It's so embarrassing when you run into someone who knows you, but you can't place them.

[LaraMN]

I went out to hear a band play and was dancing with some friends, and a girl came up to me and started dancing by me. She said something about how she'll never forget how funny I was in sewing class and the time I did something I don't even remember doing. I obviously went to school with her, but had no idea who the hell she was. It was very awkward, and I never know in those situations whether I should pretend to recognize a person (when they seem to assume I will), or to let on that I have no clue who they are.

:crazy:

[ThomCat]

1. Happens to be fairly often. I'm horrible at remembering

people I don't deal with frequently. :(

[Midlodemocrat]

2. I HATE that!

I feel like such a dope because I remember who they are like two days later. :grr:

[Generic Brad]

3. What state are you from again, Lara?

The name is familiar, but I can't quite place you.

[Danger Mouse]

4. It happens to me ALL the time.

I can never remember anyone. I just say, 'Hey! How are...you?'
And feel like a total dweeb.

[driver8]

5. This happened to me in college. This guy comes up to me

and knows all of this stuff about me and my girlfriend -- I had never seen this guy in my life. I am very good with names and faces, and I knew for a fact that I had never met this person.

It turns out that he was a friend of my girlfriend's and she pointed me out to him one day.

I thought I was losing my mind.

[BarenakedLady]

6. I never remember names

and when I see someone out of context it is even more befuddling

[hickman]

8. Exactly. I was going to say the same.

Why does this happen?

[Patiod]

26. The worst is when you see people from different "files"

I saw a friend from college walking through the grocery store with a friend from a theater group, and my wiring started to spark. I couldn't access EITHER of their names, because I was too confused.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Oh, I hate that too, my dear Lara!

I've given up on trying to fake it, though.......

I just say...."Where do I know you from?" Usually they don't remember either!

We puzzle it out till we figure it out, or else we both give up.........

Laughter ensues!

:hug:

[GalleryGod]

21. Good for you, Peg. We'll teach the Youngin's !

Faking it = Lying it, with little subtext.

Just be HONEST. End of dilemma for all you Popular Folks, with clouded memories.:rofl:

[crim son]

9. It happens to me all the time. I'm terrible with names

but I also tend to chat with strangers and they don't always stay in my mind. Last weekend I was out and while in the restroom a woman approached me, saying she knew me. Then she said, "Lisa?" She knew my name! Wow. I finally asked her how we were acquainted and it turned out that some months ago she had met me in a dance club and confided to me that she had "done the drummer" during the intermission. It seems possible that I had purposely forgotten her and this bit of information, but suddenly it all came back.

There are interesting folks out there. :eyes:

[GalleryGod]

22. As long as you didn't "Do her" in the Stall and had forgotten about it,Too.

Jeez,Crim. You've got the zaniest stories of late.:wtf: :wow: :loveya:

[crim son]

24. I like to observe people so I end up with a lot of stories

but I only relate the odd ones. Part of last Friday evening was spent making eyes at and finally gaining the attention of an attractive man called Denis who, once we were acquainted, followed me around all night. But who wants to hear about that? :shrug:

I've never "done" anybody in any stall! for the record. There is more to the tale of this woman, who failed later that night to attract the attention of the drummer even though she got right up on stage and faced him, swaying and clapping, until she was removed bodily by some bulky-looking men.

[ForrestGump]

10. It happens a whole lot to me, compounded by a lifelong epidemic of people

who claim that they know me from somewhere. One of the most hazardous instances of that was, after rolling down the hill from a youth hostel to catch a bus on my first full day in the USA, a young woman on a Los Angeles bus suddenly screaming at me and coming close to clawing my eyes out before another dude from the hostel explained that I'd just arrived in the country...she thought I was the boyfriend who'd just broken up with her -- badly, I take it. I get mistaken for various doppelgangers a lot, for some reason, the really odd thing being that I've seen a couple of people who looked so much like my brother that I thought he'd flown in to surprise me yet I've never seen anyone who looked that much like me.

In my current job I meet a ton of people and when they show up again I usually have no clue who they are. Some are insulted that I don't remember them when they came here as tourists a year ago, kind of an odd thing to be insulted over given that they must have some idea of the many (15000 or so) photos I take each month with tourists here and meet so many more. Some are hotel staff and so on who I just can't recall names of, even if I remember their faces. So I generally just play along as if I know who they are, the catch being that Vegas has and attracts lots of weirdos and some of them will come right up to you and act like they've known you for years, sometimes even referring to conversations and events that never happened, so then my continually improving skills at holding a noncommittal conversation that assumes familiarity I've forgotten can be a liability, to say the least. One such dude let me off the hook by letting it slip that he had also recently talked with the man in the moon (and, yes, he was either serious or a brilliant Method actor in Vegas to prepare for a role as a crazy person). :D






...he says, trying desperately to remember where he's supposed to know this tall brunette from...

[rockymountaindem]

11. That happened to me all the time in high school

I was a bit of a school celebrity, so all these people kept calling me by name and I'd never seen them before. I just figured somebody had pointed me out to them. It doesn't happen to me anymore in college though, we just keep to our own groups of friends and there's not so much of a fishbowl anymore.

[begin_within]

12. This happens to me. I just smile and say, "So what's new with you?" and let them talk for a while.

Usually I finally place them in my head, though sometimes not. Letting them do all the talking goes a long way to prevent embarrasment on your part.

[baldguy]

13. This happened to me with a former girlfriend.

She wasn't very pleased with me.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. Even more embarrassing...

I once was walking with some friends and saw a guy heading toward us that I was certain was a dear friend whom I hadn't seen in a long time. So I stretched my arms out and walked right toward him, ready to give him a huge hug.

Only problem was, my vision wasn't so great. When I got within 10 feet of the guy, I realized it wasn't the person I had thought. :blush:

[struggle4progress]

16. I actually did grab a stranger once. The person walked by at a distance ..

.. and I ran to catch up and grabbed the person from behind. The resemblance was real, and from behind it was completely convincing (fashion sense, frame, gait, hair, height) -- but it wasn't who I thought it was. An immediate and horrified apology with explanation from me worked.

[struggle4progress]

15. I just tell people I'm drawing a blank and beg them to remind me who they are.

Sorta like, "I remember you. But .. but .. I'm blanking out here! Please remind me!" They're invariably nice about it.

[SKKY]

17. That happens to me almost every day here...

...There's this Spanish girl named Angela who swears we had a weekend long affair. She even knows my name, and knew some of the people from my circle of friends from back then (We're talking about the 1992 to 1998) time frame. Anyway, she works at one of the stores on base, and I see here on an almost daily basis. I wish I remembered her.

[gr8dane_daddy]

18. I remember dancing with this chick from MN once...

I think her name was Loni or Lori or something.

I too am guilty of forgetfulness.

[applegrove]

19. Happens alot. I often know I've seen someone before..but cannot say

for sure..and I'm too embarrassed to guess and be wrong.

[GalleryGod]

20. Sewing Class? Was this Adult Evening School or High School leftovers?

Advice from Older Gent: Just be forthright and honest: " Excuse me? I'm sorry. I've forgotten your name. I forget my own on most mornings"

End of dilemma. The perils of being popular.
:rofl: :spray: :rofl:

[tigereye]

23. I always tell people that since I gave birth

I cannot remember anyone's name for very long. All of my name recognition brain cells seem to have fallen out at that time.

[AllegroRondo]

25. Sometimes I do that to people I dont know, to see how they react

"Do you remember that time in English class when you...."

sometimes the looks are quite entertaining.

[hunter]

27. That is my life.

If I run into someone out of the usual context, I have no idea who they are. There are only a handful of people who are imprinted on me well enough that I recognize them in passing... and it's a good thing my wife and kids among them! I used to be so embarrassed by this disability that I could pretend to know somebody for weeks until I caught on. I once worked in a place with someone I went to high school with, and she was always friendly towards me at work, and I thought she just liked me, and it didn't connect in my head until years later at a high school reunion that she was the same person!

There's really no polite way to say you don't recognize someone, but I'm experienced enough to forge through my embarrassment and say something straightforward like "I'm completely daft today, where do I know you from?" Nobody has to know I'm completely daft every day!

[alarimer]

28. this happens to me all the time

Even with people who work for the same employer. I don't see them very often so I don't remember their names sometimes.

But I have always been bad with names and faces.

I remember once I ran into someone I had gone to school with at a career fair. He worked for a company that was at the fair and I was there trying to get a job. He couldn't place me either. It was only later I realized we were classmates. He had cut his hair (it had been pretty long in school). the shame of it was that I lost his business card so I couldn't call him and say that I remembered where we had met. He also might have been a valuable contact in my field.

[bikebloke]

29. I once said Hi to someone I knew

And it turns out they were someone else. I was so embarrassed, I decided to let them approach me.

Only I get approached by folk thinking I'm someone else. I'm pretty good with faces. Through all my worldly wanderings, I noticed that there are only so many faces on the planet. After a while, you start seeing duplicates everywhere.

[Broken_Hero]

30. its been years since that happened to me...

last time, was xmas of 04. I was back home, and was at a store, and the clerk was talking to me, like she knew me, she called me by name, talked about High School...my mother was with me at the time, and I was just nodding my head yes, yes...and looked at the ladies name tag, and even then, I couldn't place this woman...

On the walk out to the car, my mom said "Well, you are certainly well known around here, huh?"

I respond "I have no idea who that was."

The next day, I was back at the store, and the same lady came up to me, and said "you have no idea who I am do you?"

I said...nope. And after a few more minutes of talking, I knew exactly who she was...she just looked nothing like she did while she was in HS, mind you, this was 10yrs after I graduated.