Misconceptions

Since school ended, I've had a lot more time to be social.  What I've learned from this is that people have a lot of misconceptions about me.  Here is a brief glimpse into the enigmatic creature that is Ashley.  Come along with me:

• I am not confrontational.  At all, really.  I have my opinions and if provoked I will speak my mind but I am not a physical person and I don't seek people out to berate or in anyway assault them. 
• I absolutely loathe people being embarrassed and/or having their feelings hurt.
• I actually do like children -- my issue with children is not so much the child but rather how their parents and other adults in their life allow them to behave -- and want to have them, one day.
• Despite appearances and my cynicism, I am actually a bit of a romantic.
• I am simultaneously proud, vain, and insecure.
• I have never had braces.
• Even though I look unapproachable -- especially when wearing my sunglasses, apparently -- I am actually far more approachable than many of my friends because I can't help but be polite upon first acquaintance.

I can't fault anyone for having their misconceptions about me.  I suppose I'm rather hard to get to know despite my willingness to answer posed questions.  I'm not so much secretive, but private.  Everyone in my life seems to have such contradictory impressions of me.  It's strange; I morph from persona to persona dependent on my company.  I don't even realize it.  I've know all of my friends for so long that I suppose, as we were growing up, that I just wanted to make everyone as comfortable as possible so I made certain facets of my personality more pronounced around their corresponding people.  There are certain commonalities, of course, in each persona.  I don't have multiple personalities.  Maybe I just augment my behavior to suit my company.  I think everyone does that, to some extent, though. 

I guess, when it comes down to it, I can't really be surprised that the people in my life have such misconceptions in regards to my character, disposition, and temperament.  A person can only know you as well as you let them, after all.