, out of shoe polish, only one pair of shoes, dressed in the dark, etc. Needless to say, all the excuses I could muster up just couldn't overshadow the scruffy shoes.

Just last week, I was in in meeting at a local school. Counselors, office staff, a consultant, the principal, and I were all seated around a nice table in the school's conference room. It was a meeting centered on school data. All participants had their hands on papers upon which were the recent results of a school-wide survey. As each participant pointed to their concern or question on the paper report, their hands and fingers were part of the focal point as the data were discussed. I couldn't keep my eyes off the principal's hands, more specifically his fingernails. They were clean and neat, but the fingernails were so much longer than the average male administrator, or everyone at the table for that matter. My mind went everywhere -- cocaine user, too lazy to groom, likes long nails, ready for a hand photo-shoot, and so on. For whatever it's worth, long fingernails on males, especially those in prominent positions, are just so unprofessional, unappealing, distracting --- you get my drift.

Just my impressions . . .