A better understanding

We interact with people each and every day. Sometimes it's with the same people, sometimes with different ones. And I tend to be a pretty good judge of character. When I interview new team members, I need just under 10 minutes to figure out if I want him/her on my team. And those around me will agree that I'm almost always spot-on with the assessment. Some of it is a talent, some of it is from experience, and the rest is just being keenly observant when necessary. It's one of my few feats of strength, you could say. But every once in a while, even someone I know to the point of predictability will catch me off-guard. It's that one interaction, that one statement, that one miscue, that one lack of something, that one snap, that one gesture, that one seemingly benign or simple thing that changes my perception of the individual, either positively or negatively, forever. I bring this up because I've had three of these "transformative experiences" in the last month. One for the better, two for the worse. I'm not so pompous to think my opinion is the only one that matters. Hardly. But I talk about it because it's completely thrown me for a loop. Have I just been so unwilling to admit what I've really always known about someone? Do the holidays so transform some people that they're not acting like themselves? Or do they just get revealed under stress? Or, most importantly, has my character-judgment gene been turned off like my devils parsley cilantro scent receptor? Either way, I might be taking 15 minutes on upcoming interviews instead of 10... ***************** Today's Daily Joy was getting up to a quiet household. So quiet and dark, that not even the dogs felt like moving from their comfortable perches. I love quiet.