Alternatively:
“What’s your name again?”
“T*********”
"Sorry, what?*
“Ti********”
😐
Haha! I had someone tell me their name a few weeks ago. Kinda sounded like coffee so his name is now coffee. Can’t for the life of me remember his actual name and I’ve asked numerous times. I usually just hope that I don’t get in a situation where I need to know their name. Fun times. At least we can laugh about it.
“(Okay. Okay, okay, okay, here goes.) Hey, I’m so sorry, I’m so very bad with names, what’s yours again? (Gawd that was awful, but it’s over, we did it, I’m so proud of us, we overcame our fear and… FUCK what did they say?!)”
Constant issue for me. I realized how much of a relief it was the other day when someone asked my name again after being introduced 15 minutes earlier, I got a chance to ask them their again and I felt a little more human for a bit.
Something that helped me was realizing that names are hard for everyone.
Unlike faces, which a lot of people also struggle with, names are completely arbitrary. They don’t help you identify a person at all unless you already know them. Facial features at least help you recognize someone but “Tim” or “James” could be 20 people you have met this year alone.
Everyone is bad with them, so just admitting to it is actually either a huge relief or at least understandable to the other party, like your experience. I find it’s typically the former, and after they share their name again, they confirm they have mine right, or ask in kind because they also forgot. It’s a human moment.
At least you remember to ask people for their name I had it happen that I didn’t ask for someones name until I knew them for more than half a year
I was afraid to use my girlfriend’s dad’s name that I 100% knew - because what if I don’t actually know
Never remembering names (I can barely remember faces) has always been a thing and I think I’ve just gotten good at rarely using them.
That being said, my GF at the time is now my wife, and I actually say her dad’s name now. Turns out I was right all along!
…I think
So this is dumb but I’ve been carrying around a little notebook to write random things down, and I’ve taken to recording names of new people I meet. Also people are way more forgiving of forgetting names and I’ve also accepted that people that aren’t are not worth being around anyway.
I see your dumb notebook and raise you an obsidian notes database… that idea didn’t last long…
Seriously though, little notebooks are lifesaving.
