Nice to See You Again

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I was at the Westchester Country Club on Monday to run my organization's Annual Golf Invitational, our major fall fundraiser. Over the course of the day I met several people I've only had conversations with over the phone in the weeks and days leading up to the event and some people I've never interacted with at all. More than once upon introducing myself I was greeted with, "Nice to see you again."

I've never seen these people before in my life. And they've never seen me. This may be one of the only pet peeves I have.

It drives me crazy because there is absolutely no reason to say this. It's not about being nervous, or caught off guard. It's an absolutely pointless niceity, especially if it isn't true.

In the same vein and equally irritating is bumping into someone who you've met several times and having them either: a) introduce themselves as if they've never seen you before, or b) say, "Nice to meet you," when you've already met them.

Now the kicker to all this is that in being the only spot in the country club that wasn't a caddy or on the wait staff, it only made sense that no one would understand my presence on the grounds. Blacks and Latinos have never not recognized me after meeting me and definitely not so after meeting two or three times. But in all honesty, why should I expect to be recognized by people who feel they have no reason to acknowledge me in the first place, let alone remember me?

I don't, but it's still annoying.