A couple of weeks ago, I met a female ESI in a bank. (Of course in a bank. She’s the third or fourth ESI I’ve met in a bank.)
We got to talking and I told her that I have a degree in Astrophysics, but I prefer making money. She told me that she has a degree in Physics and in Library Science, and I thought, “Amazing. I need to learn more about her.”
I asked, “If you have a degree in Physics, why are you working as a teller in a bank?”
She replied, “I’m from Bangladesh” -she actually looks a lot like my Czech grandmother – those Aryans got around – “but my husband and I are now divorced and I needed a job to take care of my son.” OK, that makes sense. No surprise that she chose Banking. Close to money, making certain that no one makes a mistake or does the wrong thing, checking and double-checking. ESI skills, all.
I assumed that she might want to look for a partner at some point and thought she should look for a dual, so I told her that she should read about ISFj’s by an author named Stratiyevskaya, and I wrote that down for her. I also told her that there might be a type of guy who is best for her, and I wrote down ENTj and told her to do an internet search on those names. I also warned her that ENTj's can be assholes. Just part of the "Truth in Lending" laws.
Today, I was back at the bank and I asked her if she had had a chance to look up any of those terms. She said she did, and they looked interesting, but she didn’t see how she could determine which type is which. I told her that people of each type look similar to each other, and that’s how I could tell that she was an ISFj.
She said “No. Everyone is different. You can’t tell how a person is on the inside by looking at them.”
“I used to believe that, too. But I’ve been studying this for four years, and I’m pretty sure I can tell a person’s type by looking at them. I used to believe that every person was a special snowflake, and no two were alike. But no, there are only sixteen people. And they all share characteristics. For example, here is something that you would never tell someone, and yet is true about people of your type. You divide people into two categories; the Good, and the Bad. And once you decide that someone is Bad, they can never get back into the Good category.”
She laughed and brushed back her hair. “Well, naturally. You have to watch out for some people. If they lie to me, one lie, then that is enough. You can never trust a person like that.” She sticks one finger in the air and squints at me, wondering if I’m one of those people who can’t be trusted. Man, what a look. Lol.
“Just one lie?”
“Well, maybe two. I value the truth! But everyone is like that. Don’t you think so?”
And so far, she is, point-by-point, reciting the strict ESI party line.
“No,” I replied. “I’m not like that. I often assume that if a person lies to me, they are just making a mistake, or that the lie is not serious.”
“You can get into a lot of trouble if you believe that.”
“Uh, yes, that is possible.” I laughed inside. This woman is a true ESI.
“Let me tell you how I can tell if a person is one of your type”, I said. “I’m on a dating site, and your type all say that “Family is important” to them. Also, they all want to travel, but they usually don’t travel.”
“I’ve traveled a lot!" she countered. "I traveled so much for my business that…Do you know Southwest? They have a deal where if you fly more than 100 times in one year, the next year, you get free companion travel. I got that. I traveled so much that I got that." She's obviously really proud of this, like she closed a great deal. I'm thinking, that airline could have made that deal a lot better.
Then, "Now I’m bored of traveling.”
“Why did you stop?"
“My son is still in school, and his grades were at the bottom of the class. When I decided to stay home with him, his grades went to the top. It was a very good decision, to stay home. I don’t regret it. Family is the most important thing in the world, more important than money.”
I’m thinking that I should just put a recorder on the table and transcribe what she says to the ESI page on the16types.com.
“So you took a job in this bank?”
“Yes. It is easy work, and I have time after work to spend with my son when he gets out of school. Maybe I’ll do something else soon. He is about to graduate from high school, and he tells me that he will be independent soon. So soon, it will be my time.”
“What did you do that made you travel so much?”, I asked. I’m wondering about that travel business. It is so uncharacteristic of ESI’s to travel a lot.
“I had my own business. It was very good. I was selling Women’s Fashions.” And my jaw figuratively dropped to the floor. Of course Women’s fashions. An Artist, with herself as the artwork. I should have known.
Only sixteen people, folks.
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Originally Posted by Adam Strange
