She looks like she is 18 years old. Wearing denim shorts that ended just where her bum was and displaying lots and lots of legs, she looked, well, hot. I quickly wondered why she didn’t feel cold wearing so little, as I wrapped myself with more than a layer of clothes.

One would assume very speedily that she might be one of those “ah lians”, if such a term is still used widely now. I am ashamed that I was one of such superficial nitwits when a small incident happened that soon changed my mind about her completely.

We were sitting in the same bus. When it stopped at the next stop, this girl surprised me by asking her mom to shift her seat, from the aisle to the window so as to allow the boarding passengers the ease of sitting down. Isn’t she showing so much consideration to the public?

Her sweet gesture didn’t end there. When her grandmother asked her where were they supposed to alight, she replied very patiently and explained where their current location was. Such good manners.

She is a very lovely girl. Oh, she looks pretty too, by the way. But if the incident didn’t happen, maybe, just maybe, I would alight from the bus with the same first impression I had of her - that is, judging solely from her outfit.

This brings me to think about the importance of image again. I remember how many of my ex-dating agency members walked into our room and allowed us to form certain impressions of them. Then, when they started to share more about their personal lives, and when we came to the part of their dating criteria, it was very often a show of suprise followed by a reconciliation of discrepancies between the inital feeling and the eventual finding.

I know we shouldn’t even judge a person, yet it is an inevitable behaviour to form certain impressions of someone immediately based on their outlook. This, to me, is also a form of survival instinct. We smell suspicion when you see this person hanging around sneakily and wearing shabby clothes. We incur doubts of a person’s ability to organise when they appear unkempt. On the same note, we are taken to this girl who smells fresh and sweet. We are seduced by the charming and big smile of this guy who sends of signals of friendliness.

The world is getting more and more colourful. And with the shrinking in the virtual distances between countries, the global village is surfacing. All of us are connected, whether we like it or not. And this means we need to be even more open-minded when it comes to forming first impressions, because our neighbour could be coming from a totally different background and culture.

Therefore, before we conclude and fix an opinion on a new acquaintance, maybe we should just hold our horses for a moment. After all, to really know a person’s true character takes years of being together. So let’s give each other the benefit of doubt, shall we?

In the meantime, it’s always win-win that we can dress more like what we are, though that can be quite a challenge. I know, because I am prone to variety!

As for that girl, I guess it is perfectly alright for her to put her wardrobe to as many experiments as possible. We are only young once, so if not now, then when? But when she is much older, then I would really suggest she be thinking of what type of person will she attract with a particular outfit that she will be wearing that day. Image still counts as a large factor in attraction!