First impressions can be powerful. I sometimes forget that. I don't think it's a stretch for me to say that the parents that take their children to the school that my daughter goes to are fairly liberal. I see lots of Obama and Democrat stickers on cars, there is at least one electric car, and some eschew a car entirely for a bicycle. I didn't realize until yesterday that we gave off a certain impression with our big Dodge 4x4 truck with a giant Marine Corps magnet and stickers. No political stickers, just USMC. It was thought that perhaps we might be uptight, stuffy, closed-minded conservatives. Until, that is, a parent saw my tattoos and funky (questionable) fashion sense in footwear. I never thought that I wouldn't get along with or not like any parent from that school possibly because of political differences, but it also never occurred to me that someone might not spend the time to get to know me because of the vehicle I drove or the magnets or stickers I had on mine! Instead of my tattoos closing doors on me, they helped to open them into a new, wonderful friendship. Isn't that that opposite of what is supposed to happen? Cheers to my new friends and venturing into a territory that one is unsure about, and happy and surprising outcomes!
