Several moons ago, I told my son that he should not just try something once. I advised my young boy to give things a try at least twice. The first time may not go well. First impressions are not always great. Although, admittedly my first inpressions of people are usually spot on. I can read people quite well. However, not everyone has that skill. As a result you really should give someone the benefit of the doubt after a bad first impression. Context is everything and everyone has an off day or twenty. Furthermore, making a great first impression is something that doesn’t come easily to everyone. Sometimes even the 20th impression can go badly. Well, at that point we have a different name for the situation.

Yet, nowadays people use first impressions to determine whether you are friendable on Facebook. And, social media is also being used as a first impression gateway. Considering the level of toxicity on social media first impressions are bound to be pretty bad. And thus, a medium meant to connect people will just further ostracize. Based on this complicated psychology of first impressions, I have been advising my son to give as many things as possible a second try. Trying something just once is not going to cut it.

I try to follow my own guidance. Admittedly, it can be difficult. Take this dessert I tried recently. We went on a business dinner meeting to a cute new fusion Greek food. Don’t ask. Well, it was tapas style. Which I love in theory but always still feel hungry. Many of the items were quite interesting and delicious. Then came dessert.

Dessert was a complete experiment for the restaurant, or so it seemed. Everything was a bit too “fusion”. It was almost as if they were trying too hard to be innovative. But I love dessert and tapas leave me with room to take in more food into my body. We ordered several desserts. And, one was a phyllo tiramisu. I went last in tasting it. As I went to grab a forkful, I looked at everyone’s expression. They didn’t seem enthralled. I ate a bite. It was interesting. And, “interesting” is not always a great word. Everyone else moved onto the next dessert. As did I. They all stayed with the next dessert. I reminded myself my rule, and I went back to the tiramisu. It tasted better the second time around. I ended up gaving several more bites. Now, it could bd that it actually did taste better with time. That can happen. Or, it could be that my stomach realized if I stuck with the tiramisu (that no one else really care for), there was a whole lot more for me. Greed of truly better- it doesn’t really matter. I tried it twice and then some.