Gradually I'm moving into a phase in life where I meet people from the past, whom I haven't seen or spoken to in some years. I take pride in keeping track of most people I like (and even some who I don't like), but sometimes people fall through the cracks. They're the guys and girls who you meet on the street unexpectedly, and extend their hands toward you to shake. They're the ones shouting out your name, and - when you turn around - whom you feel ashamed about that you can't get their names right away as well.
...well, ashamed is a stretch... I have to admit I get that feeling less and less. People will just have to get along with the fact that I meet and speak to literally hundreds of people over the course of the years, and not everyone will be memorable. It's the same with me, I shouldn't expect anyone to remember me in any meaningful fashion, unless we've laid the groundwork for that (because for example we're friends).
It just so happens that people will have an easier time remembering my name and my face, because a) I don't have a common Dutch name and b) I don't look like a typical Dutchman (or Asian for that matter). So it happens that people whom I have never spoken to before, can remember me even years later.
Of course, if that happens, it reflects good on me. I'm always humbled and honored that people who - seriously enough - don't have any reason to, remember my name and who I am. Just don't feel bad that I sometimes cannot do the same.
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