when i began work, i started w/ l, a coworker in my department. we got along pretty well right off the bat, and we usually have lunch together. she's funny and fun to talk with. as we got to know one another, i realized that she lives quite close to me.
during the day friday, i noticed that l apparently left work after lunch but i didn't know the reason so i sent her an e-mail saturday morning, just checking to see if she was OK. turned out she was fine, just had to take off for an doctor's appointment. whew!
so while out saturday running errands, after the visit to the sex shop, the mrs and i were heading into a store when i got a call from my friend p. he'd just taken a contract job (he's a webmaster) monday and he was fired friday--which for him was a desirable state of affairs b/c he didn't like the environment. it sounded like a very bad fit for him--which makes me wonder why the hell he accepted the job in the first place, but that's neither here nor there.
anyway: i tell the mrs to go on ahead so i can talk w/ p. he was rambling a tad and seeking a little validation so that i could do--like i said, it was a bad fit for him. i could explain why but lack the time just now--i ask that you take that on faith. so p and i are talking, and he's sounding better, when i hear someone call my name.
i turn to look and there's l, w/ a woman who's obviously her mother--which surprised me, as l told me her family lives out by NW ohio so this obviously wasn't a jaunt taken on the spur of the moment.
but it took me a good ten seconds to recognize who was calling my name--which made me realize just how bad i am sometimes at recognizing people out of context. i mean, i spend a good part of my workday interacting with l, but i completely failed to recognize her or the sound of her voice, b/c i wasn't at work, which is the context in which i associate her!
this is also true sometimes of seeing actors that i associate strongly with one role in other works--i see/hear [character], not actor, but i recognize just enough to know that the face/voice is familiar. i figure this has to be related, you know?
so how about you? are you any good at recognizing people's faces/voices outside of their usual context, bad at it like me, or does it vary?
ed
silverwhisper posted on Apr 15, 2008
| views: 329
Comments
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diabolicdame said on Apr 15, 2008....
Wow.. I never really thought about this.. Oh now that I think of it actually there was a time when I totally failed to recognize my previous doctor when I saw him in a line at the movie theater.. I actually asked him who he was and even then I didn't remember.. It was a good few minutes after he left when I finally remembered who he was.. I guess you're right about this theory.. -
evil_twin said on Apr 15, 2008....
I think I would have no trouble recognizing a co-worker if I were to see them someplace else. But other people who I don't necessarily have any sort of relationship with, yet see all the time, I do have trouble.
In fact, there was a guy at a restaurant once that I could not stop staring at because I KNEW I knew who he was. But I had no idea how I knew him. It drove me crazy. Then later it came to me. He worked at the mini mart I went to all the time, but without his AM-PM shirt, I couldn't place him!
-evil_twin LA
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queenparanoia said on Apr 15, 2008....
big bro i'm worts at this... one time i pinch a girl in our school computer library because i tought she was my friend only to find out it wasn't her!!! i was so embarrass... good thing the girl was nice... =) -
uniquely-ironic said on Apr 15, 2008....
I'm pretty good at recognizing that I know them, but sometimes it's impossible for me to put a name with the face. I've had entire conversations with people who I can place from another environment but cannot for the life of me put a specific name to. -
skald said on Apr 15, 2008....
Many people at my swimming pool don't know or hardly know each other if they are not wearing swim suits or trunks. lol
And when my live long friend from Germany came two years ago and surprised me at my birthday standing out side my door , I went blank. I just stared for a minute until I understood who was standing there.
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quietone said on Apr 15, 2008....
I used to be fairly good at it, but now not so much. I recognize the face or the voice, but can't remember where I have heard/seen it. (glad to see its not just and age thing) hehe. -
Trinov said on Apr 15, 2008....
I'm really terrible at recognising people out of context, and sometimes even in context! In my last classroom teaching job I had trouble putting the names and the faces together, which is bad news. -
Twylarants said on Apr 15, 2008....
Oh no, I'm absolutely terrible at identifying anyone who is not where I'm used to seeing them. I'll often here my name when I'm shopping at the mall or in (ugh!) Walmart, "Twyla, Twyla!", and I answer, "Customer, Customer!" just to make them laugh, because I have no idea who they are. -
wombat said on Apr 15, 2008....
I live in my "own little organized world" and this happens to me often. I usually have this blank stare and panicky feeling when they speak to me at first, and they will have to remind me who they are. People should stay where I put them! Ha.... -
Phèdre said on Apr 15, 2008....
My brain fails me this way quite often. Random person is smiling and waving in my direction. I turn around... no one else is nearby. I therefore suspect that either they know me, or at least one of us is crazy. I tilt my head and squint at this person while smiling slightly. This gets the brain juice sloshing more effectively. Eventually I recognize the face. I sense that I have known them for years, but the frenzied search for a name results in 404s. Later that night I wake up shouting their name out of sheer relief, thereby leaving my husband wondering whether I'm having an affair. Gah.... gah. -
Lioness said on Apr 15, 2008....
ed, it may sound strange, as I too have some memory problems, but I always seem to be familiarized with people I often associate with, in or out of our "common grounds". But for people I've met only once or twice, I tend to forget. -
pickersplock said on Apr 15, 2008....
Well, basically, I stink at it. -
Twylarants said on Apr 15, 2008....
lmao at Wombie's plea to "stay where I put you!" -
Eilan said on Apr 15, 2008....
Most of the time I'm decent at recognizing people out of context, but I'll admit that I sometimes had trouble recognizing my husband's co-workers when they weren't in uniform, particularly when they weren't wearing their hats. -
CreativeWoman said on Apr 15, 2008....
I am good at recognizing people, but remembering their names is another matter entirely. :-)
CW
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kelly said on Apr 15, 2008....
I used to be kind of bad at this but I got much better. Now I recognize people almost instantly but it sometimes takes me a while to match the face back with the original location.As an example, I used to frequent a sub shop where I got to know the guy behind the counter, if not by name at least well enough for us to recognize each other and chat for a minute. Quite a while went by that I didn't go there. Then, one day I was cruising through a Del Taco drive through and when I got to the window it that guy! I recognized him immediately and asked him what he was doing there. (It seems the old place had been bought out and the new owner was lowering wages). -
rmuxagirl said on Apr 15, 2008....
actually silver, i never really thought about that. I guess I am generally good at recognizing people out of our normal environment. But i also find myself seeing people I recognize but have no idea where. Like the other day I took my mom out to lunch and we both recognized a man and didn't know how. He kept looking at us so we think he recognized us but didn't know how either haha. -
tbs230 said on Apr 15, 2008....
that happens to me too!
Most of the security guards at work have scared the bejesus out of me when out of uniform. they just don't look the same to me. it's weird...
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D6fer said on Apr 15, 2008....
oh this drives me nuts....I see so many of the same people all of the time, and they change employers....but stay in the same industry! so it's awkward seeing them someplace else then when I see one of them in public, I recognize them, but at the same time can't place them.
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scipio said on Apr 16, 2008....
Can"t remember names to faces ?Just fail / evade to repay any loaned money or item.Instant recognition any time any place. -
silverwhisper said on Apr 16, 2008....
diabolic: well, i think it depends on the person, you know? i'm bad at it, but it seems others are pretty good--look at kyle's response just below yours. :>
kyle: in my last job, the afternoon security guard came in at 4 and i sometimes saw him on his way in--but without his uniform, i usually didn't recognize him! and i mean, he had to stop me and address me by name before i recognized him!
queen: doh! holy crap, that's really embarrassing! i used to do phone work, and one time someone called and i thought it was my wife (then my girlfriend)! wow but was that awkward!
u-i: i've done that whole conversation-without-knowing-the-person thing too! it's kinda disconcerting, isn't it? esp if you try to work in references to figure out why you know that person!
skald: heh...so you have trouble recognizing some of those folks when they have clothes on? :D that's so funny about your friend from germany--that sort of thing's happened to me, too!
quietone: i was always bad at it, myself, and what's weird is i think that i'm getting better at it than i once was!
trinov: o wow--i always figured teachers have to be better at this sort of thing than the rest of us!
twyla: heh...my wife used to bartend for a while, so when she saw customers, she didn't recognize 'em by name but rather by drink! :D
wombat: yeah, why won't those folks stay in those little pigeonholes, darn it?! :D
phedre: welcome to my blog and thanks for visiting! my brain very often fails me, so i recognize all too well the brain juice sluicing about! happily, my wife is accustomed to this so she doesn't have that reaction--at least, i don't think so! :>
lioness: yeah, if it's only been once or twice, i don't think we should be blamed for it! :>
pickers: short & sweet! i do, too!
eilan: uniforms will do it--i saw a picture of my BIL's unit, and all the guys are wearing their uniforms. it was absolutely impossible to recognize him!
CW: o, don't get me started on names! :D
kelly: that's really nifty--how'd you improve your recognition skills? or did it just happen? spill man--more folks than just me could stand to benefit, judging from the comments! :>
r: ah yes, the old "we don't recognize one another exactly, but we know we know one another" dance! heh...done that a few times myself!
tbs: yep, been there, done that a few times myself! :>
d6: i know the kind of thing you mean, dude. but i always chalked that up to certain industries being kinda incestuous, you know?
scipio: heh...well, that's certainly one way of fixing it!
ed -
JoyousLoving said on Apr 16, 2008....
Usually I'm not too bad but I meet a lot of people in my work and I have a hard time remembering some people. -
kelly said on Apr 16, 2008....
"kelly: that's really nifty--how'd you improve your recognition skills? or did it just happen? spill man--more folks than just me could stand to benefit, judging from the comments! :>"As I wrote that I was wondering how I did it myself. My best guess is that I now try to see people and not just what context they are in. It helps to remember briefly that "he's the guy wearing the Hawaiian shirt" but that has to be just a step to remembering the face and the name that goes with it. Substitute environment for the shirt and it's the same thing.At any rate, it's something you have to practice.On the other hand, I realize some people have what is called bad object constancy. They can't quite put together a definite memory picture of a person in that person's absence, so perhaps that's a factor as well. -
silverwhisper said on Apr 17, 2008....
JL: hey, good to see you again! and yeah, i have that problem, too!
kelly: o good, it wasn't just me wondering that, then! hm...i just have bad memory, which is also a problem. that sounds like a highly practicable means of addressing it, though. i should perhaps begin doing that myself!
ed
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