Judging a Book by Its Cover (Feedback)

Thanks for all your comments. I’m glad you enjoyed the story. I asked the woman who teaches me the other day who she thought would win in a race between the big guy and the guy she trains with (who has a very sporty physique!), and she said the big guy would probably win even now because his technique is so much better.

The problem with “not judging a book by its cover,” though, is that nine times out of ten, you will be right. I remember when I was in the police, we used to be able to spot people who had criminal records, and most of the time, we could guess what they had been in trouble for. I remember once asking a guy, “Have you ever been in trouble with the police?” to which he replied, “No boss.” I laughed when he said that because the only place where policemen are called “boss” is in prison! Not surprisingly, it turned out that he was lying.

Having said that, of course, it is dangerous to put too much trust in our ability to judge people by their appearance. I guess the key is to find a balance and always bear in mind that we might be making a mistake when we do it.

Here is some feedback on your comments.

Your story reminds me of Susan Boyle.
Nice sentence, and a very good example!

His daughter and my son used to be in a same class.
“Same” is almost always preceded by “the,” so “in the same class.” (A-Z: same)

David, now you became a better swimmer, are you going to take part in triathlon?
Not yet. Maybe later this year.

For example, when I meet mothers that I don’t really know at a school meeting or something, I can’t tell whether she is an ordinary women or a rather hard-to-deal type by the way she looks.
Because you are talking about “mothers” (plural), the second part of the sentence should use “they” instead of “she.”

Well, I would never say I like talking with complicated women,
Is there any other kind?!

—I tend to hesitate to talk with people who are talkative and say something straightforward.
You can use “straightforward” as an adjective.

I’m often said by friends,
Friends often tell me, (A-Z: say / tell)

he thought that I acted important for Japanese
I’m not sure what you mean here. Maybe “I was a bit stuck-up” or “I was a bit full of myself”?

They knew each other. My husband told me he is the director at a large listed company.
There is nothing cooler than rich people who don’t show it!

I believe that David is a good story teller
Thanks!

her words were always sarcastic and straightforward
“… and blunt” may be more appropriate here.

“just jumped into conclusion” should be “just jumped into a conclusion.”
jumped to a conclusion

It says that, at first sight, people judge other people by their appearances or facial expressions mostly (55%), next, the tone or the loudness of the voices (38%), and the least, the content of speaches (7%).
There is actually research showing that most interviews are decided within the first twenty seconds! Come to think of it, Kattie might know more about that topic because she works in recruiting.

>so I couldn’t wait to read the part where the big guy turned out to be an ex-competitive swimmer
Very nice sentence.

I’ve seen an interesting 合コン experiment on TV.
“I saw…” would probably sound more natural here, because it is finished past.

…chose a different person between the first time and the second time
… chose a different person the second time.

I like to watch foreign TV dramas and movies. I sometimes came across the scenes where someone wearing dark color suits who took a job interview. I remember thinking to myself, “They(foreign people) wear job-hunting suits(リクルートスーツ), too!!.”
We do wear suits, but it’s not like Japan where everyone has to wear the same colour and style.

Oh, really? I live in Nagoya, and it’s been fine this week. The temperature yesterday was over 35℃! It was hot and humid.
It’s hot and humid in Gifu, too!

That’s it for today. This weekend, I’m going to rent my dream car from a place in Nagoya. I didn’t know until recently that it was possible to rent them, but it is, and it’s not even that expensive. I’ll let you know how I got on on Monday.

Have a great weekend.