I want to start off by saying that I know that what I am about to say will make me sound like a terrible, horrible person but I need to 'fess up. I have been working at this grocery store for a year now and I don't know the names of many of the people I work with. So I walk in and everyone smiles and says, "Hi!" and I smile back and say, "Hey...you!" These people are nice and friendly and there is really no excuse for me not knowing their names. I should know their names. I guess there are a few reasons why I haven't learned some of the names of the people I work with. First--simply put--I'm just really, really bad with names (I mean, obviously). But maybe that's just a cop out--I mean the people I really like--I learned their names pretty quickly. Secondly, I work the night shift so by the time I get there most of the cashiers are already gone and I tend to work with just a few people all the time. Third, (and this by no means make it any better) I know about what every ones name is. If that doesn't make any sense let me give you a few examples. Like there are two girls I work with. They look a lot alike (everyone says that it's not just me) and they always hang out together. Their names even sound similar. I know one of them is named Wendy and one of them is named Wanda but most of the time I'm still not sure who is who.
Oh, and the other day I was standing there saying, 'Hey, Jack.' When he didn't turn around I called, 'Hey Jack.' again. I'm standing there thinking well, that's pretty rude, why isn't he answering me? Then it occurred to me that his name isn't Jack it's Jake. Damn it--and I was sooo close to having his name right. And once when I was working early in the morning Susan asked if I could give Gary his paycheck so he didn't forget to pick it up when he left. "He's over in produce." She told me. Well, not wanting to admit that I had no idea who Gary was I said, "Sure." and dutifully walked over to the produce department. There were two guys working there and neither had a name tag that I could see. Well, I thought to myself I have a 50/50 shot here. (Oh, I should have know better--games of chance have never been my friend)So I said, "Hey Gary." and started walking toward the guy who was standing closest to me--and the guy looked up (so for a minute I thought--Yay! I have the right guy). So I handed him the paycheck and the guy said, "This isn't mine." and the guy standing a few steps away (the actual Gary) walked over and took the check. How embarassing!
Anyway, writing this and seeing it all in black and white has made me realize that I have been pretty dismissive to a lot of the people I work with so I will make more of an effort to learn all the names of the people I work with because they have learned my name. Until I do learn every one's name I guess all I can say is thank god we all have name tags.
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