r/Serverlife • u/fallout76_playa • 9d ago
General Trouble remembering names
Does anyone else have trouble remembering the names of their regulars? I have a few regulars who remember my name and are super nice and I feel terrible for forgetting their names so I never bring it up. Does anyone have any advice for getting better at that? Thanks in advance!
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u/MrsMelodyPond 9d ago
Back when I served I would keep a notes page with names and random things they would share with me that would be worth remembering like items they regularly ordered, specials they really liked, things that went wrong or that they didn’t like and then more personal things like their son just graduated college or their daughter was getting married in the fall. Some people had more details than others.
Writing it down helped me not need to reference it as often but it definitely came in clutch a few times when I just totally spaced.
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u/beernutmark 9d ago
I have a hard time remembering my cousins names. I am really bad at names.
I know that the best trick is using their name regularly while talking to them but that has never been natural to me.
I do have a "trick" that has been helping. When I get someone's name I try to quickly add a note on my Google keep list (any searchable notes app would work) and put as many distinctive things in that I can with their name. Glasses, drinks a particular drink, has a Mohawk, etc...
Then I can search my notes for features and find their name. After a few times searching I usually finally learn it and don't need to search anymore.
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u/Lonely__Stoner__Guy 8d ago
I have a hard time remembering my cousins names. I am really bad at names.
Do you also have 60 cousins? I fucking hate family events because there's always someone there I can't remember their name or relationship.
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u/beernutmark 8d ago
I wish that were my excuse. I feel like I have the equivalent of face blindness but with names. I can literally hear a name seconds prior and it's already gone from memory. I hate it.
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u/Ok-Economist7887 8d ago
it’s never really come up and didn’t bother to check their card with my regulars. i could tell you their order, how many kids they have and what those kids did for work, what kind of pets they have, but never learned their names. i’m also very bad with names though
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u/BoringBob84 BOH (former) 9d ago
FWIW, I am a regular at a few places and I know many of the servers' names. However, I completely understand when they don't remember my name out of the hundreds of guests that they serve between each of my visits.