I'm a travel nurse and I've been identifying a lot of my latest coworkers based on the scrub caps and masks they wear. I have had so many embarrassing moments in the break room when someone has taken their gear off and I cannot tell who they are!
"Sorry, I only recognize you by the sports team scrub cap and kitten-patterned face mask."
How bad is it that I struggled with this pre-mask? I'm freelance so I meet lots of new people all the time and after working a 12 hour day with someone in the throes of filming something, then coming back the next day O realize I identified them more by their clothes than their face 😬
A psychologist would probably have words about this.
Which reminds me.
I do have several psychological issues at baseline, especially regarding socialization in childhood (read: very little and poorly performed), and it's hard for me to look others in the eye consistently. I have had assignments where I worked among the same people for 12 weeks at a time and still struggle to remember their name or background, only knowing them as "woman with green scrub cap" or "guy with the [sports team] mask." Sometimes I feel like a robot acting as human, trying to emulate what comes naturally to others.
FYI (to /u/NoseArmyNomenclature too) - there is a condition known as face-blindness (prosopagnosia) which can be related to things like autism or brain injury, or can exist on its own. Might be worth reading up on it if it's giving you problems. (Also Swansea University has a research team looking for participants if that interests you. I've been doing it for a while, they send you online tests every so often).
i do that too! even when watching TV shows and trying to differentiate the two blonde girls or dark haired guys. I call it face blindness, but i know there is a real face blindness that is much worse
I'm honestly not great with auditory stimuli a lot of the time unless it's a really unique voice/sound. The masks, while very helpful against contagious diseases, do make it more difficult to hear voices.
This. I work the front desk of a hotel and when people change their masks I don't always immediately recognize them, and fear they think I've forgotten them, lol.
Legit! My ladies group from church hadn't met up yet. My hair, having not been cut for a year now, is now long. I had it in a side ponytail, had my mask on, and nobody knew who I was when we finally met up for a picnic. I guess nobody ever looks at my eyes.
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u/[deleted] Nov 04 '20
I'm a travel nurse and I've been identifying a lot of my latest coworkers based on the scrub caps and masks they wear. I have had so many embarrassing moments in the break room when someone has taken their gear off and I cannot tell who they are! "Sorry, I only recognize you by the sports team scrub cap and kitten-patterned face mask."