Friday 18 October 2013

Today, I saw Michael Caine outside Tesco's...

...smoking a cigarette. He had a beard.

Only it wasn't Michale Caine at all. I have a mild form of what's known as "face blindness"; ie difficulty in recognising faces. I have also recently seen Prince William in Sainsbury's,  and several characters from Coronation Street wandering the streets of Devizes.

On the other hand, I am often accused of ignoring people I know quite well, when actually I just haven't recognised them. Watching complicated films is a nightmare. Unless there is a redhead, a blonde and a very tall bald bloke (for example) I am lost. I have to keep asking John "is that the one who...?". He's very patient, but it must be infuriating. I can't tell my goodies from my baddies.

Where we lived before, I was both a nurse and a Relate counsellor, so if someone appeared to  know me, I could safely say, "how are things?", and this covered most eventualities, from adultery to piles. But it can be very awkward.

Does anyone else have this problem?

(PS I prefer Michael Caine without the beard)

20 comments:

  1. Very much so. When she was 20, my daughter went to Australia for 9 months. On going to the airport to meet her, I was genuinely anxious in case I didn't recognise her at once.
    I have got better over the years however, having worked very hard at it, especially as I used to be equally poor at remembering names.

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    1. Maybe I haven't worked hard enough at it, Z...but well done, you.

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  2. Your sightings of famous people at supermarkets etc. remind me of my grandma. She used to see likenness where nobody else woudl see them. For instance, she alwasys insisted that Linda Evans looked just like Princess Diana, and many of her neighbours and friends to her looked just like some actor or actress, or some other type of celebrity. I don't think she ever told her friends and neighbours that, but to us, it was a sort of running joke.

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    1. That's one of the symptoms Meike. Your grandmother definitelyhad it!

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  3. THO have the same problem - it's become a joke amongst my friends. There's an online test I failed splendidly recently. You can just imagine how hard it was being a teacher - the children had to wear name badges for a term. Recently I spoke to someone I hadn't seen for a while in the cafe and later went over to say goodbye except the person who I was them talking to was not the same one. Three years ago I thought I married Brad Pitt... Now I'm doubting myself!

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    1. I took a test in The Times, and failed (passed?) miserably. But I definitely didn't marry Brad Pitt, so maybe there's still hope...

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  4. When I catch sight of any of my daughters, when actually expecting to meet one at the station for example, my first thought is, "Ooh, I'm sure I know that person."

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    1. Oh yes! And when I see my reflection in a shop window, I think the same. Sad, isn't it?

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  5. I did see Hugh Laurie coming out of our local petrol Station. What shocked me most was 1) I knew who he was 2) I remembered his name. Before I had my son I was brilliant are recognising people, their names, where and when I last saw them. Now I find it hard to remember people I have worked with or put names to face. I tell myself it because I spent too much time with characters I've created :-)

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    1. Hugh Lauirie...oh, lucky you, Paula. I think he's gorgeous (when I can remember what he looks like).

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  6. I do get easily confused by characters in films, yes. Not so much in real life but I've been known to think two people look alike when I'm the only person who sees any similarity.



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    1. Patsy, my youngest son looks exactly like Andy Murray (luckily I'm not the only person who thinks so).

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  7. Ha! From adultery to piles does cover all sorts of trouble. I believe most famous people (who are also mature) would rather not be recognized by the general populace.

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    1. I agree, Yvonne, I would never approach a famous person (that is, if I recognised them in the first place...)

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  8. I do have a friend who does not recognise a face if there is any alteration at all to it. As a former newspaper editor I think this must have been a serious problem. He does, however, immediately recognise voices.

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    1. I recognise voices, so maybe there's some hope for me, GB. But I never notice whether or not they have beards, which is odd, really.

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  9. You are not alone I see. We have lived in various places around the country, and I would often see someone I thought I recognised, but it couldn't have been that person because I remembered they were in Scotland, or somewhere else. Now I am working with small children once a week, I am having difficulty fitting names, which I know, to the faces which I also know. Unfortunately the two don't fit together in my brain.

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    1. Maggie, when teaching evening classes, I had to ask the students to keep their names on pieces of paper facing me for weeks. And there were only twelve of them.

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  10. Haven't had that problem but I tend to remember faces without the names if I don't know them that well.

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