When we were back in the US, John and I had dinner with some of his coworkers. At one point during the evening, we got to talking about the Myer-Briggs personality test. I figured this was a good opportunity to get reacquainted with my true self. My test result? ISTJ: Introvert, Sensing (vs. Intuitive), Thinking (vs. Feeling), Judging (vs. Perceiving). Codename? Trustee.

Interestingly, the results were even presented on some kind of scale. Supposedly, I was strongly S, T, and J. So nothing’s wrong with the Trustee personality– it describes someone who is orderly, stable, practical, dependable, and faithful. But couldn’t they have selected a more appealing label? I mean, consider some of the other options: journalist, architect (John: INTP), scientist, artisan for crissakes! Yeah, all you other ISTJ’s out there: we got shafted. Big time! And to top it off, check out some of our “suitable” career options: tax auditor, accountant, librarian, mortician! Uh, BO-RING. Boy do I feel terrific about myself.

Well if anything, this led to further interesting discussions. I’m proud to say, I correctly guessed John’s personality. Guess that’s no huge accomplishment when you’ve been with someone for eight years. I know, can you believe it? Summer of 1996. That’s right, both of us taking Engineering Dynamics at UMCP Summer School. Great stuff. Anyway, back to the personality types. You know, I don’t really think I’m that strongly judgemental. I try to empathize, I try to see others’ points of views. I’m not totally closed off to opposing views… What do you think? Friends? Colleagues? Email me your comments. John disagrees with me. He thinks the test is right on. 🙁 And he told me that the test’s creators say you have to wait six months before re-taking the test. Damnit. There goes my chance of getting a better label. Geez, artisan sure has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?