Eureka!

Just for kicks, and using a link provided by digne, I took the Myers-Briggs test. It says I'm an INFJ. Reading this description, I almost laughed out loud when I got to this part:

"They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise."

You guys, that is so me. I get this ALL THE TIME, sometimes from people who've known me for decades. "I'm so surprised that you like country music/thought that joke was funny/said that thing the other day," etc., etc., etc. Apparently I am constantly astonishing people, and I've never understood why. I always want to say, "Dude, I'm the same person I always was! What's the big surprise?"

(Which would probably draw a response of "I'm so surprised you said 'Dude'!")

I'm still not 100 percent certain I understand it, but hey, now at least I know there's a recognized personality type for it!

So now I want to try following digne's lead, and type some fictional characters. I wonder what type Sydney Carton would be . . . ? At first glance, I thought ISFJ, but on further examination, I'm not sure that's quite right.

ETA: I just took the test as Sydney . . . and got INFJ. Either I wasn't able to adopt his persona fully enough, or Mr. Carton and I are a lot more alike than I realized!