The Name Game

I think I'm getting the hang of the name game, finally.  I have a problem when I meet someone that's plagued me for most of my life.  I am happy to meet the person, I listen to the introduction and then I focus on being friendly and saying hello and starting a conversation.  What I don't do is pay attention to the person's name.

What happens is I immediately forget their name, having missed the crucial step of making the memory stick in the first place. This problem has larger repercussions in that when I do get the person's name a second time, sometimes I'm not sure if I'm remembering it correctly with the name I had been thinking they might be.  This causes a series of doubts and avoidance steps to pursue.

With the new school and new neighborhood I seem, somehow, to be taking the time to pay attention.  I have people's names more often than not.  And this is even more impressive: I can remember who they were if they're out of place, say in the grocery store instead of standing in their front yard.

So I'm making progress.  Today I met several more people in our neighborhood.  We'll see how well I remember them when I meet them at the pool or walking down the road next.

The Big Boy Update:  Today we were at the pool.  My son told us after we got home, "I want to grow up to be a big boy like daddy so I can swim."

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "Where's Greyson?"  She wants to know where he is when he's not around.  The other day she had a fever and I picked her up from school early.  Her brother wasn't with us as we went shopping and got food.  She frequently asked me where her brother was.  She also wants to know where daddy is when he's not around.

Someone Once Said:  Each man is his own prisoner, in solitary confinement for life.