First Impressions?

Recently I found myself in a situation where I was with someone who I was only barely aquainted with.
I don't consider myself a shy person but I think everyone in that situation thinks "what are we going to talk about?"
And as time passed I realised that if there was going to be any conversation, I'd have to be the one making it.

As I learnt from The Brady Bunch, the best way to make people talk is to ask them questions about their favourite subject... themselves..
I started doing that but her answers were so abrupt I felt like I was prying even though I was only asking questions about her work. It's hard to converse when you don't get those same questions back!

But by the end of our time together she relaxed considerably and was talking a lot more freely. Later she thanked me over and over again for helping her out with something earlier that day.

So I'm glad I persisted in trying to talk to her. I felt like she thought I was prying but obviously she was just shy or perhaps reserved.
Just goes to show, first impressions aren't always valid..