First impressions matter, and small habits can make or break them. Here are 10 seemingly minor habits that could be sabotaging your first encounters. Avoid these pitfalls to make sure you present your best self every time.
Table of Contents
- 1. Talking Badly About Your Partner
- 2. Animal Conduct
- 3. Shopping Cart Karens
- 4. Punching Down
- 5. Workplace Devotees
- 6. Flagrant Exhibitionism
- 7. The Close Talker
- 8. Idiot Amplifiers
- 9. First Person Obsession
- 10. Insincerity
- 12 American Foods That Shock Foreigners
- 12 Dishes from the '60s and '70s That Vanished from History
- 10 High Protein Meals For Quick Weight Loss
1. Talking Badly About Your Partner
"I've known a couple of people who would just automatically start the petty and mean complaining," shares a commenter. Of course, not every marriage is always happy, so it depends on the context. "Insulting them is bad, but if they can't get out their frustrations with a friend, who do they vent to? The significant other?" Complaining to a friend is one thing; doing the same to strangers is another.
2. Animal Conduct
Nothing will endear you to a dog lover more than reciprocating their hound's inevitable affection. However, unfriendly canine-phobic pedestrians need to lighten up — unless they have a good excuse, such as past trauma or allergies. "Nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody, comes before my pet or between me and my pet's care," declares a defensive animal friend.
3. Shopping Cart Karens
"I saw a woman just push her cart right behind my car as I was walking up," explains a thread observer. "I pushed it right behind her car so she had to get out and move it." I will add this: a fully-grown adult needs to return their cart; a lone mother with three young children can be exempt from this indictment.
4. Punching Down
"That's an immediate date over if they are rude to the wait staff or retail workers," declares a no-nonsense citizen. Though this is a Westernized perspective, there is no excuse for treating anybody as beneath you. However, if invited to dinner in the Far East, guests are advised not to speak to the help like they would the host, lest the host be insulted.
5. Workplace Devotees
"Here at (company name), we are like family!" jokes a thread poster who must deal with this employer at work. Some people wonder what this employer's family is like if he considers colleagues similarly. "Narcissistic, abusive, and completely detached from reality?" asks a sarcastic observer.
6. Flagrant Exhibitionism
"They're stood without clothes in my kitchen by the open fridge drinking my coconut milk straight from the carton," says a post member. Of course, helping yourself to the contents of someone's fridge is one thing, but sans clothing? Moreover, I must address the elephant in the room: who drinks coconut milk?
7. The Close Talker
The close-talking phenomenon is addressed in a hilarious Seinfeld episode, where Elaine's new boyfriend disgruntles her friends with his speaking proximity. Close talkers also make me uncomfortable, though I have found a solution. If you stand in a boxing or fight stance, leaning back on your trailing leg, that gives a buffer of two feet that cannot be invaded without them tripping over. Sorry, close talkers; desperate times call for desperate measures.
8. Idiot Amplifiers
Where the noisy cell phone talkers may have become normalized, a new dawn of public music tyranny is upon us. My enemy is the local beach mp3 player apocalypse; it is usually on a tiny, five-watt speaker, and the music rarely suits the occasion. At least play something with summer vibes, not your lo-fi Soundcloud grind music. "If you're blasting music in public," announces a beleaguered observer, "I instantly hate you."
9. First Person Obsession
"Small exaggerations or telling stories from your perspective once in a while are fine," advises a curiously sensible person, "but seemingly being unable to frame your perspective and feelings separate from the rest of the world is concerning." You know that person: they begin every sentence: "I think for me—."
10. Insincerity
"If they are too sweet at first," advises a wily person, "they can't be trusted." Something is unnerving about people who are too nice, too quick. "Absolutely," someone agrees. "Never once has someone like that not turned out to be a total psycho — in my experience."
What would you add to this litany of negative human traits?
(Source: Reddit).
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