Are you more than just a pretty face?

Yesterday morning as I ordered my coffee, the cashier apologized for not knowing my name as she went to write it out on my cup. My first reaction was to give her an incredulous glance and quip "Nobody here has ever known my name" but instead I just smiled and let it go. This morning, the same woman took my order, and still didn't know my name, and that's ok.

How many of you are regulars in places you frequent to the extent that the proprietors know your name? I live in an auto-oriented suburban environment that physically discourages a lot of personal interaction beyond speaking into a microphone while ordering in a drive-thru. Walking into a place, be it a dry-cleaner, a bank, a restaurant is uncommon, and when I do walk in - most of the staff are very young and have not yet cultivated skills of customer relations.

So how many of you are more than a nameless customer? Personally, I admire people who can connect with others in the midst of the fracus of our daily routine, and wish I lived in a setting that was more intimate and humane. If you are on a first-name basis, how did it happen? Did you strike up friendly conversation, or did they? Has it ever moved to friendship or beyond?

There are coffee shops and restaurants where I am a regular and known to many of the staff, but few of them actually know my name.
They know what I usually have, may remember things we've said about politics, the general news, or the weather, and can often pick up a conversation from a day or two earlier.
There's a kind of intimacy in these interactions, and I enjoy that.
But there's rarely anything so intimate as a first-name rapport.

I have several busineses that I frequent, and I am known by name. Either first or last name. I am a very freindly, extrroverted man, so I just start talking to people, and I ask questions about themselves, because I actually care. A few years ago, the man who runs the video store I go to, lost his daughter to cancer, I went to the funeral to pay my respect, because he has always been very kind to me. He was surprised to see me at the church. I think it's the little things you do for people that make them remember you. Especially if you do it because you care about others.

When I worked at a casino we would remember the high-rollers to give the illusion they were important but in reality, we couldn't think less of them. They were often the assholest of the assholes. Having name recognition isn't always a good thing!

From my side, however, I'm an awesome customer. I've been in the retail industry for a few years so I know the shit and sympathize with those that help me. It seems like there are too many people that haven't worked a day in there lives and can't understand why they receive bad customer service when they act like douchebags. Treat people with respect and compassion and you'll be treated in kind.

The best experience I've ever had with people remembering my name is when I was in college. I would order pizza e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y. Eventually, the drivers all knew me because I gave good tips. In a college town, tips are rare. 25% tips are unthinkable! Tip money is a big part of the driver's salary, just like for waiters, so I didn't want to screw them. Neeeedless to say, I never waited more than 15min for a pizza.

Since college, however, I haven't had that sort of "bond" with strangers. I'll be remembered at places, mostly by girls, but just in a flirty way. Casual, superficial. I guess it's nice to be recognized but it tends to become meaningless after awhile when it's founded on nothing substantial.

Some of the people who work at the Subway nearest my place know what kind of sub is my favorite. And where I used to live, I would go to one of the bar/restaurants frequently. I ordered different foods there so they didn't automatically know what I was going to order as far as food, but they knew which beer I liked.

I know at the Starbucks at my college, i'm a regular, but they don't know my name. I guess it's kind of embarrasing with how many times i go there. There are two baristas who know my face and my order most of the time to the point where they treat me differently (like more on a personal level) when dealing with me than other customers.

but i don't know their names either.

Most customers aren't worth remembering by name.

Most people don't give their name.

I work as a waitress.. I tell them my name at the beginning of the meal and by the end I'm mostly just beckoned by a whistle or a finger motion.

I hate people.

(an aside: I'll always call my server, barista, etc (anyone with a name tag) by their name, usually makes things much smoother.)

I have a lot of places that I go where I am known, it makes you feel good that someone in a store, a restaurant, or some kind of business knows who you are.
There are several restaurants where I eat where the staff knows me. The owner at one of them will cook me things not on the menu--I usually just tell her what kind of meat I want and let her create from there.

The people at my cleaners know me--when I go in, I don't even have to hand them my receipt and they have already pulled my clothes from the back.

When I go to the bank, the branch manager knows me, as do most of the tellers. Since they know me, they often waive fees or waive holds on deposits.

I'd damn well better be.

These words of advice are some of the wisest I've ever seen posted on here. Take note peeps.

I am well known in a lot of places in town. A lot of the people at Kroger call me by my first name. Some peeps don't remember my name but they always remember my face. It's kind of nice. I do greet people, exchange pleasantries, and try to make a difference. There is no way I would ever do anything risky in this county. I'm just an average working peep but I am very well known.

Hmm....

They know my name at the pharmacy and the housewares shop (both run by a family which are friends of my family), the insurance agency (my uncle's), and the Chinese restaurant.

I'm known as a face in a few other restaurants and delis. That's about it. I feel like James Bond, "Mr. Bond here will have a small memorial service with only Moneypenny and a few tearful restaurateurs in attendance,"only with no Moneypenny.

I've even been given a lot of nick names.

You know life might change a lot for peeps if they'd practice what was in the Glenn Campbell song, "Try A Little Kindness". I had a lady tell me many years later that she loved me, and would never forget how I went about every day loving on people. I had to fight back tears. Shoot, I'm having to fight them back now. In my own life, the love I've given out has come back to me many fold.

Sounds like you made the perfect occupational choice. I'd probably still tip you 25-33 % even though you really think I'm an @sshole.

No.

What's wrong with being just a pretty face?