Nice meeting you, for the fourth time

Has this happened to you? You have been introduced to someone through a friend or family member, only to be reintroduced multiple times thereafter? It’s hard to decide what the problem is too, because one of two things could be going on:

A) The person who does not recall your previous interactions is inconsiderate and self-absorbed.

Or

B) The interaction was so basic, so entry level and unimportant, that the other person could not possibly be expected to remember you.

The first thing I want to do is blame the other person for being a selfish donkey. But then I look at the situation as if I were a bystander during the interaction. What did we say to each other? Was I wearing something cool? Did I compliment anything about this person, or, did I offend this person? All things to be considered when trying to decide whether I feel I deserve to be remembered or not.

I guess I better give a real-life example; names have been removed for dignities to remain intact. Through a friend, I have met this character a minimum of four times by now. Some of those interactions have only consisted of about a paragraph worth of words. One of them was at a themed party where we both commented, at length, on each others choice of costume. Not long ago, guy shows up at a social gathering of previously mentioned mutual friend. Friend: Hey, have you met ****? Guy leans in, “No I haven’t, I’m ****”.

Mind you, I already don’t really care for this person, but cordial is my middle name (sometimes).

So was this guy the donkey, or was I no more interesting than that little brush thing that comes with men’s facial hair grooming kits? We may never know, but it is something worth thinking about. What do you bring to introductions to help people remember you? Is it something we can consciously do, or is it equally up to the other person to decide what they want to remember and what they want to disregard? Other people’s interest is out of our control, so we might as well peacock and hope for the best!