The company I work for was acquired a couple of months ago. Much is change is probably afoot, and there certainly have been changes, but so far my work life has been business as usual.
One thing that did happen with the new company, though, was that I was randomly chosen to be a featured in a management meeting for the department I belong to in the new company. I received a questionnaire from which I could cherry pick questions about myself to answer, and I was also asked for a picture. This is actually a good idea, but I couldn't help wondering if I weren't a horrible candidate for a get-to-know-you blurb.
As I went through the questionnaire I noted how boring most of my honest answers were. As an example, I was asked the most interesting place I have been. I have been a lot of places, but few anyone would care to know about, and fewer still that I would consider interesting. I chose Lowell Observatory in Arizona where Pluto was discovered because I have Pluto on the brain, but most people visiting the observatory wouldn't classify it as particularly exciting. I visited the Grand Canyon on the same trip, but an old observatory it was.
My real problem is that I don't do the surface level stuff well. I can't give exciting surface-level answers because on that level I want my life to be boring.
I have long believed that if you sat just about any random person down in a room and asked them probing questions you would find that they have a rich life history and a nuance to what makes them tick. Deep down, I believe that most people are far more than they seem, and full of interesting motivations, thoughts, ideas, and apparent contradictions. I want to believe I am like most people in this respect. On the surface I'm as boring as boring can be, though.
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I agree with this. Most people are interesting, and I am confident that if I could chat with someone for an hour, I could start to find out the different interesting things about them, and then want to talk with them further to learn about those things (the homeless people in Boston is a classic example). I also think it's interesting that the people who might appear to be exciting in such a survey probably aren't really that much more exciting than the person who appears boring.
Q: What's the craziest thing you've ever done?
A: Skydiving.
Sample natural reaction: Wow, skydiving?! That's crazy! People die from doing that. I'd never do that. It seems so scary! That person is so exciting!
Reality: Boring person had the opportunity come up when they were invited to do it with a friend. They thought, "Hey, that seems fun. I should do that while I have the chance."
Q: Where's the most exotic place you've been?
A: Africa.
Sample natural reaction: Wow, Africa?! That's amazing! That person probably went on a safari and saw lions and rhinos and giraffes and stuff! That'd be so cool!!! One time I went to Canada, but that's about it. This person is really exciting and does amazing stuff that I never get to do!
Reality: Boring person was briefly deployed there and lived in a military compound, never leaving their assigned area once, and never seeing anything that would make the place look any different than western Texas.
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