Some people have asked if I’m a cop. More than once, I’ve been told I look like law enforcement.
I kinda get it. I’m bald and kind of look like a thumb… and I noticed that SOME cops also resemble thumbs. If I were taller, I’d probably get it even more.
The truth is, I’m not a fan of most cops. Though I don’t think all cops are “bad”, I believe they are often poorly trained and many are on the force for the wrong reasons.
Do people have preconceived notions about you? Maybe because of your age, or race? Are you smart, but don’t need glasses? What’s the story?
I’ve been mistaken for a nun more than once.
I admit that it was always in the context of a Catholic Church, but still. In my former congregation of several thousand there were only three or four nuns.
On a couple of occasions, someone has mistaken me for a timid, demure sort. Eventually I opened my mouth and their opinion changed.
I apparently give off engineer vibes. People ask me if I work in IT/semiconductors. And my bosses would ask me to solve their math problems even though my math is pretty abysmal.
Older fellow that is showing some grey hair, lives mountain rural (because I love it) and drives an SUV (because I need it).
Also, every one up here at altitude assumes everyone skis. Um thank you but no. I love the solitude of mountain living, I’m not going to go cram myself in line with hundreds of people on vacation.
I wear jeans, tie-dye, ankle-length skirts and dresses, and Eastern clothes like salwar kameez (not all at the same time), which has led a few people to the impression that I must be vegetarian/vegan. “You’re having steak? But I thought…”
I’ve had problems in my life with people assuming I’m big and dumb, because I’m tall, large (both in build and I’m fat), and I have a deep voice.
I think they also assume I lean to the right politically, because I’m a white male living in Texas and because of my personal style (fairly conservative clothing, short hair, clean shaven). They also assume that I’m a big sports fan as well. I do lean a little to the right, but I’m not a huge sports fan, at least not since I was about 25 or so.
I’ve gotten this one many times too; they think I’m a non (cigarette)smoking, tree hugging, vegetarian. Only one of those is true now (though I’m tree hugging adjacent!).
Until recently I didn’t know my nationality (adopted). My whole life I’ve been told “you look __________” or “you must be ________”. I can understand it; I’m kind of different looking .
Apparently I have major RBF so some people have thought I was crabby and anti-social. Ok, there are days, but for the most part, I’m nice, dammit. No clue why I look so sour because I tend to be happy and optimistic.
My last boss even commented on it once. I may be sarcastic but not bitchy. Really.
I was, kind of. I was sure I was some flavor of Latin /Hispanic (sorry, I never know which is the correct term) and I apparently don’t have any of that. My looks come from the Black and Chickasaw peeps that make up my bio father’s family.(Couldn’t get the blonde hair and blue eyes of bio mom’s side, oh no ).
When I was younger a few people assumed I was gay. That never bothered me, it just wasn’t accurate. A couple of years ago I was talking with some women from work during lunch break, and they assumed that I must have had a very active dating life before I was married. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.
I must look like someone who knows where things are.
I am constantly being stopped and asked for directions. It’s been especially bad in hospitals, where people want me to point the way to the Department of Nostril Hair Laser Removal and similarly obscure destinations.
I don’t want to disappoint by telling them to go to the Information Desk, so I make up a complex set of directions and send them on their way. They’ll appreciate the exercise.
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