DO YOU PLAY THE NAME GAME?

By Kate Collins
Confession time: I’m horrible at remembering names. If we were introduced, there’s a 90% chance I forgot your name thirty seconds after I heard it, and it has nothing to do with you not being memorable. Actually, I’m not sure how it happens. I think I concentrate on what the person is saying to me instead of playing the name game. “This is Jane. Jane is plain. Plain Jane will now remain in my brain.”  Or something in that vein.
Okay, now I’m stuck on rhymes. Excuse me while I clear my head.
Anyway, at the elementary school where I taught, we had different classes for homeroom, reading and math, which meant I had to memorize up to ninety names each year. And I did it with no problem. In fact, by day four, I could take attendance and know exactly who was who.
Obviously, as with muscle, if you don’t use it, you lose it. This was brought home to me yesterday at church, when a very nice woman introduced herself and then apologized for not remembering my name. She said she was terrible at remembering names and we laughed at our shared handicap. Luckily, she was wearing a name tag, because I’d already forgotten hers. How embarrassing.
Do you have a different trick or technique that you use that might help me?