NIce to meet you, or is it?

I have always been vague on names and places, but good at remembering faces, though sometimes not the circumstances..
When I was working I was in a garden centre and seeing a flicker of a smile from a nearby gentleman greeted him warmly , and this was reciprocated. Some time passed before I remembered I had ejected this man from one of my shops the previous month for shoplifting.
To this day I often wonder if he knew I didn't recognise him at first, but at some point in the conversation, reality stepped in and we parted still with forced smiles.

Another time I was in Salisbury and a very well to do lady greeted me with a WMAH WMAH on both cheeks before her smile turned into a glare. " You-re not him, he doesn't wear a Fedora" she snarled at me.
I pretended it had never happened.
My mother said to me " Crikey Rob, you do know so many people"
In the distance the lady was still talking to her friends and pointed in my direction whilst shaking her head.

Re: NIce to meet you, or is it?

For the first time in my exsistance, I was deliberately rude to a public servant this week. At a McDonalds drive through, I placed an order via the speech device at about 1.40pm, I made payment and was directed to the waiting zone, I finally received my order at 1.58pm. The guy went through the usual protocol of apologies, and I completely blanked him. I have regretted this ever since because I have become the "same". I may return and apologise for my behaviour.

Re: NIce to meet you, or is it?

I have a "NOT SENT" drawer containing letters of complaint to various organisations which have failed to deliver goods or services to me.

I feel much better afterwards & console myself in having saved the cost of a stamp.

Re: NIce to meet you, or is it?

I don't get that, mainly because I know just about everybody in my local area so even if it isn't the person I thought it was I probably know them nevertheless!

My wife does have a habit of doing it though typically when we're walking through a very quiet and deserted Tesco then she'll shout "Helen! How're you doing?" waving frantically then the person will turn around and turn out to be a man with long hair...

Re: NIce to meet you, or is it?

oh its good to know there are some more out there.

Re: NIce to meet you, or is it?

I'm not to good at names either, but the wife is like the lord Mayor, she knows everybody around here and says hello to them all, she can't get 3 steps past the gate when she has to stop for a natter and I am left standing there like a tailors dummy, that's why I seldom go out locally with her, if I ask her out to lunch to a local establishment I go on ahead and wait for her, I don't mind waiting in the pub. We can't drive so escaping into a car is out, worse luck, even when we have to use a taxi she knows all the drivers. I was once stuck for a packet of fags and asked her to get me some while she was out, never again, I was left for 5 hours biting my nails in the desperation only a smoker knows, now I make sure I am well stocked up on smokes and alcoholic beverages.

Re: NIce to meet you, or is it?

OB, my wife has the inexplicable tendency to wave to people,if they look vaguely like someone she knows "Just in case its them"

Re: NIce to meet you, or is it?

I didn't know my wife had a sister!

I'm like the Marlboro Man with all my cartons of cigarettes in the bedroom cupboard since I had the same experience as you.

Women!!!

Re: NIce to meet you, or is it?

I live right opposite the parish church & old cemetery, which is surrounded by a low wall. We love seeing all the goings on, christenings and marriages, funerals. Occasionally there will be the sound of horses hooves as wedding carriage draws up or a funeral hearse goes past, the horses black plumes of feathers nodding on the horses heads.
About 3 years ago my mother and I had been to posh do, followed by a concert in the church. Mum and I had our best outfits on, I looked particularly debonair with a white suit and panama hat on. My older brother was giving one of his vintage cars an airing and dropped us off in the church entrance. He likes to dress up in a dark uniform and top hat when he takes his cars out and pretends to be a chauffeur As it happened, a coach just pulled out of the church lay-by after dropping off the 52 strong Swindon male voice choir. They formed an orderly queue sat along the low wall waiting to go in to the church. When they spotted mother and me, dressed up to the nines it must have appeared that we were guest dignitaries. Without thinking I shook the hand of the first man heartily. The next man offered his hand and we were led along the line . I entered fully into the spirit and grew bold.
“So glad you could come” I announced to one man.
“What a nice blazer” I said to another. Mother looked more than usually inscrutable, brother rolled his eyes. There was .no stopping me
“ Why, I was up Swindon way just recently” I announced to one man,
“In Highworth”I added. At this the man in front of me said.
“ I am the mayor of High worth” and gave my hand another squeeze. Brother had parked his car by now and came to my rescue by hauling me and mother away to our seats.. I tilted my hat to the rest of the choir and went into the church. Mother looked at me and whispered
“Robert, you always seem to know everybody” The vicar greeted here saying “Have we met before” and she replied,
”Yes I was married here in1947”

I can report that the rest of the evening was uneventful.

They failed to include “Jacobs ladder “which I had requested as I inspected the line earlier. I suppose they would have had to rehearse it first. I always thought that life was a bit of a rehearsal.
Rehearsal For what remains a mystery.

Re: NIce to meet you, or is it?

To my chagrin I've always been terrible with both names and faces. It's hard enough to remember an old and infrequent acquaintance when you meet them in a situation where you would normally meet them, but when you meet up with someone familiar out of their normal context then I've no chance. For years I've held a conversation with them whilst trying to ellicit clues from them as to who they are and where we know one another from, but in recent years I have given up on such pretence and just apologise for my ignorance and ask them outright, "so who the hell are you"....