This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam.
All of us form quick impressions of the strangers we meet.
We do this automatically and unconsciously, and we do this all the time.
We categorize people into nice and not so nice, friendly and unhelpful.
Much of the time.
These quick conclusions are partly true and partly exaggerated.
They are caricatures of people we barely know.
Our tendency to draw quick conclusions is especially powerful when the strangers we encounter do something to hurt us.
Think about the last time someone stepped on your foot as you were leaving a crowded theater.
Or the time a motorist nearly hit you as you are crossing a pedestrian intersection.
Or when someone stole something from you.
At such times, we can't help but imagine how terrible this person must be when they are not stepping on our toes or being a reckless driver, or being a thief.
Today on the program, an unusual story about two strangers who first met as adversaries.
Like all of us, they came to quick conclusions about each other.
But then, nearly a decade later, each man had the opportunity to pull the curtain back on the other's life.
How the simple act of conversation can transform the way we see each other.
This week on hidden brain, James Carter still remembers the bike.
It was a Trek 7.3 fx in blue with fenders, a tow hitch and a bike pump and a water bottle holder.
It was a great bike.