Man, my blog is becoming run down! I need to correct that.
I was doing some thinking the other day about people I’ve interacted with in the past, all the way down to primary school. Despite my weakest efforts, I seem to somehow be able to leave a mark in most places that I reside. So people always remember me, most times by name. But do I remember them?
I have a terrible problem with both faces and names, though my issue with names is far worse. What I’ve found in my life is that things tend to change quickly, even though I don’t realize it. Depending on the things that I’m involved in at a particular time, I may end up feeling like a fool in a few months when someone comes up to me and says ‘Hi Adrian!’ and I respond ‘HI…’ ‘I hope they don’t realize that I have no recollection of who they are,” I’m thinking to myself. And at the same time I’m feeling really bad, because it’s as if they’re not as important to me as I am to them… at least that’s how they should feel. But it has nothing to do with importance. My memory in that department just sucks.
Additionally, every now and then I run into someone I know. I see the person and immediately I feel very comfortable with him. We speak freely because we’ve done it before. But where? Primary school? Summer cricket? VBS? Why can’t I remember? He might as me about a mutual friend, and even then I just can’t seem to link the three of us. Now I’m just embarrassed. “Take care now (hope I never run into you again)!”
The worst case of them all occurred on Grand Market night some years ago. My sister and I were walking into a hardware store, when we walked pass a guy leaning against a pick-up. I looked straight at him, and didn’t flinch. He was just another guy on the crowded street. When we got inside the store, my sister asked me, “Isn’t that Davol?”
My sister had had very little interaction with Davol in her lifetime. She never went to school with him. She was already in high school, while Davol and I were in grade 6- as best friends.
If 10 years down the road I seem to be struggling with your name, don’t take it personally, as bad as it may be. I just suffer from the Roper Syndrome.
5 comments:
Who are you again anjd why does your name sound so familiar?
Anyway, I have the same problem and i try my darndest to play it off because I suck with names. Which makes medicine very difficult for me because I can describe techniques, syndromes and tools but can't name them.
I even got some memory tapes but forgot to use them. then loaned them out and forgot to collect them back.
Note to self: always remember to say, "Hi Adrian, this is Simone...Green....from Panoridim..." and always get second opinion after visiting BB :S
I use some of the old techniques to deal with my difficulty remembering names:
1. I irritate people to whom I'm newly introduced by purposefully using their name in sentences as many times as I can during the introduction...after awhile, its like having a 3 year old asking "why?"...
2. I introduce myself by name upon running into them prompting them to say their name...it goes something like this:
"Girl you remember me, now what was my name again, oh yeah, Sharon...I saw that on my driver's license again this morning[hahaha], now you know if I can't remember mine, I don't remember yours...I'm sorry what was your name again?
Sometimes people get pissed but most of us know somewhere deep inside that the world does not revolve around us and we get over it!
Will ya lay off the DTs. sheeesh.
thanks meli. As for Adri...:P
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