(no subject)

[msmemory_archive]

There's a fellow here at work who uses people's names every time he speaks to them. If he sees me in the cafeteria in the morning, and in the hall 45 minutes later, it's "Hello Jane" every time. If we talk for five minutes, he uses my name multiple times in the conversation. He must have taken one of those self-improvement courses that tell you that people will remember and like you more if you always use their name.

Comments

[siriel.livejournal.com]

I've talked to people like that. It's creepy. They always remind me of salespeople.

[tpau]

it always made me think of the video in "Farenheit 451", the one that kept talkign to Linda becauseit was "her" day to be part of hte soaps... meon the other hand, i always avoid usingpeople's names for some reason. i think it comes form nver knowign what to call people's parents...

[its-just-me.livejournal.com]

Most service industries are trained to do that, and it really bebefits eveyone. We stress it to our employees that building a bond with a repeat guest ....well.....self explainatory. Only at Harvard Law did I ever meet with discontent. There was a large group of people who thought our staff was stalking them when the name was used. Weird.

[snarkyman.livejournal.com]

When I see people in the hallway at work, I often try to use their names, just as an exercise to try remember their names. I also do it because other address me using my first name. It's seems odd to me, too. I often feel guilty if I don't do it - kind of like I didn't try hard enough.

There's one case that seems strange to me - there's a person working in our cafeteria who speaks to me by first name - but I have a difficulty responding in the same way. It has something to do with her name, which, by the way is Fatima. She is the first person I met with this name - and it seems, at least in my mind, to have religious connotations. It's almost like meeting someone named Jesus and calling them by their first name.