Perception vs. Reality
February 11, 2008 by Kailani
Filed under random thoughts
During this last trip, the crew was talking about the difference between how we perceive people judging by their actions at work and how they probably really are at home.
For example, they said that they view me as a feminine, girly-girl who takes pride in my appearance. They believe that my house is always organized and immaculate without a thing out of place.
Hah!
If only they knew that I rarely wear make-up during the week and the most that I primp is to pull my hair back into a pony tail. I’m the Mommy who’s always sitting on the sidewalk waiting for Girlie Girl after school while the other Moms stand on the side. And although I prefer a clean house, it’s not always on my to-do list.
So what about you? Do your co-workers/friends see you for who you really are?
Spotlight Comment by Yoshi of hello! Yoshi:
You mean you’re not the perfect mom? I don’t believe it.
I think the people at my work wonder what I even look like anymore, since they’re living in St. Louis, and I’m here at home in Washington. Of course, then again, some people didn’t even know that I moved. LOL
But most of the people I work with have seen my place, because I did a lot of BBQ’s there, so there’s no mystery to them.
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Huh, who would have thought! That is how people tend to see me too and I don’t get it! It doesn’t take them long to realize that I am not that much a girlie girl, I like to think of myself as a nice mix!
Baby Advice’s last blog post..Bisphenol A Was Found In Many Plastic Baby Bottles
What a great question! I think the people that I am really close to probably do know what I am like. Even thought I taught in my last school for three years before becoming a SAHM, I do not know if they really knew me. They thought of me as an overly organized person who really had her head on straight (total professional who was always documenting things in case I needed them). LOL – My house is nothing like that. Sure it is not my fault completely thanks to my three boys (hubby definitely included). And I always put important papers away here in safe places, never to find them again.
Most people would never know that I am a huge hockey fan and used to scream and shout when I had season tickets to the point that I would have no voice after a game. One other item is my friends know I love crafts of all kinds (knitting is BIG again), my students and other teachers in the past may not have known thanks to what I had been teaching there. Now I am the mommy with beads, Play Doh, and camera out and ready all the time who never has time to clean up the clutter in our very small house.
TheAngelForever’s last blog post..Baby’s first goose egg
People probably think I am high-maintenance, because when I go out I am always put together. Makeup, nice clothes, hair in place. But in reality, I don’t spend hours in the bathroom…30 minutes top.
Jacki’s last blog post..Aloha Friday – Bad Habits Edition
I’m sure that my friends see me as the uber-clean house too and that’s so not me. My friend Heather was over on Saturday and we hadn’t picked up at all… I tried to make sure the place didn’t smell of bad garbage.
Mind you it wasn’t filthy…just cluttered. She kept saying that it wasn’t that bad.
My office looks like a dump right now.
However, my friends know that I’m not a girl-girl in makeup cuz I never wear it. And they should know by the dirty car that I’m not a super clean freak. I guess they feel that since I have just one child that my stuff must not get as messy as their place. But Heather was saying it looked as if I had 5 kids.
Renee’s last blog post..Time to deliver the cookies
I love this………if only I knew……..
angie’s last blog post..Who do you look like?
Since I’m a SAHM these days, I think most people perceive me correctly. It’s hard to project an image when you mostly just hang out with your friends who see you at your best and your worst.
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I rarely get to see my co-workers, but my old co-workers from my other job thought I was just the best mom and my kids were so lucky to have me as a mom etc etc. I would keep telling them that my kids will live thru all the damage I’ve done to them and be better people for it! LOLOL
JK I love my kids!
Dee’s last blog post..Out Of Sorts……
I have yet to ask what people think of me. But they must be perceiving that I have the greatest patience having married to someone froma different race — in truth, I don’t. Patience is something I need to practice a lot.
Also, just because I graduated with a degree in IT, people think that I can troubleshoot any broken PC. Sadly, I can’t — one of the reasons I married another programmer!
Grace’s last blog post..apparently everyone learned their lesson
I’m quiet when I don’t know people well. I have been told that people have thought of me as a snob… they also thought I was very serious. Guess I need to let the snarky side of me out a little more
I don’t know what people think of me, so I don’t know if they have me right. I’ve always wondered how I’m perceived, though.
Arizona’s last blog post..Parle vous Francaise?
I think perception rarely meets reality.
but it would be fun to be able to see myself as someone else does. Too bad that can never happen.
desi’s last blog post..I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M DOING THIS……
I think that people see me as I am. My life tends to be an open book and I’m a kind of what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of person.
Joanne’s last blog post..Join Our Adoption Forums!
I think about this kind of thing often. I am such a completely different person at work than I am at home – I don’t think anyone at work, especially at this current job, knows me at all. I tend to keep to myself and really haven’t made much of an effort at this job to get to know or meet people, so it’s mostly my fault.
I think that I’m the most comfortable around my close friends – we’ve known each other for so long and so well that it’s easy to just relax and be ‘myself’.
Great post!
What a fun post. I can easily see you in both roles. I think that’s why I went with the “many hats I wear” concept on my blog because there are so many different sides to all of us. The one that surprises me most about myself is when people share perceptions of me being perfect – like Mary Poppins or something and I always get a big laugh out of it.
Hugs,
Holly
That’s a great question.
I don’t have a real job, per se, so the closest I can come is to answer with what the folks in the homeschool group I co-lead think of me. Because I usually have my game face on for them, they have a pretty unreal idea of what I’m like.
They tend to think I’m very well-disciplined, organized and that my kids are always good. It cracks me up when I get to know people better, and they find out that I’m a real mess! Renee from fefyfomanna can vouch for that!
Jen’s last blog post..Jaws, lost tooth, extra teeth
You mean you’re not the perfect mom? I don’t believe it.
I think the people at my work wonder what I even look like anymore, since they’re living in St. Louis, and I’m here at home in Washington. Of course, then again, some people didn’t even know that I moved. LOL
But most of the people I work with have seen my place, because I did a lot of BBQ’s there, so there’s no mystery to them.
yoshi’s last blog post..Craig Ferguson takes the citizenship test
I think my friends more than my family have a skewed view of how organized I am. And I always do myself up to go out somewhere, but not at home…
Jen’s last blog post..Praying for Uganda
Hmm…that’s a pretty good question. I’m really not sure how my co-workers perceive me. But isn’t it funny how we perceive others? It’s usually not at all the way it seems to be.
Lulu’s last blog post..Because Your Kiss is on My List
Funny — people have always seen me as outgoing, when really I’m on the lookout for something to hide behind.
feefifoto’s last blog post..I’ll Be Darned If She Didn’t Do It Again…