I Am Not Sure Who They Know…

Hello, Benjamin from Brother’s Campfire here!

I went to work with my Patagonia hat on and quite a few did not recognized me insomuch I was even challenged at a tower and asked for ID. Someone even asked, “what’s with the get up?”

Now, a challenge from a prison tower is policy, but I am usually a familiar face. Throughout the day, I was joked about as being a farmer.

While Patagonia is not the attire of a farmer, my patterned shirt may have given this ambiance.

Interestingly, it is what I portray myself as online to include Linkedin, all while wearing the same hat.

Urban agriculture is kinda a chunk of my identity. I have known some of these folks at work for over a decade and their sight picture of me is entirely different. I must live a double life.

Self-assessment can be tough. I certainly struggle with letting others define me, and while few see a full spectrum of character and personality, the perception of others has merit.

For brevity, I will shotgun some observations of other’s perceptions as exemplified by their words:

Gentle, Savage, Patient, Hot Tempered, Intense, Calm, Eater of Insects, Man of Culture, Church Boy, Full of the Devil, Farmer, Street Hoodlum, Holistic, Polluter, Creep, Protector, Unromantic, Poetic and Thoughtful, Uneducated, Well Read, Psycopath, Kind, Impulsive, Calculating, Unassuming, Big Presence in the Room, Big Ben, Little Benny….

And Yes… Even Ghandi.

I have concluded that if I follow all of these perceptions, I am clearly a worthy of a song by Meredith Brooks.

Well, let God be true and everybody else can be a liar. At the end of the day, I want to live for God. Opinions and perceptions, well, we know what they are like.

Author: Benjamin

Benjamin Thiel is a husband, father, correctional professional and author of The Ongoing Tale at Brothers Campfire.

22 thoughts on “I Am Not Sure Who They Know…

  1. equipsblog says:

    Reflections (ours or somebody else’s) (verbal or visual) only show a part of what is actually being reflected.

    Reply
  2. hgamma says:

    Ich kennen den Gott nicht
    von anderen denen
    das Wort voll ist damit

    Reply
      1. hgamma says:

        Ein Gott war mir in meiner Erfahrungswelt nie ein persönliches Ereignis.

        Reply
        1. Benjamin says:

          That is unfortunate. There is nothing better than the presence of God in my opinion .

          Reply
  3. K.L. Hale says:

    Many will look and will never truly see! You are multifaceted ~what a gift! You nailed it with your last paragraph! In my years, I have been “placed” in the “boxes” that others view ~whether occupational or in my RV life. A different hat , sentence, look,…it changes their perspective. It’s simply opinions based on surface thinking. We know the truth!

    Reply
  4. leendadll says:

    A hat confused them???

    I once changed my hair color, on a Tues night, from platinum blonde to jet black. Guys at work couldn’t figure out what was different about me.

    Reply
    1. Benjamin says:

      Well Well Well! There might be a chance of that….. I appreciate you Cassa Bassa!

      Reply
  5. henhouselady says:

    Thank you for sharing. It can be uncomfortable trying to look at yourself through another person’s eyes.

    Reply

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