The joys of prosopagnosia
Prosopagnosia--a condition in which you cannot recognize a person's face.
Something I strongly suspect I have. I've spent my entire life amusing/exasperating my relatives because I don't know who they are when we meet. I know who they are factually--I know I have an Uncle Don--but I can't link names to faces.
Because I don't "see" faces in the common sense. Oh, I can tell if you're missing an eye or have two noses, I can tell what gender you are, and what colour your skin is, and I can tell a very old person from a very young one, but other than that, everyone looks pretty much the same. It's like everyone has one of those yellow smily-face images on their face.
I like people with glasses, scars, birthmarks or tattoos. Those things are distinctive. If people dye or cut their hair I will start failing to recognize them. I tend to memorize people's clothing on a first meeting, because clothes are really distinctive, and I struggle not to because if I meet them again and they're wearing another outfit, I have no clue who they are.
So, today I go to work and there's two people in the office. I know who is usually found in my office: my boss (Tara), Susan, and Amanda. My boss is tall, and the glasses match...one of these people is Tara. Now, Susan is older than I am, and Amanda is about my age. This person does not have grey in her hair, so it isn't Susan. Therefore, I presume it's Amanda.
Only Amanda's blonde and this girl is brunette, so I say, "You've changed your hair!"
Then she speaks, and the voice isn't Amanda's. This is not one of our regular workers. I look at her file on the computer to check the name. This person is, in fact, Tara's boss, Patricia, come to check in on us.
Except...Patricia got a hair cut two days ago and is /delighted,/ congratulating me on how perceptive I am because no one else has noticed.
Oh boy. This is one of those cases where you smile, nod, and thank the Goddess your sow's ear has just turned into a silk purse.
Something I strongly suspect I have. I've spent my entire life amusing/exasperating my relatives because I don't know who they are when we meet. I know who they are factually--I know I have an Uncle Don--but I can't link names to faces.
Because I don't "see" faces in the common sense. Oh, I can tell if you're missing an eye or have two noses, I can tell what gender you are, and what colour your skin is, and I can tell a very old person from a very young one, but other than that, everyone looks pretty much the same. It's like everyone has one of those yellow smily-face images on their face.
I like people with glasses, scars, birthmarks or tattoos. Those things are distinctive. If people dye or cut their hair I will start failing to recognize them. I tend to memorize people's clothing on a first meeting, because clothes are really distinctive, and I struggle not to because if I meet them again and they're wearing another outfit, I have no clue who they are.
So, today I go to work and there's two people in the office. I know who is usually found in my office: my boss (Tara), Susan, and Amanda. My boss is tall, and the glasses match...one of these people is Tara. Now, Susan is older than I am, and Amanda is about my age. This person does not have grey in her hair, so it isn't Susan. Therefore, I presume it's Amanda.
Only Amanda's blonde and this girl is brunette, so I say, "You've changed your hair!"
Then she speaks, and the voice isn't Amanda's. This is not one of our regular workers. I look at her file on the computer to check the name. This person is, in fact, Tara's boss, Patricia, come to check in on us.
Except...Patricia got a hair cut two days ago and is /delighted,/ congratulating me on how perceptive I am because no one else has noticed.
Oh boy. This is one of those cases where you smile, nod, and thank the Goddess your sow's ear has just turned into a silk purse.