Hello!
It's kind of strange pretending that you do know someone when you can't recall who her or she is, so that you won't end up in the awkward situation of hurting the other party. I guess it's stranger if you end up in a conversation with such a person, and try to find out more about this stranger while trying to conceal the fact that you don't remember him. Two encounters where I don't recognise who said hi to me, and I know that there my past holds more content than my memories do.
Now in most cases it probably won't do too much damage to ask simply, who are you. However there may be some cases where the stranger has an obvious affection, or relationship, towards you, such that the person will be obviously hurt when he/she discovers that they don't feature equally in your life as you did in theirs. Here is a brief analysis of a sample conversation.
Stranger: Hey hi John long time no see!
John: Oh hi, how are you? - The objective is to find out what you can about the person, and the way to do this is to compel him to give as much detail of his life as
possible.
Stranger: Ah, good as always. And you? - The standard response usually is little more than a customary greeting which throws the question back to you. If lucky, however, he may say something like "Oh I quit my job last month, ol' Alzy got on my nerves too much," which drops a strong hint or two about where you know him from and the nature of your relationship.
John: Yea not too bad, I'm here to [XYZ]. What about you? - Telling a bit about your current circumstances and then throwing a question usually compels the other party to provide a more detailed answer instead of something vague such as "just passing here to town". You will want to be the director of the conversation, because if the other party becomes the director he may start saying things familiar to him but which you can't respond to with familiarity. Remember the objective.
Stranger: Oh, I'm here to [YZY]. - Because it is already established that you are the director of the conversation by virtue of asking the previous two questions, he is already on the back foot and not going to make any forward moves anytime soon. In other words, chances are he will just answer and wait for you to say something next.
At this point there are 3 possibilities.
A) You remember who the person is already, in which case don't jump up and down with joy in case he suspects something or think you're nuts, though there probably is a tendency to be suddenly buoyant with your discovery.
B) You can place a finger on where France is but not where Lyon is. In which case you go with what you have and either play along or try to narrow it down.
C) You still got no clue. Immediately disengage from the conversation by saying "Sorry, I got to go, we'll catch up another time ok." Consult your yearbooks when you reach home.
Now in most cases it probably won't do too much damage to ask simply, who are you. However there may be some cases where the stranger has an obvious affection, or relationship, towards you, such that the person will be obviously hurt when he/she discovers that they don't feature equally in your life as you did in theirs. Here is a brief analysis of a sample conversation.
Stranger: Hey hi John long time no see!
John: Oh hi, how are you? - The objective is to find out what you can about the person, and the way to do this is to compel him to give as much detail of his life as
possible.
Stranger: Ah, good as always. And you? - The standard response usually is little more than a customary greeting which throws the question back to you. If lucky, however, he may say something like "Oh I quit my job last month, ol' Alzy got on my nerves too much," which drops a strong hint or two about where you know him from and the nature of your relationship.
John: Yea not too bad, I'm here to [XYZ]. What about you? - Telling a bit about your current circumstances and then throwing a question usually compels the other party to provide a more detailed answer instead of something vague such as "just passing here to town". You will want to be the director of the conversation, because if the other party becomes the director he may start saying things familiar to him but which you can't respond to with familiarity. Remember the objective.
Stranger: Oh, I'm here to [YZY]. - Because it is already established that you are the director of the conversation by virtue of asking the previous two questions, he is already on the back foot and not going to make any forward moves anytime soon. In other words, chances are he will just answer and wait for you to say something next.
At this point there are 3 possibilities.
A) You remember who the person is already, in which case don't jump up and down with joy in case he suspects something or think you're nuts, though there probably is a tendency to be suddenly buoyant with your discovery.
B) You can place a finger on where France is but not where Lyon is. In which case you go with what you have and either play along or try to narrow it down.
C) You still got no clue. Immediately disengage from the conversation by saying "Sorry, I got to go, we'll catch up another time ok." Consult your yearbooks when you reach home.
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