I get this a lot. I must have a familiar face or a twin who really gets around, because oftentimes people whom I've never met in my life claim they've seen me somewhere before.
I have a pretty good memory, but I'm not immune to forgetfulness. I've worked at newspapers my entire adult life, a profession that has enabled me to attend a lot of public events that, otherwise, I wouldn't have even known about.
So it's likely that there are many people I may have met once or twice in passing at an event, or maybe even interviewed, but I don't remember them because so much time has gone by and I've met so many people since then. I'm not one of those "I never forget a face" people - it's next to impossible to remember everyone!
The "where do I know you from?" question makes me feel like I'm on the defensive. I feel obligated to list my résumé, school alma maters and hobbies so that something on the list might jog your memory of where you recognize me from: "Well, I write for a newspaper and I cover a lot of events, so you may have seen at..."
Instead of asking, "Where do I know you from?" a more socially adept way of posing this question might be something like this: "You know, you look kind of familiar. Is it possible we may have met before?" Followed by a brief description of who you are, what you do and your hunch about where we may have crossed paths.
This is an invitation to engage in a dialogue that doesn't put the other person on the spot. Whereas "where do I know you from?" is a challenge for me to do the impossible: jump inside your head and rummage through the disorganized, mislabeled storage bins of your memory.
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