Prompt #6: Peeling back the onion layers...

I have actually been on a date recently with someone who I initially saw as being quite different from me, not only in his personality but also in his mannerisms, culture, preferences, and many other aspects of his life.  My first impression of him was mainly based on my first encounter with him as well as what I had heard about him from other people that had known him for longer than I did.  Although they described him as dependable, very social, amiable, and always willing to lend a helping hand to a fellow friend in need, they also mentioned that he could come off seeming like a player at times, enjoyed teasing others a lot, being all around mischievous, and could sometimes be seen as a little pompous.  And so when I first met him, I already had all these pre-judgments about him just because people had said so much, so although he definitely was a bit of all of those qualities, I think the stories that my friends had told me about him only helped amplify and maybe exaggerate my impression that he fulfilled all those negative characteristics really well. Especially as I ran into him more often and I started noticing that he kept making comments complimenting me on how I looked if I was wearing something nice that day,  I would just attribute it to his sociable, naturally gregarious personality and laugh it off as a joke because I never thought I would be at all attracted to him because he was so different from me. But because we had work together this year and got to interact a lot more than we did last year (proximity and the mere-exposure effect at work!), I began to find myself seeing more and more of his positive sides and learning other aspects about him that I had never known before that started to make him seem more attractive in my eyes.  For example I found it really interesting to see how he efficiently he could read people and be able to strike up a conversation with almost any stranger we came across! I suppose it is interesting and ironic that the part of his character that I admire the most about him is his ability to excel in the very thing I am terrible at- being able to speak comfortably and confidently in front of many people and having the ability to read other people's emotions and easily connect to their thoughts.  
     In terms of "love style" however, I would have to say that we are both very different and when we do talk about relationships in general, I can tell we are often on different wavelengths and are seeking different types of romantic relationships.  While he has a Ludus style of loving because he is very playful and puts on a much more joking, playful mask before you get to know him more, I have a more Storge style of loving because I like to focus on really getting to know the other person, and understanding everything about them before entering into an official relationship.  I guess I have always felt that your boyfriend or significant other should also technically be like your best friend of the opposite sex because you should be able to be yourself in front of them and be able to talk to them about anything in your life.  So I always thought that my first relationship would grow out of an initial stable friendship. But because he has a more Ludic style of loving and we don't always connect with each other in terms of our relationship interests, I don't know if we would work out even if we tried going out for a bit... oh well I suppose only time will tell.