It was a risk, but it went well. This is certainly going to be amusing for some. Over 3 or so days, i had reached the 200 respondents limit on my SurveyGizmo account. Another 112 abandoned their answers so didn’t count, and around 20 people emailed me answers instead. All in all, i had a few hundred responses that reached different ends of the spectrum.

The first Alex Cameron survey made very interesting viewing. In toral around half of my friends got back to me and gave a very rounded view of me from the outside in. I did it because i wanted to confirm and validate my own thoughts about me, and to get a reality check. The amusing irony of being called “arrogant” when you asking people what you have got wrong was lost on most.

Don’t think i did it because i want other people to tell me who i am. I wanted to see if my own view of myself was consistent with the world at large and realistic. The wonderful surprise was that the world seems to think better of me than my own heart does. I have taken note of the issues about being angry, arrogant and patronising, and will be working on those things now i’ve seen how heavily they’ve featured.

I can now honestly say with authority that very few people in this life thing i am scary or nasty. I have proof.

The full survey results are here:

http://www.azcameron.co.uk/honesty01.html

Here’s the general overview.

• 64% of respondents were female, with only 11% of the total being involved with me romantically. The time of knowing me was very, very evenly distributed. Most had no idea what i feel about them and said our relationship was OK.
• 14% have something they can’t tell me, and 6% are hiding something from me.
• 1 person said they were scared of me, 97% said they weren’t. 90% said they didn’t know anyone who was scared of me. 61% said i was “an angry person”,
• 78% said i’d never hurt them, and 66% said i’d never offended them. It was 50/50 about apologising and making up for it. 66% said i wasn’t jealous or possessive.
• 88% said i’d never lied to them. 88% said i am trustworthy.
• 73% said i wasn’t a hypocrite.
• 65% said they didn’t feel i love and care about them enough.
• 78% believe i am a forgiving person and would forgive them if they upset me. 84% think i am a loving person, with 56% believing i am patient & understanding.
• 59% would vote for me as prime minister, and 82% said their first impression of me lasted.

In terms of good qualities, the top ones were:

1. Have character (99%)
2. Funny/amusing (72%)
3. Good company (71%)
4. Independent (71%)
5. Strong (71%)
6. Honest 69%
7. Enthusiastic 65%
8. Integrity 65%
9. Inspiring 63%
10. Supportive 63%
11. Generous 62%
12. Have x-factor/charisma 60%
13. Open-minded 60%

The least chosen was “calm” (19%0.

In terms of bad qualities:

1. Arrogant (70%)
2. Proud (63%)
3. Stubborn (57%)
4. Angry (38%)
5. Impatient (32%)

The least chosen were “unfair” (5%), “unforgiving” (5%) and “dishonest” (3%).

The full survey results are here:

http://www.azcameron.co.uk/honesty01.html

————————————————————————————

Describe me in 1 word:

complex (3), amazing (3), arrogant (2), caring, Confident, Egotistical, energetic, Fascinating, fun, ignorant, intense, sweet, Scary, A true JEDI, Active, agitator, arrogant-paranoid-genius, Bee, blinkered, blunt, bombastic, Brave, busy, Challenging, cheeky, clever, CONFLICTED, connected, cunt, Determined, Driven, Egomaniac, egotist, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial, esoteric, explorative, Extraordinary, Friend, fucked, fucked up, funny, genuine, Giver, GREAT!, hilarious, Honest, indulgent, intelligent, interesting, Jedi, Knowledgeable, lion,  loud, mad, Multi-faceted, musical, my lovely son, nice guy, no, outrageous, powerful, self-made, serial smoker, Sharp, sociable, steadfast, twisted, unfulfilled, Unrealistic, wise

Jose wins for saying “bee”. Because, in her words, “bees are dangerous and if you threaten them, they sting you. But when they sting you, they also die in the process. You pollinate people’s lives.” Apparently it’s a humourous reference to how much i lash out and don’t realise the backlash it causes, and her needing to describe me as animal that is ferocious but very vulnerable the same time.

What was your first impression of me?

• “I do not do impressions.”
• “silghtly arrognant but something hurting inside”
• “I thought you were nice”
• “off the wall, renegade!”
• “Seems a really nice guy but is trying a bit to hard to be ‘to cool for school’.”
• “drug fiend”
• “exhausting”
• “i didn’t get you”
• “tortured genius”
• “You could be cruel and enjoyed making other people laugh by pointing out and focussing on others short comings.”
• “Interesting and good fun”
• “Gorgeous”
• “big hair……..then you were SOOOOOO cool, rebelious, confident and naughty!”
• “Confident and slightly pompous”
• “An interesting guy, on a journey, thoughtful and with bags of potential”
• “Clever guy - doing lots of interesting things”
• “Incredibly charming, intelligent and caring with a soothing and calm voice.”
• “An ordinary guy”
• “Smart, savvy, friendly, cocky!”
• “I can’t remember I met you when I was 3.”
• “Whirlwind”
• “Chain smoking leather wearing nutter”
• “A wonderful loving baby”
• “Full On!”
• “uuuh, can barely remember we were so drunk at red chilli.. and it was lunchtime… you had the same sense of humour as me and we knew it was the start of one hell of a year! A year of turmoil, laughter, fear and running away… it was fucking awesome… no one can see we never lived…”
• “Dynamo”
• “Hmmm. If I remember rightly you were walking around our house in t-shirt and boxers only… So… Outgoing was probably one of my first.”
• “friendly”
• “Adonis! Can I touch?”
• “That you were a nice guy.”
• “Excited”
• “why has that twat got a beard”
• “Likeable. Funny. Interesting.”
• “I think meeting you Alex back in October dispelled the suspicion that anyone with a modicum of money/success/ connections or influence would automatically be aligned purely with their own self-interest of their class. Despite how busy you keep yourself you’ve always found time to advise on the humble little EveryonesHome.org.uk and I’ll always appreciate that, even if we have a argument or whatever and end up loathing each other… First impressions proper though? Media Tart. hehe….”
• “bloody hell…”
• “Very funny, interesting”
• “Charming but not naturally”
• “you blew me away, I told all my friends you would be running the country very soon!!! a bit of a toff!! hee hee”
• “very sweet, but still in the process of finding yourself”
• “I didn’t really like you Alex when I first met you, you were quite frightening back then and came accross as being very very angry and able to crush me with a few words.”
• “You were trying to be something you’re not. You believed yourself to be a nasty, rude person who put yourself out there as something very extreme. When, really, I saw you were actually sweet, charming and more faith than you gave yourself credit for.”
• “confident and spoke alot”
• “Good guy with a lot of life experiences….goodoke!”
• “Fun, chatty”
• “A self assured person knowing his own limitations of a situation to maintain the staus quo of a rather ice cool demeanour.”
• “Angry”
• “Someone who can understand and easy talking with me. A friend”
• “Professional; determined; a touch arrogant”
• “interesting”
• “closed”
• “You seemed pretty cool when i was young.”
• “witty”
• “Pretty cool, definitely someone who knows their stuff.”
• “in need of a little enlightenment and gratitude”
• “opinionated. not worried about being honest”
• “Friendly. Positive. Chilled out”
• “Funny, loud and a bit different to the rest of the Christians!!”
• “Thought you were quite like me.”
• “very rude(arrogant) a bit full of it knows what he wants”
• “Fascinating character, buzzing, interesting, I want to get to know this guy”

If you could give me one piece of advice, what would it be?

• “Be honest with yourself and with those around you.”
• “listen to better music!”
• “Let things go that are in the past”
• “Don’t let others affect you”
• “We all think the world revolves around us, and people that say thats not how they think are liers. However most people keep it to themselves where you on the other hand let everyone know that you think you are the centre of the universe. A touch of humility is needed.”
• “to listen to your advice”
• “how to work a pc properly”
• “put yourself in others peoples shoes before making decisions”
• “Make sure that your failings are not just because you think some one else put you there. Be careful with how much you think you don’t care what others think.”
• “relax and try to enjoy life a little more. Get a break and take the time to look around and appriciate what you have not what you haven’t.”
• “Look after you after yourself a bit more”
• “Tell Kelly to fuck off as your worth more than being treated like that. send her back to her ex as its the best revenge”
• “Dont worry about what others think of you.”
• “Winning an argument won’t fill a void.”
• “Do an Alpha Course at HTB / St Saviour’s Guildford Do a term at L’abri Philippians 4: 4-9″
• “Talk to me more often”
• “Don’t ever get back with [name removed]!!”
• “Let God help you deal with your anger and let God bless you”
• “Take my clothes off really slowly in about an hour”
• “Very difficult to sum you up in one word. Your my oldest and dearest friend. Stop being so harsh about your self. - I’ll do it instead!”
• “You don’t know everything. And you’re certainly not a medium. Intuition is not always right. Chill out a bit. Other than that no advice for you Cameroon.”
• “stand up for yourself”
• “Keep on following your heart and don’t give up…”
• “never forget.”
• “carry on as you are”
• “Don’t ever take my advice!”
• “something helpful - more on CVs please!”
• “Wear Sunscreen!”
• “keep working hard, cause hard work pays off.”
• “ditch God” (well done for the capital “G”)
• “simplify, simplify, simplify? :)”
• “Balance, in life, love, friendship, work”
• “be yourself”
• “chill out!”
• “??? get off your arse and make some serious make-up career decisions!”
• “get to know yourself better, before you try to understand others.”
• “Listen”
• “Stop concerning yourself with other people’s perceptions of you. Just be the good person you are and stop putting up fronts that you are cold and mean. It seems you expect that people won’t like who you really are so you exhibit cold behavior in an attempt to turn them off to you initially. Give people a chance to like or dislike you. It’s not so scary to be liked. You’re wonderful Alex.”
• “maybe not advice but you show true love to your nephew”
• “stay in touch!”
• “Think about others rather than yourself a little more.”
• “Keep on seeking to know Jesus. I know you’ve been searching and are probably already there. It’s been a while since we talked. I know that this has been blunt. I certainly haven’t intended to offend you. I believe I’ve been honest. (BTW I’m sure you can figure out who I am.)”
• “keep in touch with mickeymarmite”
• “Friend are always there for you.”
• “Relax, becone more focussed, continue to forgive”
• “listen more, engage more often with your right brain capacity rather than the left brain regurgitative intellect.”
• “stop asking stupid questions”
• “Keep doing what you’re doing!! You’re fine as you are xx”
• “Sleep? And keep us informed on Killstream, it would be superb to maybe see you gigging soon!”
• “If I, the question answerer could give you one piece of advice it would be, change your thinking: choose love not fear. Fear is so easy, it’s all you know, it’s all we know as humans. It’s so easy to lock horns and fight, especially as a man. Choosing love is very, very difficult. Imagine boy A, boy B scenario and boy B having to love boy A unconditionally all the time he thought he might lose something he loved? Boy B needs to be the bigger person and love the whole situatiton to change in loves direction. Hate is easy, love takes courage and Alex, you’ve got bags of courage! Go for it! Love to your beautiful, troubled and open soul. xxx”
• “wake up from your long, long sleep of ego and unconsciouness patterns and programming, time to hit the shift button in your brain of knowing without factual explanation! A Fucking Men! x”
• “never let a man walk all over me”
• “Be good to those that genuinely care for your well being and love you but who don’t necessarily get to see you all the time”
• “Commit random acts of kindness”
• “Don’t sweat the small stuff”
• “Focus”
• “how to make something of myself”
• “Get in touch more often and stop being such a sensitive bastard (oops, two)”

Tom wins the prize for the nastiest ass-kicking, which i won’t reprint as it’s quite severe.

The ultimate crown goes to the *bloke* who wrote this:

“We met on a busy platform at Gloucester Rd tube. The platform was very busy, there was no room, people were pressing into each other to prevent themselves falling on the track. It was at that moment I felt a sharp prick in my bottom, I started to feel drowsy. The next thing I remember was awakening to a surgeon telling me I would be requiring a colostomy bag for some time to come. I haven’t actually met Alex personally, although traces of his DNA were found all over my underwear.”

Genius.

The full survey results are here:

http://www.azcameron.co.uk/honesty01.html