# Remember me - are you memorable to those you rarely encounter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768 "2024-11-25T17:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/1 "2024-11-25T17:42:53Z")
Are you memorable? Not to your friends & family but to people you rarely deal with. - I called to place my ‘usual unusual’ Thanksgiving order. I started to tell her what I wanted, which include special instrux on where & how to deliver it & she cut me off by finishing it out for me. I call this place once a year & yet she remembered my order because it’s unique. - I had to call a lawyer’s office last week that I hadn’t dealt with in 8½ years; the admin/paralegal/whatever her title answered & I asked my generic question. She responded, “I thought we did that for you”. Now I get she probably got my name from CallerID but how the hell did she remember a case from so long ago? When I asked her, she stated, “Let’s just say some cases are more memorable than others.” **not** a criminal lawyer ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/2 "2024-11-25T17:57:17Z")
Sometimes. When I walk into a pilgrim hostel or bar/cafe on the Camino, I’m often recognized even if I was only there one time two years before. I don’t have extensive conversations with the folks working there, so I assume it’s due to my radiant beauty, dulcet tones, and politeness. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/3 "2024-11-25T18:06:29Z")
I think I’m recognized more often than most people because I’m goofy lookin’. Don’t know if anyone would remember me over the phone like you! Wow! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/4 "2024-11-25T18:12:17Z")
I regularly feel that more people remember me than I remember them. Not sure if it is because I am particularly memorable, or that I have a lousy memory for people I don’t interact with all the time. I generally suspect the latter. I’m kinda tall, and when I talk about things I can be opinionated, so that might be a reason for someone to remember me. In my mind, I am quite forgettable. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/5 "2024-11-25T18:16:58Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I regularly feel that more people remember me than I remember them. Not sure if it is because I am particularly memorable, or that I have a lousy memory for people I don’t interact with all the time. I generally suspect the latter. Same. I routinely have awkward conversations with people who remember me, and address me by name, as I’m frantically trying to place who the hell they are and how i might have met them ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/6 "2024-11-25T18:24:38Z")
Maybe this doesn’t exactly fit here but I came across this word a long time ago and it permanently sits at the periphery of my thoughts: Sonder noun 1. the feeling one has on realizing that every other individual one sees has a life as full and real as one’s own, in which they are the central character and others, including oneself, have secondary or insignificant roles: 2.In a state of sonder, each of us is at once a hero, a supporting cast member, and an extra in overlapping stories.\* ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/7 "2024-11-25T18:31:48Z")
Eh. Me? I’m forgettable as heck. Thank the stars. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/8 "2024-11-25T18:34:35Z")
There’s an IHOP where of the waitresses learned to watch for me stopping by every three months or so. They’re right down the street from my doctor’s office; if I’m not in a hurry to get home, I go there for my first meal after fasting overnight. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/9 "2024-11-25T18:56:16Z")
When giving me an employee award in 2014, my boss remarked to the crowd, “I still vividly remember Velocity’s job interview in 2010.” So…errrr…yeah. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/10 "2024-11-25T19:02:09Z")
Oddly enough, I seem to be. I’m a nondescript rather elderly fellow, of average build and size. Caucasian in a UK town where that’s the bulk of the population. I dress in unremarkable clothes from generic stores or even thrift shops. I don’t express any controversial opinions in public, just try to be normally polite. But somehow people remember me…? I really don’t know why? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/11 "2024-11-25T19:06:21Z")
I’m short and need to have all of my pants hemmed, so during a period around 2008-2011 when I was buying a lot of new clothes, I went to a dry cleaner near my office fairly frequently for alterations. I’m not sure the last time I was there, but I know it was before 2015. In September of this year, I finally bought another pair of pants that needed to be hemmed, so I decided to check whether that place was still operating. As soon as I stepped up to the counter, the woman (whom I did not recognize at all) said, “It’s been a while since you’ve been in. You’ve lost weight.” ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/12 "2024-11-25T19:16:33Z")
I had a wonderful lunch in a Polish deli in a small city about an hour from home that I rarely visit. The proprietors had limited English, and my server was their preteen daughter, who finally convinced me that whatever she brought out I would like. [She was right]. Twenty years later I was back in that town, and noticed an almost familiar sign on a different building, and decided to check it out. The young matron at the counter smiled ‘about time you came back - the usual?’ and brought out the same meal I’d enjoyed before. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/13 "2024-11-25T22:42:36Z")
That’s a wonderful story! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/14 "2024-11-25T22:57:17Z")
I’m one of those nondescript, invisible people that hardly anyone remembers meeting. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/15 "2024-11-25T23:29:19Z")
I think a full 50 % or more of the equation are people who remember other people (such as patrons) to a remarkable degree. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/16 "2024-11-26T00:25:53Z")
This seems like the perfect thread for [this song](https://youtu.be/FGktL1NU-YI?si=66zJLsvYBBjp7R_3) from Garfunkel and Oates. ETA: Sorry, I should have noted that the song includes some NSFW language. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/17 "2024-11-26T08:07:21Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I’m one of those nondescript, invisible people that hardly anyone remembers meeting. Yep. Sometimes I get the whole " You look familiar…" thing, but that’s because I look like every other ordinary average guy. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/18 "2024-11-26T15:34:32Z")
I must be to some people. I occasionally have people come up to me and start talking and I have no idea who they are lol. Not so much in recent years but in the past this was a regular occurrence. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/19 "2024-11-26T15:45:59Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I think I’m recognized more often than most people because I’m goofy lookin’. That has always been my excuse. For awhile I had a ZZ-Top beard and a pony tail to my waist. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > I regularly feel that more people remember me than I remember them. Same here. I’ve gotten good at faking it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768/20 "2024-11-26T15:50:35Z")
No idea. I guess it depends on the interaction and frequency of encounters. One of my doctor’s entries in my record described me as a “pleasant 77 year-old male”. It made me feel inordinately good. I know that the staff at Walking Dead Manor like me, as I banter with them and let them know that I appreciate what they do. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-me-are-you-memorable-to-those-you-rarely-encounter/1010768.md?page=2)