Global Q&A: ‘What do you like to know about a person you meet for the first time?’

The first thing that I want to know is if that person is like I am seeing them. I then dedicate myself to look and interpret who that being in front of me is. … I ask myself if we are going to become friends. I want to know how they perceive the world, their relationship with others and with the planet. If they love animals, if they are willing to live in harmony and respect the lives of different beings that share our human space; if they would join a proposal of a loving human coexistence without distinction to culture, nationality, or creed. Basically that is what I seek in people.

I would like to know what book they’re reading right now. You can find out a lot about someone and what they like by that one title.

[I would like to know] Their job or occupation. What a person works or deals with as a regular activity is something that defines that person; this can tell you more about who that person is. I might forget the person after his/her name, but I will remember them after the job. And to take people’s jobs into consideration it’s also a sign of respect for them.

What I like to know about people, when we first meet, is as much information as possible from their names to their likes; it is like asking them for their biography. That way one can share more, especially if one has to work with them. If one does not have any personal information, and suddenly there is a demonstration of strange and emotional behavior, there could be the tendency to wrongly judge them, and that would give rise to not adequately being of help. How can one be of help if there is no communication, there could be misunderstandings.

For me, is to ask the profession first, because it is an opening question for many other questions about a person. From the profession, you can know the basic information about a person.

First of all, I want to know the person’s name, so that I can call him/her by it, this shortens the distance drastically. Right after that the most intriguing thing is how to get the best of this person and make him/her a friend.

[The] Question depends on the situation of where you are—it could be a social occasion or it could be a business occasion. Depending on that it would give you the reasons why you want to know these things about that person. If it was a business occasion, their background in business, their type of field; how long they have been in it for. If it was social, just their interests, things in common, and that kind of thing.

The name, of course, is the first thing you want to know. Then, a little about the person’s work, and where he, or she lives. That’s what comes to my mind about what I would ask.

I’m always curious what people think about me. So, if I could ask a question when I meet someone for the first time, after a little chat of course, I’d ask what was the first impression this person had of me. What do you think of me? I think that is a good question, because I would know what kind of impression other people have of me, in personal relationships and in the workplace.

About the people I meet for the first time, I like to know if that person is also a student because they are generally young people like me. I ask what they study; where do they study; why they chose this career? And if they study also tourism administration like me, I tell them all about my travels and the expertise that I have.

[I would like to know] If they have kids or not, pretty much. It happened to me on Saturday. We were just in the clubs, clubbing, and this chick—she was beautiful, and we were just chatting her up. And I managed to get her number, but before she left she said she had two kids, and it kind of put us off.