In Four Letters
"So, Mom, what did you do today?"
"Oh, sat around. Groceries. Dad and I took some online personality tests. And then I got a phone call from Cindy."
"Wait, what? Personality tests?" The thought of my parents spending an afternoon on some testing website...well, it seemed like an unlikely activity. I wondered if they had also taken the one that tells you what character from Sex and the City you are.
"Yeah, the Myers-Briggs thing. 'ESFJ' and stuff like that. You get four letters."
"Oh, I've seen that! I think I took one once. I can't remember what I was, though. I know it started with 'I'. Introverted. Which makes sense. What were you?"
"'ES...something...J' Was it that? Jim, what am I? Do you have the print-out? Well, anyway, it started with 'E' as in extroverted - can you believe that?"
I could believe that. I told her that I used to think it was impossible for her even to go to the grocery store without revealing a pretty major chunk of her life story to the cashier. Many of my childhood memories involve standing around a parking lot for an hour or two while she chatted with someone we barely knew. At the time, it was annoying. But now I think of it as useful history. I've heard a lot of conversations. And I'm going to use them.
"Trace?" My dad had picked up the phone. "I just wanted to share my results. I came out to be an 'ISTJ'. Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging. The webpage gives a list of famous people and fictional characters who have that same personality, to help you interpret the results. I'll send you a link."
"So who do you match?"
"Fred Mertz and Eeyore."
"Fred Mertz? The sourpuss from 'I Love Lucy?' And Eeyore?"
"Yes, the perpetually gloomy one on 'Winnie the Pooh.'"
"Yikes. That's no good. I wouldn't have said it was as bad as all that." My dad's not a sparkling, effusive kind of person, but I wouldn't have called him sour or gloomy. Interesting. Clearly, this personality testing stuff was going to require more attention from me.*
Ten minutes after we hung up, I had an email from Dad with links to two different tests.
"I neither endorse nor encourage such things," he wrote, "but I was impressed by the similarites. Have fun. Don't be Eeyore."
*I'll post my own captivating results soon.
"Oh, sat around. Groceries. Dad and I took some online personality tests. And then I got a phone call from Cindy."
"Wait, what? Personality tests?" The thought of my parents spending an afternoon on some testing website...well, it seemed like an unlikely activity. I wondered if they had also taken the one that tells you what character from Sex and the City you are.
"Yeah, the Myers-Briggs thing. 'ESFJ' and stuff like that. You get four letters."
"Oh, I've seen that! I think I took one once. I can't remember what I was, though. I know it started with 'I'. Introverted. Which makes sense. What were you?"
"'ES...something...J' Was it that? Jim, what am I? Do you have the print-out? Well, anyway, it started with 'E' as in extroverted - can you believe that?"
I could believe that. I told her that I used to think it was impossible for her even to go to the grocery store without revealing a pretty major chunk of her life story to the cashier. Many of my childhood memories involve standing around a parking lot for an hour or two while she chatted with someone we barely knew. At the time, it was annoying. But now I think of it as useful history. I've heard a lot of conversations. And I'm going to use them.
"Trace?" My dad had picked up the phone. "I just wanted to share my results. I came out to be an 'ISTJ'. Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging. The webpage gives a list of famous people and fictional characters who have that same personality, to help you interpret the results. I'll send you a link."
"So who do you match?"
"Fred Mertz and Eeyore."
"Fred Mertz? The sourpuss from 'I Love Lucy?' And Eeyore?"
"Yes, the perpetually gloomy one on 'Winnie the Pooh.'"
"Yikes. That's no good. I wouldn't have said it was as bad as all that." My dad's not a sparkling, effusive kind of person, but I wouldn't have called him sour or gloomy. Interesting. Clearly, this personality testing stuff was going to require more attention from me.*
Ten minutes after we hung up, I had an email from Dad with links to two different tests.
"I neither endorse nor encourage such things," he wrote, "but I was impressed by the similarites. Have fun. Don't be Eeyore."
*I'll post my own captivating results soon.
posted by Tracy at 9:21 AM
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