What things tell you a lot about a person?

[mvd]

The eyes and whether someone's a Democrat or not are big factors in my judgment - but the biggest might be how someone treats pets and animals in general.

[Shell Beau]

1. Yes! If they treat animals like shit, well then....

[kick-ass-bob]

2. Someone's shoes tells a lot about where someone has been.

Life is like a box of chocolates...

:crazy:

[BigMcLargehuge]

3. yeah, but how to do you get a first impression?

Hi, nice to meet you... here hold my hamster for a minute.

[Shell Beau]

4. Hee hee!

:silly:

[mvd]

5. First impressions can fade

Hi, Big! :hi:

[BigMcLargehuge]

6. allo allo

Nice to see you again :)

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

7. I agree with you

Also, when someone doesn't hold the door for me when I'm entering a store behind them (when I know they've seen me), that tells me they may not have much consideration for others. Is it just me, or do I try too hard to have consideration for others?

[tigereye]

10. yeah that's one of my pet peeves too -

but a lot of folks pay no attention to their environment, or to other people in it, for some unknown reason.

[Clintmax]

8. How they are dressed is a big one for me...

If they are wearing dirty clothes, pants that hang down to the floor showing their ass crack, sweatpants...this shows me they don't care about themselves and probably don't care about others either.

[AlCzervik]

9. usually their manners.

[kwassa]

11. Drooling

[magnetism]

12. attention span

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Their dress, speech/language, manners, how they treat lower station people

That is, how they are dressed - the clothing style itself, but also how it is worn, how well-maintained it is, how well it fits

Speech/language is diction, vocabulary, grammar, and if they are human enough to take the *#(&$%% gum out of their mouth before they speak; and also if they are able to listen to others considerately AND with actually paying attention.

Manners includes opening doors for people, sending thank you notes in a timely manner, dressing appropriate for the situation, etc. AND especially table manners.

And also of incredible importance is how they treat people of lower station - and I'm talking about different classes, but the power differential: how they treat a waiter/waitress, store clerks, baggage guy at the airport, restroom attendant, their employees, children, etc.

[progmom]

29. really? how they dress? and the gum? and thank you notes?

i think you would hate me. :(

[Rabrrrrrr]

32. I could never hate you!

Though I would ask you to spit out your gum if you were around me and talking, and I might lower my opinion of you, just a smidgen.

But etiquette and manners are very important!

At least, to me.

[progmom]

34. I'm messing with you, pal.

:hi:

I rarely chew gum. It's a sad story, really. When I was 15 and living in Holland, I was filmed chewing gum excitedly in the front row of a Manhattan Transfer performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival. That performance was aired on national TV, and the next morning, I walked into school, and everyone started chewing gum obnoxiously to mock me. :blush: I think there were only 2 or 3 Dutch-language stations on TV at the time, so almost everyone saw my shameful gum-chewing.

[Rabrrrrrr]

36. ROFL! All gum chewers should be publicly humiliated.

How sad, but it looks like that cured you of your gum chewing.

:-)

And I am sure that you would never dress tackily, like wear a sweatpants outfit shopping or to a restaurant or, you know, in public at all.

[progmom]

40. you're right....though i might stop at whole foods on my way home from the

gym...is that ok? ;)

[JimmyJazz]

14. Overall hygiene. Someone who doesn't value themselves enough

to keep clean isn't going to value much else.

[Lilyhoney]

15. Their face and body language.

I am fluent in reading ones face and body language. It speaks so loudly but does'nt matter if you don't know the language.

[Ivan Sputnik]

16. When they "borrow" something

and then keep "forgetting" to give it back, even after a friendly reminder. I had a boss once who "borrowed" my office key, then refused to give it back -- finally told me to go get a new one. That's when I started looking for a new job.

[underpants]

17. The face, especially the mouth part of the face

:bounce:

[BlueIris]

18. What books they read, own. Sometimes I noticed a person's

reading habits--are they nice to books or do they trash them? Do they like hardcover, or stick with paperback? Where do they read them--books all over living space, in car, etc., or on desk/shelves?

[SOteric]

19. What they say about other people who are not present.

[Callalily]

20. Yes, SOteric I agree.

If they treat others with respect, this certainly speaks volumes about that persons character.

[IntravenousDemilo]

21. What they don't find funny.

It's much more revealing than what they do find funny.

[Heidi]

22. The way they treat other sentient beings when they have nothing to gain

one way or the other.

[progmom]

24. you pegged it

:hug:

[Rob H.]

23. Before I even opened this thread, I thought, "How they treat animals."

Looks like great minds think alike. ;)

[mvd]

26. Cool

:-)

Lots of good things mentioned already. Remember that the topic isn't necessarily about what tells you a person is good or bad (though I believe that there ARE fundamentally good and bad people - lots more good or neutral than bad.)

[caty]

25. Ditto on how they treat pets.

But also, go out to lunch or dinner with them. See how they treat waitresses. I've found this to be very telling. How they treat waitresses can show how they will treat you when their guard is down.

[Gormy Cuss]

27. how someone treats service staff is another good indicator.

as is whether when driving they think right on red means they can cut off pedestrians in spite of an illuminated walk signal.

[IntravenousDemilo]

37. When people cut me off when I have the WALK signal,

I generally huck something at their car -- you know, whatever I have available. If I've been to the market, it'll be an egg. If I can't find an egg, a rock will do.

If you're ever in Toronto and you do something bad like cut off some pedestrian who has the right of way, and you get something thrown at your car, then how do you do? We may have just met.

By the way, if I'm riding along on my bike and I notice a car parked in the bike lane (which is put there for my safety), I will take my alternate water bottle filled with urine and squirt it into the interior if the window's open (cloth upholstery is particularly nice). If the window is shut, I give the driver-side door a good swish, particularly the handle. And if it's winter, I aim for the lock.

I otherwise obey all the rules of the road, even when no one else is around, and I yell at cyclists who run reds or endanger pedestrians, because they give the rest of us a bad name.

[Gormy Cuss]

46. You'd do well walking in Boston, I'd guess.

It's the home of many peds who behave just like you. I know, I was one.

I bike here in CA where it's relatively tame outside of the major urban areas, and I yell at the bad cyclists too -- are we related?
:hi:

[IntravenousDemilo]

48. Throwing things at malefactors who flout traffic laws is

unfortunately frowned upon here in Toronto, along with most displays of discontent. Most pedestrians just won't stand up for the natural rights accorded to them as The People Who Were Here Before Cars.

Oh, another thing I do when I'm walking along the sidewalk and a car blasts its horn near me (usually unnecessarily) and makes me jump out of my skin, is to move towards them screaming "SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP WITH YOUR FUCKING HORN!!! ASSHOLE!!!!" I'm just an average-sized guy, but for some reason it seems to scare the shit out of them. They probably think I'm crazy. My friends are mortified. I don't care; it makes me instantly feel better in a cathartic way.

I wouldn't be surprised if we were related in some way. My grandfather impregnated my grandmother in 1913 and then fucked off back down to Wyoming, and apparently he "got around". I'd like to think there'd be more people like us anyway.

[rockymountaindem]

51. Walking around in Toronto is a pain in the ass...

I go to U of T, and there are a lot of small intersections all over the place where drivers seem to think "nobody could be walking around *here*, it's only a two lane street! I must be the only person here!"

Idiots. Though I assume it's like that in a lot of cities.

[youthere]

28. I have a lot of things I look at...

When I was dating, I always paid close attention to how he treated/talked about his mother and/or sisters.

How they treat their animals is a big thing. Filthy food and water dishes and overflowing smelly litterboxes attest to a person's character more than anything.

[redqueen]

30. I wanted to say how they treat animals...

but I recently met someone who seems to treat them great...humans not so much.

[mvd]

31. I meant as a rule

There are always exceptions.

[jane_pippin]

33. When you ask them, "Don't you care about this person's job?" and they say

"No."

I'm still pissed about a community meeting I went to last night. There's a big debate about a business here in the neighborhood, and a lot of my friends' livelihoods depend on it.

This lady was trying to act all diplomatic by calling for neighbors to come in after the meeting had ended to talk about it more, but some of the employees aren't neighbors by her definition and they certainly deserve to have a voice in the discussion too.

So I ask her, "Could you please extend that invitation to the employees as well as neighbors?"

She says, "no, I don't want to hear about that."

When people show you who they are, believe them. Day-um.

(I posted here about this last night, but like I said, I'm still pissed. Sorry.)

[Shell Beau]

35. I can tell a lot about someone just by

having a conversation with them. I try not to judge people based on their politics, which can be hard at times, but people often give away who they are w/o even trying.

[Wapsie B]

38. Their eyes and how I feel around them

tell me a lot. The way they converse IRL and online can be revealing. I mean there has to be something online to spark an attraction. But as of yet I've not found it.

[wideopen]

39. how they eat a sandwich

I have found that how a person eats a sandwich relates directly to how they structure their life. Do they just munch indiscriminately?- person usually has no direction or plan. Eat the best bite first? No retirement savings. Saves the best for last? willing to forgo luxury's of today for security later. Anyone else care to opine on this observation?

[tjwmason]

41. Everything that I can see.

I try to assimilate all the information presented to me.

If I meet a person - dress, posture, appearance, manner.

If I'm in a person's house, then a scan over the titles on the book shelves is essential (indeed a quick check whether they have book shelves).

The more I can see of a person, the more likely I am to make an accurate assesment of them.

Whilst I do tend to form pretty instant impressions of people, I also keep an open mind, and constantly reasses if new evidence comes to light.

[Redstone]

42. 1. If they're wearing a uniform.

2) If they're pointing a gun at me (uniform or not).

3) If they're drinking shots of tequila at 9 AM.

4) If they're shooting drinks of tequila at 9 AM.

5) If they're driving a Hummer.

6) Another one using the word hummer, but not allowed by DU rules.

7) If they're looking up at me, I have a good idea that they're either average height or short.

8) If they're looking down at me, I have a good idea that they're damn tall.

Redstone

[Shell Beau]

43. hee hee!!

:rofl:

[NV Whino]

44. How they treat their animals is number one

Then what books they read (or don't read) and what music they listen to.

[mvd]

49. I'd be hard to figure out musically, since..

I like most kinds. :-)

[NV Whino]

50. That's a clue right there.

[wildhorses]

45. actions speak louder than words

[Kenroy]

47. How they treat waiters

and other service people.

[Jade Fox]

55. Good one!

Waitpeople are the one service class nearly everyone has contact with,
and I too am immediately turned off by someone who treats them poorly.

A guy I used to work with (and had a crush on) once said when asked
how much he tips, "I don't figure percentages, I just give them a lot."

[rockymountaindem]

52. What about people who just don't have contact with animals?

How will you tell then? I'm just not a big fan of animals, but I've never ever hit one or pulled the wings of an insect or anything like that. Animals and I just sort of go our separate ways... I think the animals are cool with that ;)

[enigmatic]

53. A bunch of things

How they treat animals, and people who aren't in their own perceived "class"...

Whether they dabble in partisan political/moral/religious hypocrisy.

Whether they are a "strings" person; one who never does anything selflessly, but always w/ an expectation of getting something back in return...

An undercurrent of bitterness and negativity in every strain of their conversation..

All of those things tell me alot about a person, and whether I want to know them.

[SocratesInSpirit]

54. A big indicator as to whether or not someone is a democrat or republican

is their opinion on poverty and poor people. If I ask someone a question about welfare or poverty in general I can usually tell from their answer what their political persuasion is likely to be:

e.g., if somebody makes a disparaging statement using the term "welfare queens" or "lifting yourself up by your own bootstraps" they are likely to be a republican, whereas if someone makes a statement that demonstrates they understand poverty is not a condition that is easy or simple to get out of, then they are more likely to be a liberal.

[Arugula Latte]

56. Besides sense of humor and attitude toward animals

I tend to look for signs of the overtly religious. If they, for example, are wearing a cross, I'll think, okay, I'm probably not going to be close with this person; I'll just keep things superficial and at arm's length.

[mvd]

57. I'll tell you one of mine

If they start talking about God right away, that person might not be right for me, either. I personally don't mind crosses or songs with religious overtones. For instance, singer Mindy Smith's beliefs seemed pretty similar to mine.

[Dastard Stepchild]

58. random acts of kindness....

and more-than-random efforts to see the humor in life.
I just like a sweet soul, and you can often sense that in the way that people talk, in the way that they reflect on their experiences, and in the manner in which they try to live their life. No one is perfect, but if they try to live conscientiously, and with care and consideration for all beings, then they tend to get a big :thumbsup: from me.

[progmom]

60. and i think a person's answer to this tells me a lot about a person

which to me gives you the uber-thumbsup! :loveya:

[Dastard Stepchild]

61. yeah.... so it goes without saying....

that you totally fit my criteria for huminoid awesomeus. :headbang:
But, I felt the need to say it anyways, because I've prolly never said it quite so consicely in the past.
:loveya:



:)

[sakabatou]

59. Eyes and superficiality