posted by Shelley
People’s perception of one specific event can be totally different! Take one simple thing (such as a phone conversation) between two people and the instant replay is certain to be different. Sometimes, it’s not even close…
I spent the greater part of the day with my Grandmother who is ill. Perry manned the phones and ended up being my personal secretary for the day, speaking often with concerned family and friends. My cousin and long-time close friend (like a sister kind of friendship) spoke with Perry on the phone. Upon returning the call, she relayed the way she perceived her conversation with Perry: “Perry needs to work on his phone skills. I had to drag any and all information out of him. He’s slow! He’s so soft spoken.”
And then of course, Perry relayed the way he perceived the conversation: “I had a great conversation with Jerilyn. She told me about her Grandmother; I told her about mine. We talked about your Grandmother…I really like her.”
I’ve never been much for remembering details. Jerilyn and I would go on vacation together, and as she would tell the stories of our escapades to others, I found myself captivated — thinking, “and then what did we do?” I’ve always known that she sees things and notices things that are lost on me. Still, the differences in the replay of one little phone call made me laugh out loud. I guess because I know them both so well.
Perry and I have both mentioned playing the game World of Warcraft — Jerilyn is a gamer as well, and we have all played together on many occasions — but she hasn’t had the opportunity to get to know Perry outside of that realm. I wonder if Perry felt like he was talking to Zarra and she felt as if she was speaking to Sparrowcat. Or maybe she expected the professional persona and he was attempting a personal one. Either way — it was funny stuff.
Of course this little exercise got me thinking about the way that I am perceived — professionally and personally. How many times do I hang up the phone thinking that I was persuasive, or compassionate or whatever…and really didn’t come across that way at all? I wonder how many times today my words or actions were perceived differently than I intended.