First Impressions

How important are first impressions to you? And by first impressions, I mean what does your gut tell you. We can all jump to conclusions about someone, fairly quickly. But, is it fair to that person. Does our sense of fairness impede our ability to rely on something older than time.

Sometimes that gut feeling, somewhat eroded by time and circumstance, is key in truly getting a gauge about someone. So in essence, are first impressions based on what we can forgive or what we know instinctively?