Hi, My name is...

There are countless pieces of information that cross our mental paths every day. Public transport timetables, the price of a bacon & egg/cup of coffee combo or a frustrating new sequence of numbers and letters that MUST include a capital letter and cannot be a sequence used previously just so we can access our own computer!!!

But seemingly the most common new piece of information we often have to remember on a day-to-day basis is people’s names. Geoff with a G, Sara not Sarah, Oscar who likes to be referred to as The Big O. Every day in both professional and social circles it’s not uncommon to come across half a dozen new faces and their respective monikers. Someone more mathematically inclined would be capable of extrapolating this factoid to provide an approximate number of new names that we encounter every year. But I’ll just surmise that it’s a shitload. So with this being a universal problem experienced by everyone, save agoraphobics, why are we so afraid of uttering the phrase

 “Sorry, I’ve forgotten your name”

It’s as though by admitting that we can’t remember someone’s name we are declaring them worthless, of insufficient importance to warrant a place in our brain or simply forgettable. And in some cases that may be true, but in most we’ve simply just forgotten. So instead of being upfront and honest in our amnesia, we opt for subterfuge such as trying to have another friend introduce themselves to the unnamable person to extract their identity without awkwardness. Or worse, we allocate the person an ambiguous pet name. Champ, Boss, Legend, Stranger but most commonly Mate. But these terms of un-endearment are not the clever technique for hiding the fact you can’t remember someone’s name that you think they are. They are the exact opposite. By greeting anyone as “Boss” who isn’t in fact your boss, you are merely putting up a big bloody neon sign that screams “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR NAME IS!!!”

So let’s make an agreement as a society; if you’ve forgotten someone’s name, admit to the fact, find out the person’s name and make a concerted effort to remember it next time. On the other side of the ledger, if you’re the person who’s name has been forgotten don’t take it personally. Chances are the person probably had a lot on their plate the day they first met you and your name simply slipped their mind, on the other hand you might be a thoroughly unmemorable person who should probably take up or make up a hobby that might make you stand out in future encounters, I’m talking to you Big O.