Familiar Faces in Strange Places

I've been doing a lot of traveling lately for work which means that I'm seeing a lot of new people as well as some old friends.  Last week, one of my students told me during the first break of the training day that I looked just like her BFF (her words, I swear).  The funny thing was that I kept looking at certain people in my training classes trying to figure out exactly who they looked like.

It took me a few hours to realize that the computer tech assigned to assist my students looked like Sean Astin, a point that I used on the second day when I needed someone to find him quickly.  They had no problem locating him once I told them to look for the man who resembled Frodo's friend, Sam, in The Lord of The Rings movies.  Later, I fessed up, but the guy just smiled knowingly and said, "Most people say I look like Rudy.  At least you didn't bring up the Goonies."

There were two women in my second class who looked so familiar, I really thought I might know them.  I've finally determined that one of them resembles an actress who I haven't named yet, but she's got the kind of face that looks like a friend as opposed to someone out of Hollywood.  The second woman proved a little harder, but I think she resembles a woman who works at my doctor's office.

As a trainer/speaker/writer I meet lots of people.  I can go through months without experiencing that flicker or recognition, but then I might see several in one day.

What about the rest of you?  Am I the only one who sees familiar faces on strangers all the time or do you walk up to a complete stranger before you realize that this is not the person you expected?  (I've done that, too.)

Happy travels.  Stay observant.

Comments

Jess said…
I see familiar faces all the time!! Me and my sister always end up finding people who look like this actor or that actor in movies. It can be really fun sometimes!
I've not a good memory of faces and names. It's quite embarrassing, to tell you the truth, especially when a person is happy to see me, asks about my family and I can't recall who she or he is!

Flicker of recognition will nag me to no end because I can't recall who that person is. But when I place a place with a name, eureka! Victory.
I have a lousy memory in general! It sometimes takes me a few minutes to come up with a name to go with a face, even if I know the person pretty well, such as someone in my 30-member Sunday school class. Or I'll tell someone I know them from somewhere, maybe church? And it turns out I met them at a neighbor's party or something. THEY remember exactly the situation and look at me like I'm a little crazy.
Anonymous said…
A little over a year ago, when I went to San Francisco for the 'Night of Writing Dangerously 2010', I went on a guided tour of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. There was a young woman of twenty or so and her mother in my tour group, and the younger one looked startlingly like the heroine of the book I was writing at the time, Mairiae of "The Angel's Charlie." Spooky!!
Valerie, I do that all the time!

Chris, that's kind of cool, don't you think?
LoryKC said…
I'm a former military spouse so we've moved a few times. I have noticed that everywhere I go, I find people that look like people I knew/know in other cities/states. (Of course, i don't have to "move" to find familiar faces in new places--Carrie at the SCWW conference looks SO much like my sister!) I think maybe we do all have our "double" (evil twin??) out there!

Popular posts from this blog

Skin Tone: Describing Your Characters

Character Development: Using the Johari Window

Should Christians Watch The Hunger Games?