To not recognise anyone outside their natural environment

[Differentstarts]

I saw my neighbour in the supermarket today they spoke to me for about 10 minutes i had no clue who they where. This is a person who i say hello to everyday. My friend i was with knew exactly who she was and she's probably only seen her a handful of times. I'm like this all the time with teachers, drs, hairdresser, postman etc unless they are where their "supposed" to be i just don't recognise them. My friend on the other hand recognises everyone after meeting them once. She thinks I'm weird I think she is. Which is normal and which are you?

I am dreadful with this and it can be embarrassing. I once had to meet up with someone in public that I’d only met once before, and had no idea what they looked like. I often have people stop to say hello to me and have to wing it. I never forget a birthday or phone number though!

Gosh, this sounds really disorienting. Does this cause you anxiety?

Me too, I've failed to recognise DH when I bumped into him in town wearing a hat before now. Also had a conversation with someone at work, then saw them half an hour later having taken a jumper off, and didn't realise it was the same person. It can be so embarrassing.

I’m like this! I can see someone on a night out in a pub and think, where do I know them from? I can picture them in a black shirt…. Oh yes, I know! They work in Primark! They served me last year! DH thinks it’s mad, half the time he can’t remember names or faces, probably including mine 😂

Me too, people think I'm being very rude.

God forbid someone at the school gates gets a new coat, they may as well have had a head transplant.

Yes, face blindness. I have this.

I saw a man once in an office block. I had no idea who he was. We trained together in fitness multiple times a week over several years. He thought I was a freak.

I can spend a whole day with someone and not recognise them a day later.

See people from sports teams I’m on will be at a party and I won’t know then from Adam……

I nevery knew which parents belonged to which kids when I was in a nursery and they were collecting. I’d wait to see which kid ran towards them!

It's interesting that there's potentially a cross over with having no sense of direction, I definitely have both. It's been a nightmare since the kids started school, I've no hope of recognising other parents if they're not at the school gate with their kids. It doesn't help that I work in a local shop, I'm sure some of them must think I'm really rude 😕

I'm the same, happens all the time. I have to make polite conversation in the hope that something triggers my memory.

Many years ago in a pub a young man that came over and said 'Hi'. I said something bland in return and my BF asked who he was. I said I had no idea, but the BF didn't believe me. A bit later, BF went over and asked the guy how he knew me! My BF later turned out to be the jealous type, but on this occassion, the 'stranger' explained that he was a current student I taught at the local FE college. I was so relieved. Luckily the student found it funny that I didn't know who he was out of context. I had been seriously worried that I may have completely forgotten an ex!

Oh that’s strange. I struggle with films sometimes but directions are my speciality. I can memorise and draw maps and have a very visual memory, can do spatial awareness puzzles etc. It’s just new/out of context faces that are a struggle unless they have landmarks on them.

Yes, im awful at it. I'm better with people I know really well of course, but I think I actually use their voice and general mannerisms more, if you showed me a picture it would be much harder. And if you showed me one of those pics of people with no hair/clothes just the face then I doubt I'd recognise my own family. I've done those online tests before was really just guessing. Or making a mental note of a specific feature like mouth shape and comparing it, not something I could do in real life.

So glad it’s not just me! I can have a full conversation with someone and then walk past them on the street. I didn’t even recognise my best friend of 20 years when I saw her in a place I wasn’t expecting to see her. Television is really difficult unless the characters have distinct costumes or haircut so I just tend to read or listen to podcasts.

Prosopagnosia. I'm really poor at recognising people outside of their context. Overtime, I've developed coping strategies where I can engage in active conversation until they provide sufficient clues in their conversation at which point I can place them.

Oh gosh, I remember years ago bumping into one of my DD’s teachers while out shopping, chatted for a minute or two, she congratulated us on the birth of DS. The whole time I’m looking at her thinking I know you, but who actually are you?! It took me ages after she had gone to remember who she was. I thought I was going mad and had no idea until now that this is actually a thing.

A psychology lecturer of mine told a story about her daughter who had been driving down the road and was stopped in traffic. A car pulled up next to her and the driver of that car was waving at her, really friendly, obviously recognised her etc. The daughter had no idea who it was.
The daughter got home later that day, and her sister said “how come you didn’t wave back at me in the car this morning?”
Out of context she was completely unable to recognise her sister.

I think there’s a book about it “the man who mistook his wife for a hat” (sorry, not read the full thread, some may have mentioned that already).

Your friend is right - it's not 'normal', in the sense that the vast majority of people don't have it, but it is a recognised thing.

I work for a uniformed organisation and sometimes I don’t recognise my colleagues when they’re not in uniform if that’s how I usually see them. And even if they’re in uniform I struggle if they are bald white men (a lot of them are).

I’m like your friend, I’d recognise the most fleeting acquaintance, local person, folks from absolutely years ago…

I have this too, and I even have trouble recognising myself. Couldn’t describe myself without looking in a mirror

I don’t recognise people if I see them out of context! I have a hobby where I’m with other people a lot. I’ve have on occasion seen these people elsewhere and not realised who they are!

I have this 😄😄

Is it tied to autism i wonder

But you're not alone x

I was once at a party and I introduced myself to a man that I'd spent an entire evening with not that long before (not like THAT but it was the whole evening). He said "Yes, Need help, we've met before."
It's a thing, OP, you are not alone!

I have this too. Have to use things like hair colour, age, glasses wearer, where someone sits etc to remember colleagues. I do eventually learn to recognise most people, but it can take me weeks or months of regularly seeing someone before I am confident. If they get a drastic hair change I am screwed.

Yes, I have this, can be really embarrassing. I'm also very bad at directions or orienting myself in places where everything looks the same, e.g. underground car parks, shopping malls, endless roundabouts or mile after mile of identical high rise buildings.

Films and TV I have no problem following though, and I usually recognise actors from one thing to another. I don't know if this is because I work in the industry, so I generally know exactly where a story is going and when the important moments will happen (they're all ultimately the same).

I’m the opposite. I’m great with faces - but absolutely terrible with names 😆

I am like this too, but it freaks some people out that I can remember them. I'm just very good at names and faces, recognise (speaking) voices and have a good sense of direction. Terrible at dates, however or remembering things verbatim.