scottobear | #6229 Buggy LJ, About Nice / friendly people (Reply)

Sakes. Lj was *really* out of whack this morning.

I go to edit my last entry (#6228), and get

"Edit Journal Entries

Error

Could not find selected journal entry."

Then it blinks in and out of existence on my page or friend's pages. Some synchronization trouble with Santa, perhaps. I wonder how connected to earlier issues it is.

I still get comments on the most trivial entries that are *years* old. See also - http://www.livejournal.com/users/jackhammer/4059.html

I've been pretty blessed about meeting and getting along with a wide variety of folks.

Some things that I've found that start folks off on the right foot with...Even if I'm a scary, hairy beast to some.

Affinity with children and animals. Both tend to gravitate toward me, and it's reciprocated. The kids thing can backfire if the parents are exceptionally paranoid. (Sort of a Caspar the Ghost syndrome) That can be bypassed by being introduced to the adults, first.

Willingness to talk about pretty much any topic, or openness in general. People can sense when "shields" are up, and respond in kind.

Promote the "Gentle Giant" stereotype. When Folks aren't scared to death of me, they are generally put at ease because I'm soft-spoken.

A good pre-emptive press. The hippies I know are especially good at that.. Most people I meet via those friends say "Oh, I've heard so much about you!" and that bypasses the whole first impression thing, usually. I have sort of a reputation for being the "Phineas J Whoopee" (Of Tennessee Tuxedo fame) of that group. (Dingo already had the Commander McBragg all wrapped up.) Instead of the 3-D BB, I've got the palmtop and a drawing program.

I can usually hold up my end of a conversation, and usually help the other side out too. If a person is totally dead in the water, I cut 'em a break, let them be quiet, and I move on.