I hate it when people accuse me of things that aren't true, especially when I have no way of proving the truth. One of the problems with misperceptions is, people keep their perceptions about a person in a mental pocket, and whether those perceptions are correct or not, they all get stored in that pocket. One misperception can lead a person to believe other false things about you, and those misperceptions pile up. Then the person has this image of you that isn't true at all. And again, they're more willing to believe things said about you that are false. For instance, if someone who's supposed to be your friend says you stole something (and she's placed the item on your person, further making you look guilty) and you can't prove you didn't, people will not only think you're a thief now, they'll be more apt to believe you guilty of stealing other items that go missing in the future.

While I don't generally worry about what people think about me, I'm not 100% worry-free. Especially when those perceptions can affect my life (such as preventing me from getting a desired job).