May
21
How embrassed I was!!
Remembering the names of all my acquaintances is getting more difficult and tedious these days due to the fact that after I started working,my contacts are getting bigger and wider . To make matter worse, lots of conventional names are out there thus making it even more formidable to store in our memory. Except for names like Fish Leong, Dick, Orgy,IP Man,Talkkok or equivalent are definitely easier for me to keep in my limited space. Names like Kelvin, Amanda, Irene, Joey, Raymond, Vincent as well as Robert are no less in their uniqueness but simply they are too common in today globalized world.
Let me tell you one recent incident occurred on me which could justify my aforementioned statement. Last few days, upon reaching The Banana Leaf cafe (one of my usual breakfast spots), i bumped into an acquainted friend who is my doctor too. He was having breakfast there with his wife. Upon seeing me, he promptly stood up and greeted me and i reciprocated. Then, he introduced me to his wife as follows:
Doctor: “Sweetie, this is Vincent.”
Looking perplexed, his wife replied: “Vincent??? which Vincent?“
For that very moment, I felt terribly embarrassed! Nabeh really…. so as my doctor friend. Without prolonging the humiliating moments, I just went to my seat and had my roti pisang (banana pancake) and ice coffee,just to sweeten myself up after the unwanted encounter.
Sounds familiar to you? I am sure many of you have come across similar situations and even did the same thing as the idiotic & BTC wife.
In my opinion, when you were introduced to someone whose name you can’t recall of, you shouldn’t behave just like the wife above but greeted the person back with similar courtesy and pretend you recognize him/her for that moment. After that, you can clarify who he/she is privately then. Should you really need to clarify at once, you should greet the name and ask politely if you had ever known him/her on previous occasions.
Just take another incident for example which happened on me too earlier few weeks back. When i was having breakfast with my family at BB’s Tim Sum restaurant, i bumped into a former schoolmate whose name/number is never in my phone book or memory. For sure, I don’t remember his name though i recognized him as an ex-schoolmate. But then, let me relate how i handled that situation:
The schoolmate: “Hi, are you Kxx Kxxxx?” (although i stopped using this name ever since graduated)
Me: “Yes, I am.”
The schoolmate: ” It’s been many years I don’t see you.Where are you working now?”
Me: ” Yes,it’s been some years. I am working in Melaka, in Ixxxxxxx.”
Soon enough, i asked him if I can have his name card for future contact and he handed me one instantly. On the card, I see the name now…..Cxxxx Wxx Txx, blah blah….. I just got his name now without humiliating him and myself.
Proudly, after fewer conversations, i uttered this parting words to him. ” See you around, Wxx Txx.”
I hope you guys can agree with me on this. Otherwise, please share with me what would you do in such situation?
