Dear LPG,

About twenty years ago, back in my relative youth, I used to be a visiting exercise teacher and while shopping and when out and about, I still bump into a few of my ex pupils, often having not seen them for years.  They always seem to recognise me and say hello, and I have always been a social animal and answer back, though I often have to ask them to remind me which centre or social club I know them from.  And that was before only having half a face to use when trying to hone my powers of recognition.  I have to say meeting someone I know very well in a different environment has always confused me somewhat.   Perhaps I am just getting old.

Now that we are beginning to get past the whole Covid-19 lock-down era, I am gradually getting braver I think and getting out to those places that were so familiar six months ago.  I think it is quite comforting to see more people on the streets and more open shops where there is not a queue of masked people waiting outside.  It is like the world is finally coming out of a spring/summer hibernation but of course life is not, and will never be, quite the same for any of us.

I often forget how far a metre is from the person next to me, especially when it comes to seeing old friends in the flesh after all this time and I have actually managed to not recognise a friend that I passed in a shop the other day even though she said hello to me. 

It is funny how only having half a face to work with when recognising someone really makes that simple task quite complicated.  I suppose it is something that has always happened.  I am sure that many people have passed someone whose facial expression, smile, or the way that they lift one corner of their mouth suddenly reminds you of a face from one of your many yesterdays; someone you worked with or went to school with.

The other day, I thought I saw my neighbour in Catford shopping centre and acted in a way that I thought perfectly normal (for me anyway).  I stopped to engage her in conversation asking how her family was and how Covid-19 had been treating her, but then she pulled her mask down for an instant and I realised that she was a completely different person altogether.  I felt quite stupid but we laughed about what had just happened and I have now acquired a new friend which can’t be bad.

I have to say that I am making quite a habit of perfecting the art of mistaking the identity of people I thought I knew really well, and it works the other way round too if you will let it.  As you pass such a suspect, one of those people who says hello to you even though you are sure that you have no idea of who they are, do yourself a favour and stop for a chat anyway.  You might make a new friend, even though part of your new recognition skills will include the checking of the colour of their eyes and the colour of their mask!

DR, Downham

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