Isn’t it weird how people perceive you? I’ve always thought I should probably add some text to the bit that appears at the bottom of each blog post where you’re supposed to tell people a bit about yourself, but it’s so blimin’ difficult.  I think we must see ourselves very differently to others.

I was pretty sure that I’m just seen as ‘single with a cat and crochet habit.  Slightly weird,’ and that that kind of covered it.  But in some strange coincidence over the last few weeks, people have been giving unprompted additions to this picture.

I’ve met two very different people, described myself in that awkward introduction stage in those words and was met with two totally different responses.  One was ‘How old are you? Ah, you still have a bit of time to have children then’ (a bit presumptuous, I thought, from someone I’d only just met).  The other….: ‘That’s not weird – you’re a kind of hippie’.  (I quite liked that).

And there have been comments I really wouldn’t expect. A neighbour recently appeared stunned when I swore in conversation.  ‘We didn’t think you were that sort of person!’ he said.  Firstly, what ‘sort of person’ did that make me?, and second, who the hell is ‘we’?  Have there been neighbourhood meetings where my character has been discussed?  If so, I think they’ve jumped to some other weird conclusions.  Like when the kids next door kicked a ball into my garden (again!) and came round to ask for it back.  Their grandmother knocked on my door and almost grovelled a thank you for popping it back over the fence…as though I would do anything different…

A friend told me that he imagined my blog writing to be a considered affair over a leisurely cup of tea.  I probably shouldn’t admit to this, but on a Tuesday it’s a frantic scramble between the final teleconference of the day and leaving for my yoga class, which means that at some point I’ll be typing while trying to pull on my yoga socks (and believe me, they’re a bugger to get on with one hand).  Fridays are more casual, I admit, but they are written with a slight desperation to get the laptop switched off for the weekend.

And then this week one of the people who recently moved into my area in the office overheard a series of calls to two different helpdesks.  It’s a long story, but several calls were of the frustrated variety and one where finally, finally I got the solution I needed.  By this point, I knew I was dealing with Brian, who is off to Malta for a week with his wife today, as a matter of fact.  Brian called me, told me things were sorted so I told him I loved him, wished him a lovely holiday and put the phone down.  My colleague looked over and said ‘you’re a WYSIWYG, aren’t you?’  After being informed that this meant ‘What You See Is What You Get’, I agreed that I probably was.  I’m still not sure if it’s 100% good, but I’m ok with that.

So now maybe my description of myself should be ‘single with a cat and crochet habit.  Slightly weird.  Not quite too old for children (should that be my goal in life), kind of hippie, frequent swear-er, returner of children’s toys, frantic blogger and WYSIWYG’. And that’s why the bit at the bottom of my posts has always just said ‘erm…’ :o)

Yoga socks – think of these next time you see a Tuesday post from me :o)