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| T-Rex is putting in as much effort as it can. Even if he doesn't have very much to give. |
So here's what's really gotten to me for the very last time. People who you "meet" more than once. I suppose that warrants a little explanation. Over the past... we'll say year, I have met a lot of people - having moved to a new place [well, two new places, really] in that time. These people can be divided into two groups: school, and "home". I will continue quoting "home" to refer to the place in which I am supposed to call "home", because it is not home. I'm not sure where home is, but that's a whole different can of blog posts.
In both groups I have been introduced to many many people. In some cases, even, I have been repeatedly introduced to people. No, no. This doesn't mean that I've been introduced once to many different people. Oh no. No no no. This means I have been introduced to the same people over and over because they are too careless, or rude, or just vacant to even bother to remember my name, or even what I look like. What gets me most about this is the fact that - barring the possibility that one party is a stalker and is interacting one-sidedly with the other party - if we've talked, we've talked the exact same number of times, and if I remember you, you should remember me. I'm sorry if you aren't good at names; maybe you should make a chart with people's pictures, and names, and how you met them, maybe an interesting fact or two.
In many cases, however, [mainly at school] when I would meet someone - even if it was a quick hello in the arts building with a mutual friend - they would become a "smiler and nodder". Quite often, actually, they would become a "hey-er". I think I said "hi" to more people in a single day at school than I have in my entire time living here. You want to know what I think the difference between these two groups of people is? Respect and putting in just a little bit of effort. I honestly believe that a lot of people are to gosh-darn self centered to take a moment and try to remember someone's name. At a school like the itty-bitty one I went to, everyone really makes an effort to get to know each other. We treat each other as equals. We all want to be liked, and to make friends. And if you're going to expect people to remember you, you best make sure you remember them! It's really not a lot of fun to hang out by yourself - trust me, I know. I'm looking at three more months of loneliness because it's impossible to make even one friend when no one is even willing to make the effort to remember your name.
So here's my homework for all of you forgetful people: make an effort. Pretend that it's biology, or history, or kindergarten homework. Memorize people's names like you would memorize the parts of the body, or the dates of particular events in the past, or your colours. Trust me, it might not seem like a big deal to you, and the person might not notice that you remember, but they will notice if you repeatedly forget who they are. And they'll feel like crap.
