Working Wounded Blog: Wrong First Impressions
Sometimes it's worth taking a second look.
May 30, 2007 — -- Seattle went through a very difficult fall this year, and no, it didn't have anything to do with the amount of rain we received.
We were one of the lucky cities to play host to the "American Idol" crew and its fabled auditions. That is until Simon and the gang blasted our kids' singing, clothing and general competence.
In fact, the buzz from the Seattle auditions was that they were the "worst" in the six-year history of the show. Simon Cowell said the look of the Northwest kids was "something out of the Addams family." And Ryan Seacrest referred to Seattle as being a "talent vacuum." And there is a guy who knows something about talent vacuums.
Of course, last week the two finalists for "Idol" were both from those very auditions in Seattle. Yep, the worst in the history of the show. But don't stop there. Apolo Anton Ohno, another Northwesterner, danced away with our hearts, and the top prize, in the "Dancing With the Stars" finale.
Am I just a bitter Seattleite? Probably. But I still do think it's worth pointing out that first impressions often don't stand the test of time. In reality TV, life or at work.
Which reminded me of a rule that I figured out in high school, sometime in the last century. I realized that all of the teachers that I ended up really liking I didn't like at the start of the year. And vice versa.
To me, first impressions are interesting, but I like more data points before I decide to go down a particular path, no matter how promising it may appear at first blush.
Take my last doctor. (Please!) It's ironic, but when doctors find out that you write a work advice column, they tend to spend half the appointment telling me about their troubles. Free of charge, of course. Seriously, I learned that I had to get my medical stuff addressed in the first five minutes of the appointment or it would get drowned in griping about insurance companies, reimbursement and general public disdain for the profession.
I'll never forget when one doctor proudly told me that he knew he wanted to be a doctor when he was 12. And now he was miserable. Maybe people shouldn't make lifelong career choices before their bar mitzvah or confirmation. What a concept.
