That easygoing guy at work whom you thought could never hurt a fly may turn out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.
That seemingly wonderful girl whom you could confidently say you could trust more than some people in your own family could wind up stabbing you in the back.
In essence, some people aren't always whom they seem.
Pay close attention to the last part of that sentence: "Whom they seem."
What we're saying, really, is that we perceive someone to be a certain way, but we can never be totally sure they're like that beneath the surface, or when they're not around us.
And as I've reminded you in prior entries, perception is reality in our eyes even though that may not be the case in actuality.
Yet, the same works when it's the other way around.
Someone may strike us as rude, antisocial, indifferent, but when we really get to know them, we find we were totally off.
And the other thing to keep in mind is that people may behave differently depending on the social context in which they find themselves.
For example, you are likely much looser around close friends than people you've never met before.
And you're likely to behave differently in a group setting as opposed to communicating one on one with somebody, the latter placing you in a more vulnerable position.
Actions are usually the best judge of one's character, but sometimes even they belie a person's true character.
For example, the most toxic supervisor at work could be a strong advocate of animal/human rights, donating thousands of dollars to charities each year.
The only way to mitigate this is to postpone judgment until you know the person well enough to make an accurate assessment.
It could very well just be that the person holds both good and bad traits, but the situation itself -- whatever that may be -- exposes us only to one set.
Judging a book by its cover always carries risk.
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