The Art of First Impressions
After a very long time spent looking for a relationship that would lead to marriage, I had all but given up. This was back in 1997 when the internet (AOL 3.0) was beginning to really catch on. AOL had a search bar where you could type in a keyword (in this case “Christianity”) and go to a particular group who associated themselves with that keyword. On that landing page, there was a message board where people could communicate, “chat” back and forth and get to know people they otherwise would never get to know.
It was not meant to be a dating or match site, just a place to chat (almost like a prehistoric Facebook). There was a username on the message board that from a glance looked like a friend of mine. I clicked on the post, and to my chagrin, it was not my friend. It was a guy using the message board as a way to find women.
For me, first impressions are fragile, and most of the time I would hesitate to accept the first impression. However, some people lay all of their cards on the table and show their true colors right up front. That was this guy. He went on in his post to describe the “perfect woman” for him, even down to her hair color, eye color, and body measurements. He ended by saying, “If you do not match any or all of these criteria, don’t even bother responding.”
Thankful this was no friend of mine, I clicked out and saw there was a response to his post. My first thought (impression) was, “What poor woman would respond to this jerk?” Well, it was the woman with whom I am now married. If I had not clicked on her response to this guy’s message posting, I may not be married to my wife or even sitting here writing this book.
She let this guy know that he would never find the right woman because he was only looking at the outward appearance. No self-respecting female would ever want to be around a pompous, self-absorbed man such as himself.
She was preaching to the guy and even quoted Bible verses to him! I admired her courage to speak up and tell it like it was, so I emailed her privately and told