An address can influence a stranger’s expectations before they know your name.

A postcode carries assumptions before a person says anything. About money, education, reliability, and character. These judgments are made quickly, often unconsciously, and they affect job applications, credit, and how someone is spoken to, all on the basis of where they happen to live.

Notice the moment when a place name adjusts your expectation of a person. That reaction is trainable and it starts with catching it. And if you make decisions about people, look at whether address is doing work in them that it has no business doing.