sometimes I hate my parents for raising me to have amazing manners.

what a week. school's back in, and break flew by way too fast. It's good to have a routine, though, and so far, I'm loving my non-general classes. Now I remember why I'm doing the whole college thing.

Well this post is dedicated to a certain breed of people: people who lack social grace. I mean, no one is perfect, but if my two year old nephew can sign "hello, aunt Vanessa," any adult who's met me more than once should hopefully be able to acknowledge my existence too.

Incident #1. -
Taylor and I went to my parent's ward for Christmas Sunday and as we were sitting, waiting for the services to start, an old co-worker of mine walked in the chapel. We immediately made eye contact, and exchanged smiles. But I knew her really well (a few years ago, she voluntarily took me under her wing and voluntarily gave me older sisterly advice about boys, money, life in general. We discussed her depression a lot, and she kept in touch with me to let me know all the ways she was getting better. At one point, we were going to share an apartment together, but that fell through...But overall, she and I had a special bond) so I decided a simple smile wasn't enough. So I was like "How are you??!! Are you in this ward??" then immediately introduced her to my mom and husband. "We used to work together, a long long time ago" I told them. Then she was like, "Oh, yeah! Mrs. Powell's. A long time ago." Then amidst my excitement, she leans over cheek to cheek with me and asks, "Remind me, what's your name again?"

Incident #2 -
I was working at the mall the other night and as a polite employee, I'm like super cheesy nice when I'm at work. I will sometimes get overly chatty with customers, but I keep it under control. Kind of out of character, so I think it throws people off, and I can understand. SOO anyways this girl that I know, went to church with, yada yada, walks towards the counter and I'm like "Hey!! How are you??!!" And she's like, "Good.....(hesitates)....." and I'm like "So what's new, are you living in Pocatello now?" and she's like, "No........." and I'm like "No? Boise??!!!" and she's like "No........" and I can totally see in her face the confusion. She has no clue who I am. So I gave up. I finished getting her a glass of water and said "Ok have a good one" trying to make it not awkward. Yah, I'm creepy and like to ask all my customers personal questions. C'mon, get a clue girl!! So as she puts her straw in her cup, she says "Phillips....it's a Phillips." And I looked at her like, "uh, yeahh...." slightly annoyed.

When the first incident happened, my mind froze and my mouth was like "Vanessa!" like "duh!! hello!!! don't act like you don't know my name, girl who looked me up in the phone book to send me a wedding announcement!" Looking back on it, it probably sounded a little rude, but I was NOT expecting to be asked to remind her what my name was!! That's just tacky. I would have preferred her to take a seat, think about it during the service, and when she finally remembered, come back and be like, "So, Vanessa, how's married life?" since I LOVE that question.

Maybe it's a matter of personal taste. I prefer to learn and remember people's names, and then use it when I see them because it helps me connect to that person better. And the older I get, connecting to people is important to me. If remembering names is difficult, then try harder, or fake your way through it until it comes to ya. There is nothing more socially awkward than making the other person feel like they're forgotten, even if they truly are.

So, naturally, since it's the first week of school, I've been a little avoidant. Hello Jr high vanessa again. How will I know that if I say Hi to someone in passing or on the bus, they'll say Hi back, or just give me a confused blank stare? Fortunately, so far, it's been a breeze. So many polite people who brighten my day with their smile. I even had a stranger, who thought I was someone else but realized I wasn't that person, ask me how I was, and still told me to have a good day. That, to me, is class.

So after incident #2 happened, and she figured out that "it's a Phillips," (yep, that's me alright) she just turned around and walked off. No "Oh, hey!!", or "I feel stupid for not realizing who you were at first" or anything. And to me, that is a total insult. But looking back, I'm not too offended because she looked like she put her makeup on in the dark, so my guess is there's something seriously, and bigger than forgetting my face/name, wrong with her.

Am I totally old-fashioned, or what? Should I start wearing a name tag wherever I go just in case? Kinda silly, really. But if I can find a cute one from Etsy, I seriously would wear a name tag. ahh hilarious! Short term memory generation, what?!! nah...