In message <t947ms$l3c$2@dont-email.me>, at 11:38:04 on Fri, 24 Jun
2022, Anna Noyd-Dryver <anna@noyd-dryver.com> remarked:
>Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:
>> In message <t94084$25f$4@dont-email.me>, at 09:30:44 on Fri, 24 Jun
>> 2022, Anna Noyd-Dryver <anna@noyd-dryver.com> remarked:
>>
>>>> The hospitality staff I encounter are usually somewhat exasperated by
>>>> the newer terminals, and are a whisker away from saying "No you stupid
>>>> customer, don't touch the screen like you've been doing the last 25yrs,
>>>> you need to touch this contactless symbol on the other end of the
>>>> portable terminal, even though you probably can't be expected to have
>>>> noticed it from where you are standing and without your reading glasses
>>>> on".
>>>
>>> Every time I've been in that situation, of hunting where the contactless
>>> pad is this time (or the card slot for occasions when I pay by
>>> not-contactless), the mood has been the exact opposite; it turns into a
>>> little laugh and a joke for a few seconds, oh yes they keep hiding the
>>> pad/slot in all different places on different machines these days, haha.
>>>
>>> I've often suspected that the attitude of retail/hospitality staff towards
>>> the customer simply reflects back the customer's attitude towards the staff
>>> to begin with.
>>
>> Some staff just seemed programmed to have a bad attitude. One particular
>> thing I notice is whether or not if it's the third time I've been in
>> there in a week and they just look straight through you like you were a
>> stranger, whereas at other places go back after a year and they greet
>> you like an old friend.
>>
>
>Not every person has the capacity to remember every person they meet.

But it's a valuable asset in hospitality staff at venues which have many
"regulars". Some regulars might say it was an almost essential part of
the experience - walk through the door and, the barman greets you
glass-in hand with "Your regular?"

>I struggle with faces, so if you were a customer at a retail place I
>was working (eg shop, bar) I'd probably not recognise you on your third
>visit of the week, unless we'd had some deeper interaction (eg Hi Anna,
>I'm that Roland Perry from Usenet). OTOH having made that deeper
>connection, I'll probably remember you a year later.

Whereas although not working in hospitality, I'll remember the face
pretty much anyone I've ever had a conversation with for decades.
Putting a name to that face, even if I met you last week, is quite a
different matter!

There's a certain type of salesman/lobbyist who greets people they want
to influence as if they are a long-lost friend. I can always rebut that
by "never met you before", which tends to pull the rug from under their
business model.

I'd much prefer someone to say "we've never met, but I have this idea
I'd like to run past you".

Recognising faces as familiar is not as difficult as sometimes claimed,
I'm sure most of the public has a repertoire of ten thousand or more
TV/Movie/Sports/Pop personalities who they'd recognise, even if they'd
need prompting for the name.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:
> In message <t947ms$l3c$2@dont-email.me>, at 11:38:04 on Fri, 24 Jun
> 2022, Anna Noyd-Dryver <anna@noyd-dryver.com> remarked:
>> Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:
>>> In message <t94084$25f$4@dont-email.me>, at 09:30:44 on Fri, 24 Jun
>>> 2022, Anna Noyd-Dryver <anna@noyd-dryver.com> remarked:
>>>
>>>>> The hospitality staff I encounter are usually somewhat exasperated by
>>>>> the newer terminals, and are a whisker away from saying "No you stupid
>>>>> customer, don't touch the screen like you've been doing the last 25yrs,
>>>>> you need to touch this contactless symbol on the other end of the
>>>>> portable terminal, even though you probably can't be expected to have
>>>>> noticed it from where you are standing and without your reading glasses
>>>>> on".
>>>>
>>>> Every time I've been in that situation, of hunting where the contactless
>>>> pad is this time (or the card slot for occasions when I pay by
>>>> not-contactless), the mood has been the exact opposite; it turns into a
>>>> little laugh and a joke for a few seconds, oh yes they keep hiding the
>>>> pad/slot in all different places on different machines these days, haha.
>>>>
>>>> I've often suspected that the attitude of retail/hospitality staff towards
>>>> the customer simply reflects back the customer's attitude towards the staff
>>>> to begin with.
>>>
>>> Some staff just seemed programmed to have a bad attitude. One particular
>>> thing I notice is whether or not if it's the third time I've been in
>>> there in a week and they just look straight through you like you were a
>>> stranger, whereas at other places go back after a year and they greet
>>> you like an old friend.
>>>
>>
>> Not every person has the capacity to remember every person they meet.
>
> But it's a valuable asset in hospitality staff at venues which have many
> "regulars". Some regulars might say it was an almost essential part of
> the experience - walk through the door and, the barman greets you
> glass-in hand with "Your regular?"
>

On your third visit?

>> I struggle with faces, so if you were a customer at a retail place I
>> was working (eg shop, bar) I'd probably not recognise you on your third
>> visit of the week, unless we'd had some deeper interaction (eg Hi Anna,
>> I'm that Roland Perry from Usenet). OTOH having made that deeper
>> connection, I'll probably remember you a year later.
>
> Whereas although not working in hospitality, I'll remember the face
> pretty much anyone I've ever had a conversation with for decades.
> Putting a name to that face, even if I met you last week, is quite a
> different matter!
>

I'm the opposite, I tend to remember people's names far better than faces.

> There's a certain type of salesman/lobbyist who greets people they want
> to influence as if they are a long-lost friend. I can always rebut that
> by "never met you before", which tends to pull the rug from under their
> business model.
>
> I'd much prefer someone to say "we've never met, but I have this idea
> I'd like to run past you".
>

I tend to end up having generic conversations with people who clearly know
me because they greet me by name, and I have literally no idea who they
are. This isn't a new thing, I first really noticed it at uni, 30 years
ago.

> Recognising faces as familiar is not as difficult as sometimes claimed,
> I'm sure most of the public has a repertoire of ten thousand or more
> TV/Movie/Sports/Pop personalities who they'd recognise, even if they'd
> need prompting for the name.

I'm rubbish at those, too. Even at recognising recurring characters in a TV
series, without other prompts.

Anna Noyd-Dryver

In message <t954ff$it9$4@dont-email.me>, at 19:49:03 on Fri, 24 Jun
2022, Anna Noyd-Dryver <anna@noyd-dryver.com> remarked:
>Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:
>> In message <t947ms$l3c$2@dont-email.me>, at 11:38:04 on Fri, 24 Jun
>> 2022, Anna Noyd-Dryver <anna@noyd-dryver.com> remarked:
>>> Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:
>>>> In message <t94084$25f$4@dont-email.me>, at 09:30:44 on Fri, 24 Jun
>>>> 2022, Anna Noyd-Dryver <anna@noyd-dryver.com> remarked:
>>>>
>>>>>> The hospitality staff I encounter are usually somewhat exasperated by
>>>>>> the newer terminals, and are a whisker away from saying "No you stupid
>>>>>> customer, don't touch the screen like you've been doing the last 25yrs,
>>>>>> you need to touch this contactless symbol on the other end of the
>>>>>> portable terminal, even though you probably can't be expected to have
>>>>>> noticed it from where you are standing and without your reading glasses
>>>>>> on".
>>>>>
>>>>> Every time I've been in that situation, of hunting where the contactless
>>>>> pad is this time (or the card slot for occasions when I pay by
>>>>> not-contactless), the mood has been the exact opposite; it turns into a
>>>>> little laugh and a joke for a few seconds, oh yes they keep hiding the
>>>>> pad/slot in all different places on different machines these days, haha.
>>>>>
>>>>> I've often suspected that the attitude of retail/hospitality staff towards
>>>>> the customer simply reflects back the customer's attitude towards
>>>>>the staff
>>>>> to begin with.
>>>>
>>>> Some staff just seemed programmed to have a bad attitude. One particular
>>>> thing I notice is whether or not if it's the third time I've been in
>>>> there in a week and they just look straight through you like you were a
>>>> stranger, whereas at other places go back after a year and they greet
>>>> you like an old friend.
>>>
>>> Not every person has the capacity to remember every person they meet.
>>
>> But it's a valuable asset in hospitality staff at venues which have many
>> "regulars". Some regulars might say it was an almost essential part of
>> the experience - walk through the door and, the barman greets you
>> glass-in hand with "Your regular?"
>
>On your third visit?

On the third visit in a week I'd expect them to remember the face, maybe
after the fifth visit over a month, the drink.

>>> I struggle with faces, so if you were a customer at a retail place I
>>> was working (eg shop, bar) I'd probably not recognise you on your third
>>> visit of the week, unless we'd had some deeper interaction (eg Hi Anna,
>>> I'm that Roland Perry from Usenet). OTOH having made that deeper
>>> connection, I'll probably remember you a year later.
>>
>> Whereas although not working in hospitality, I'll remember the face
>> pretty much anyone I've ever had a conversation with for decades.
>> Putting a name to that face, even if I met you last week, is quite a
>> different matter!
>
>I'm the opposite, I tend to remember people's names far better than faces.

How does that work? You bump into someone and remember their name, but
not the face...

>> There's a certain type of salesman/lobbyist who greets people they want
>> to influence as if they are a long-lost friend. I can always rebut that
>> by "never met you before", which tends to pull the rug from under their
>> business model.
>>
>> I'd much prefer someone to say "we've never met, but I have this idea
>> I'd like to run past you".
>
>I tend to end up having generic conversations with people who clearly know
>me because they greet me by name, and I have literally no idea who they
>are. This isn't a new thing, I first really noticed it at uni, 30 years
>ago.

I'm systemically averse to people who greet me (either in person or
online) with "Roland, can we talk about...". I don't know why, but it
just grates. It often suggests they are trying to pretend they are a
long lost friend, when I know otherwise.

>> Recognising faces as familiar is not as difficult as sometimes claimed,
>> I'm sure most of the public has a repertoire of ten thousand or more
>> TV/Movie/Sports/Pop personalities who they'd recognise, even if they'd
>> need prompting for the name.
>
>I'm rubbish at those, too. Even at recognising recurring characters in a TV
>series, without other prompts.

Now that I'm watching more 'cable TV' [Netflix, Prime etc] partly
because of Covid, partly because the BBC has gone to hell in a
handbasket, and partly just because there's more on Netflix etc, I keep
seeing actors in a different series. Yesterday it was someone in S.W.A.T
who is now in NCIS. No idea what their name is though.
--
Roland Perry

On Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:49:03 -0000 (UTC), Anna Noyd-Dryver
<anna@noyd-dryver.com> wrote:

>I tend to end up having generic conversations with people who clearly know
>me because they greet me by name, and I have literally no idea who they
>are. This isn't a new thing, I first really noticed it at uni, 30 years
>ago.

I've found this more and more as I get older.

One issue of being a train driver was the transient nature of the job
- you see many faces on a day to day basis but often never get the
chance to match up the names (except you hear certain names frequently
in conversations for some reason) so most people just become 'errrr,
hello mate'!

London calling <sf@london.london> wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:49:03 -0000 (UTC), Anna Noyd-Dryver
> <anna@noyd-dryver.com> wrote:
>
>> I tend to end up having generic conversations with people who clearly know
>> me because they greet me by name, and I have literally no idea who they
>> are. This isn't a new thing, I first really noticed it at uni, 30 years
>> ago.
>
> I've found this more and more as I get older.
>
> One issue of being a train driver was the transient nature of the job
> - you see many faces on a day to day basis but often never get the
> chance to match up the names (except you hear certain names frequently
> in conversations for some reason) so most people just become 'errrr,
> hello mate'!
>

Oh yes, "Alright mate" has been such a useful phrase over the years!

Anna Noyd-Dryver

Anna Noyd-Dryver <anna@noyd-dryver.com> wrote:
> London calling <sf@london.london> wrote:
>> On Fri, 24 Jun 2022 19:49:03 -0000 (UTC), Anna Noyd-Dryver
>> <anna@noyd-dryver.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I tend to end up having generic conversations with people who clearly know
>>> me because they greet me by name, and I have literally no idea who they
>>> are. This isn't a new thing, I first really noticed it at uni, 30 years
>>> ago.
>>
>> I've found this more and more as I get older.
>>
>> One issue of being a train driver was the transient nature of the job
>> - you see many faces on a day to day basis but often never get the
>> chance to match up the names (except you hear certain names frequently
>> in conversations for some reason) so most people just become 'errrr,
>> hello mate'!
>>
>
> Oh yes, "Alright mate" has been such a useful phrase over the years!

Same in an open plan office where you share a floor with 3 other teams,
only one of which you work directly with. Mind you, some of them did start
putting their names on the desk dividers.

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as Sam.Wilson@ed.ac.uk
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