Have you ever come to know someone and realize they are totally not the kind of person you thought they were?

I pride myself on being pretty good at sizing people up but every now and then someone slips under the radar. Usually it just makes me angry at myself, how did I not see it?

I've had this happen to me recently and rather than feeling angry, I feel more of a pit in my stomach or a general all around bad feeling.

It's one thing to realize someone is just a jerk.

Quite another to realize someone is mean. You know, the sneaky kind of mean. The kind of mean that you don't see coming.

I've got pretty thick skin and I'm not someone you would call meek. As an adult I have mellowed. I was a pretty rowdy child and teenager. But I try to keep my behavior in check, especially around the kids. I don't want them to ever see that side of me because I don't like it and I'm not proud of it.

So, when I tell you this guy is mean, it's not an in your face kind of mean. It's more subtle but the more I'm around him, the more I see it.

I feel God has gifted me with the ability to "know" things. I've mentioned it before. I'm not psychic. But when it comes to people close to me, especially my children, I'll know things. I had the same experience with my mother. Usually my "knowing" moments go unnoticed by others and I don't say anything because I don't want people to think I'm weird. The one experience with my mother was witnessed by my sister and her husband and both of them were blown away by it.

So anyway....

I am now beginning to "know" things about this person. He totally snuck by my radar, my bullsh!t radar that is. I can tell he is so totally full of it which I can just ignore. I can tell he's not to be trusted which bothers me but I just know to not say anything I don't want repeated. I can tell he's sneaky mean which makes my hackles rise up. Now I know that he would never be mean to me, he may get a bit condescending but I can deal with that. But I've seen how he is with his significant other and I don't like it.

It just makes me uncomfortable. But for right now I have to make the best of things because we're kinda in the position to be around each other for awhile due to some commitments that have been made, commitments we can't back out of.

I just wish my radar had been a little sharper, darn it.