Ginevra Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 So, I'm sitting here at the hair salon, where my boys are getting their hair cuts. There's a woman here amongst the customers; I know her. Her husband was my daughter's soccer coach many moons ago. Even given that I'm a bit on the faceblind side and am reaaaaallly bad at recognizing people, I know this is her because I saw the last name on the sign-in. I tried to catch her eye so I could say, "Hey, I think I know you from ------." But she's buried in a magazine now and I'm just sitting here feeling awkward cause I know her but I'm not acknowledging this. Her husband even got badly hurt once on my son's account; he had my boy riding on his shoulders and stumbled over a soccer ball. I'm a dork. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 You could walk right up to her and say, "Hey, how are you?!" and that wouldn't be rude. But I'd probably take the magazine as a hint she wanted to be left alone and just smile at her and say hi when she gets up... if she happens to look your way. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Oh I have been there. Sooooo awkward. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 (edited) Well...it goes both ways. She didn't say hello to you, either. And don't feel bad that her dh hurt himself while your ds was on his shoulders. It was the guy's fault. ^ This is me trying to justify being ultra introverted in public places. Edited October 5, 2016 by Annie G 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 That's like me today at the park. I saw my OB-Gyn. You don't say hi to your OB in public, do you? But we both recognized each other and it was awkward. My kids asked who that lady was. :-P Emily 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 If she is normally chatty, she might be reading a magazine to pass the time and would probably be all to happy to chat with you. If she is normally quiet, then she is probably relaxing with her magazine while waiting. I am chatty but I am also contented reading magazines in waiting areas if I have no one to chat with. I had a friend wave her hand in front of my face because I was too busy reading National Geographic magazine at the dentist's waiting area and didn't look up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 I so heart you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Eh well. It was never resolved. So perhaps she went home to her husband and said, "I saw that mom whose kid was on your shoulders that time you messed up your knee. But she didn't seem to notice me so I just looked at magazines." :D 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 She was probably reading her magazine thinking, "I think I know her from soccer, and I wasn't able to catch her eye when she came in so it's awkward, and I'll just hide behind my magazine." :D (I would totally do that. On both sides, yours or (my imaginary) hers. AWKWARD! :lol: ) Maybe she's posting on a message board somewhere..... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 (edited) Eh well. It was never resolved. So perhaps she went home to her husband and said, "I saw that mom whose kid was on your shoulders that time you messed up your knee. But she didn't seem to notice me so I just looked at magazines." :D When I am doing errands, I see people who I recognize all.the.time. If I go shopping, I will likely see 3 or more people that "I know" in a matter of a few hours. My record is having 5 people come up to me in one Costco trip. LOL I know probably 1000 people in my community by name, from working in schools, homeschooling, working in pharmacy, coworkers etc. If I catch their eye, I smile and nod. Otherwise, I don't give it a second thought. If they wanted to talk to me, or reach out in acknowledgement, then they would gesture to do so. When I am out of my house, I really want to be left alone. I don't want to talk. I just want some peace and quiet for a few minutes.. I don't want to put on my work face. I don't want to see pictures of the grand kids. I don't want to spend 10 minutes being polite catching up with someone I knew from a homeschool PE class 5 years ago. Quite often my sole purpose for leaving the house, is to not have to talk to anyone (4 of the 5 people in my house have ADHD) ETA: I am not trying to be rude, but I talk to 50+ patients a day at work, I get tired of small talk. I just want to do my errands and be done. My guess, is that the coaches wife is the same way. It doesn't sound like you knew her at all, just the coach. If he has coached for a long time, there are likely a multitude of people she doesn't really know personally but who recognize her. If she liked or wanted to make connections with others at the salon, she would have been looking around and making her body language more open to other people. Since she didn't, I would assume you were perceived as being respectful of her personal space. I think you were kind to leave her to her magazine in peace. Edited October 6, 2016 by Tap 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertBlossom Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 Guilty of this. Often. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debi21 Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 I relate. I usually try to avoid eye contact... la, la, la never saw you... Sometimes if shopping or something I'll even hide (duck down an aisle going another way). Yesterday, I was with my MIL and I saw the sister of a friend of mine. I met her once or twice at the friend's child's birthday party. I only know because she looks so much like her sister. I mentioned it to my MIL who is chatty, and she said, aren't you going to talk to her. I said, why would I talk to her - I don't know her. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 I agree it goes both ways. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyacinth Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 I consider it an act of kindness when someone sees me in public and pretends she doesn't. (Saw this on an INTJ twitter feed.) 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 I consider it an act of kindness when someone sees me in public and pretends she doesn't. (Saw this on an INTJ twitter feed.) :lol: I would totally say hi to my OB if we made eye contact at the park. But I'm thinking of this person as someone that saw me along a pregnancy as opposed to just once a year for a routine visit. Guess that might make a difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 Could be she is not sure if it's really you? This sometimes happens to me since I also don't have much of a face memory. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 That's like me today at the park. I saw my OB-Gyn. You don't say hi to your OB in public, do you? But we both recognized each other and it was awkward. My kids asked who that lady was. :-P Emily Not an introvert thing, but similar. I went to a counselor years ago. I lived in a smallish town at the time and the counselor was known around town by her profession. So, she stated up front when we started that she wouldn't acknowledge me unless I acknowledged her first. That way, I guess she was insuring privacy in a way. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 I don't really understand the problem. I'm an extroverted introvert who loves to chat with people I know on the street. But I wait for eye contact. If there is no eye contact then I'm not going to insert myself - unless it was a very close friend. And as someone else said, it sounds like you really know her husband and not her so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABmom Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Honestly, I would just assume she didn't recognize you. It would have been no big deal to say "oh, hi, don't I know you from soccer awhile back?" But it's also not a big deal to not say anything. I am a coach's wife- I have certainly been recognized by people that I did not recognize! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 I consider it an act of kindness when someone sees me in public and pretends she doesn't. (Saw this on an INTJ twitter feed.) LOL, that's perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS83 Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 I ended up chatting with someone from for a good 5 minutes once, before I realized that she was actually person A from co-op and not person B acquaintance through a mutual friend (which I spent 5 minutes thinking). It was an utterly embarrassing reality shift. I don't think I said anything to cue my stupidity, I hope.... :leaving: I actually abhor running into people I know in public, unless they're good friends that I actually hang out with. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 (edited) I don't like running into people I know at the store, or other places. I'm not sure if it's because I sometimes have social anxiety or what. Im usually a friendly happy talkative person, but not when I'm out and about not expecting it. I would have buried my head in a magazine just like her. I feel awkward so many times. Not sure why. Anyways, hugs to you. I totally get it. Edited October 9, 2016 by Peacefulisle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 I have this issue. I decided a while ago that I need to error on the side of friendliness. I do try hard to go out of my way to say hello to people I recognize, even when I don't feel like it because I know that I always feel better when someone greets me rather than ignores me. Our culture can be so strange. We have lost the ability to have friendly conversations. I don't think it's supposed to be such a hard thing (and it is). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplejackmama Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 I normally hide in the frozen food section to avoid this scenario. But! Hair place?! Out in the open?! Ack!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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