# After 30 years how many people do you recognize? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2015, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707 "2015-04-28T08:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/21 "2015-04-28T19:38:16Z")
I’m at about 25% based on Facebook. Some people really do look the same, just older. Others? Not even the same species. I looked up one opposite-sex buddy from High School, I was thinking - hmmmm, I wonder what they’re up to, we never hooked up, but maybe…y’know, after all these years… Well, I found them and I know it is unkind to say so but YIKES! Ah, well. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/22 "2015-04-28T21:26:06Z")
If I have context–like at a reuinion–it’s not too bad. I went to an all-alumni reunion 26 years out from my graduation at grammar school and recognized all the people in my class, but I only had a pool of about 30 to choose from. If I ran into them on the street, with no other indication that I should know them or how I would know them, it’d be much, much worse. ---
**Author:** ![SUZ\_MAC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@SUZ\_MAC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SUZ_MAC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/23 "2015-04-28T22:45:28Z")
For me it gets tougher every year. I still live in the same town where I went to HS as do a lot of my classmates or those of my older brothers. More often than not I know the face, but damned if I can place how/where I know them from. School, family, my son’s activities growing up etc… Any reunion I’ve ever attended we’ve had name tags to help out. Isn’t that the norm at most reunions? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/24 "2015-04-28T23:02:28Z")
By face alone, nearly nil. Throw in the voice, and I have a fighting chance. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/25 "2015-04-29T04:23:56Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > People from high school? Sure, no problem. By 14 or 15 a person generally looks the way they’re going to look. Uh, no. Especially men who maybe had shoulder length hair in high school is now bald. And we all get alot heavier. Then throw in a bead or mustache. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/26 "2015-04-29T04:49:35Z")
I left my home town the year after I graduated high school in 1974, and I’ve only been back once in all those years. The only friend from HS I’ve seen is a guy who moved to Seattle at the same time I did. He does go back to Idaho Falls occasionally, and he recently posted a picture of my old girlfriend. I would recognizer her instantly. Her face is virtually unchanged, she hasn’t gotten fat or wrinkled, and she even wears her hair the same. I’ll see her this summer when I go back to IF for the first time since 86. It will be a real treat. She’s was a fun person then and I’m sure still is. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/27 "2015-04-29T11:36:55Z")
At our 10 year reunion, I didn’t recognize the girl who had been a close friend for at least 6 years, right up till graduation. I’ve looked at a few reunion sites and I don’t recognize many folks at all, tho it has been many more than 30 years since high school. In fact, the only person I know who has hardly changed at all in the last 40+ years was a classmate and squadron mate when I was first in the Navy. She’s still wearing her hair the same, she hasn’t gained an ounce, and except for the little bit of gray streaking her hair, you’d be hard-pressed to place her as over 60. Wish I could say I’ve aged half as well, but… ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/28 "2015-04-29T12:22:56Z")
I tend to associate people with a certain characteristic. Ex. if they wear glasses. If they stop later on I dont recognize them. And with women its their hair. I might associate a woman say with long straight hair but if she seriously cuts it or perms it it can be like night and day. And then theirs hair color. And yeah, if she has large breasts, I’m a guy, I tend to remember those. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/29 "2015-04-29T12:54:48Z")
The face in the mirror in the morning is my limit. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/30 "2015-04-29T13:07:36Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > There is just no fucking chance. I can’t even recognize people I met yesterday. I’ve gone out on second dates and told the guy he’s going to have to find me. He’s always puzzled like, “Um, you don’t know what I look like?” I’ll figure it out eventually - I can recognize my friends and family, but in general faces are not my thing. I’ll remember everything you said, though, so don’t try any bullshit like I won’t remember. > > So yeah, couldn’t recognize an old friend from 30 years ago. Doesn’t help that most of my friends were under 10 years old 30 years ago. 🙂 This is me, almost word for word. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/31 "2015-04-29T14:04:25Z")
I find this thread very comforting on the eve of this reunion. I actually found our old, softcover facebook - they actually did exist in paper form, kids! - and went through it, comparing vs. the reunion attendees. I am doomed! Looking at the pics of folks I _have_ seen over the past couple of decades, and knowing how _completely different_ they look vs. those photos - oh yeah, doomed. This will be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/32 "2015-04-29T14:09:01Z")
I went to a high school class reunion last year. I graduated more than 30 years ago. It was a multi-year reunion - my high school was pretty small, and more than 30 years out, there wouldn’t be any point in holding a reunion for just one class year. There were about a dozen guys (no women – it was an all-male school) there from my year, and I recognized all of them. Even remembered their names. Now, someone here might say that maybe there were \*more \*than a dozen classmates there, and I didn’t recognize all of them, and I can’t refute that. But I’m pretty sure I’m right. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/33 "2015-04-29T14:11:50Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > So yeah, couldn’t recognize an old friend from 30 years ago. Doesn’t help that most of my friends were under 10 years old 30 years ago. 🙂 You know, this is a good point. I posted just above about recognizing everyone at a high school reunion, but I knew them when they were 17 or 18 years old, and their adult features had already taken shape, or at least begun to take shape, by then. The men at my class reunion weren’t children when I knew them, they were young adults (almost). I’m not sure the same would be true of a fourth-grade reunion. The difference in appearance between 8 years old and 50 years old is going to be far greater than the difference between 18 and 50. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/34 "2015-04-29T14:42:30Z")
Some people have good facial recognition, and some people don’t. I seem to have pretty good recognition. I grew up on the east coast, and then moved to California 2 months after graduating high school. Have been in CA ever since, and only went to one H.S. reunion (20th). I was able to recall many faces and names. It was uncanny, and it was kind of fun, too. In San Francisco a few years ago I randomly ran into someone on the sidewalk, both of us standing in line to register for the same event. I told her that I recognized her, and she said it’s doubtful because she’s not from here, she’s from the east coast. After talking some more it turned out she was a year ahead of me in high school and we were in one history class together. We weren’t friends or even acquaintances back then, and it’s not like I had a crush on her or anything like that. She was not at our 20th reunion, and that was literally the first time I saw her since high school. So yes it’s uncanny, and also a little fun too. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/35 "2015-04-29T14:56:33Z")
I’m only 32, so I’m fairly certain I would not recognize anyone I hadn’t seen for 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/36 "2015-05-01T01:47:33Z")
I’ve seen pics of old friends and boyfriends on facebook. I haven’t seen any of them in decades. Some look very much like they used to and others I wouldn’t recognize if they were sitting beside me. I’m fb friends with one of my old boyfriend’s sister. He looks almost the same, but probably has gained about 10lbs or so. He was always super thin, so it actually looks good on him. I suppose that if I ever take a trip to Toronto, I would look up my old posse. Most of them are still there, though a few are no longer living. ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/37 "2015-05-01T19:11:59Z")
I was talking to someone I’ve known for twenty years the other night, and aside from wearing a beard now, he looks more or less the same as he did when we were fifteen. When I still lived in the area where I graduated high school, I routinely had people walk up to me and tell me I’d been in a class with them/one of their siblings. I never had any idea who the hell they were. I also look more or less the same as I did when I was fifteen, and I’m [pretty distinctive](https://twitter.com/ArabellaFlynn/status/393463022645030912), so it’s not really surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/38 "2015-05-02T11:11:24Z")
I’ve lived my adult life with the philosophy of “new bases, new faces”. Every time I transferred, I didn’t make an effort to keep up with the people I knew in the old job. However, people remember me. I’ll be at a convention or a meeting and someone will come up and talk to me about the ‘old days.’ I’m good at extracting data from them and can generally recall them after a minute or so, but just looking at a picture of them: no clue. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/39 "2015-05-03T12:28:43Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > People from high school? Sure, no problem. By 14 or 15 a person generally looks the way they’re going to look. I’m 16. This terrifies me. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707/40 "2015-05-03T14:05:56Z")
A couple of weeks back, I was looking through some old pictures, and found a few of some works do or other that I went to about 7-8 years ago. I saw a guy in one of them that looked kind of familiar but I couldn’t place him. It took me a few seconds to realise that it was me. :o So I think that tells you how good I’d be at recognising other people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-30-years-how-many-people-do-you-recognize/718707.md?page=3)