The one about Audrey

Are you good with names?  When introduced to several new people do you immediately remember which name is right for which person?  or do you mishear the name and then spend far too long calling people by the wrong name?  I am absolutely rubbish at remembering the names of new people and my LSNED layout for the 18th refers to this unfortunate personality trait.

This all relates to an unfortunate incident during a holiday in Barbados where we made friends with another British couple.  We would often sit and have a drink with them after dinner or chat with them around the pool.  David and Audrey were a really nice couple and we got on really well with them.  Audrey was a very keen swimmer, but like me, David preferred to just paddle in the warm Caribbean shallows.  One day, towards the end of our 10 days there, my husband was off snorkeling with our son, and Audrey was swimming further out from the hotel's pontoon.  David and I were strolling along the beach chatting.  The conversation went something along the lines of 'the nice thing about Glynis and I both working in a school is the long holidays ...'  and I immediately wondered who Glynis was.  As the conversation went on, he spoke more of the mysterious Glynis, until I realised that the lady who I had been calling Audrey for over a week was in fact called Glynis!  Oh the shame.  It wasn't the sunshine that turned my cheeks pink that morning - it was the embarrassment of getting her name totally wrong.

The family thought this was really funny, and it has become a standing joke that any new person I meet is probably called Audrey.  When I started going to my Rosemary Conley classes a few years ago it took them a long time to believe that the lady who took the class REALLY was called Audrey.   So if you ever meet me, and I call you Audrey, please, please don't take it personally - and correct me before it is too late!