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How observant are you.?

(80 Posts)
annsixty Fri 19-Nov-21 12:30:31

I have had some blinds fitted at the windows at the front of my house.
On Wednesday a friend called to drop something off and she admired the blinds but said she loved the new bay window I had had installed.
It was fitted 22 years ago and she is a regular visitor.

nanna8 Fri 19-Nov-21 12:33:09

Time flies when you’re having fun. Also as you get older. I assume she is getting on in years?

Lucca Fri 19-Nov-21 12:36:10

Years and years ago I had a colleague with full beard etc.
One day i went in and said “oh Andy you’ve grown a moustache,”. He had in fact just shaved the beard off……

Zoejory Fri 19-Nov-21 12:38:10

I am terribly unobservant. Nothing to do with age in my case

Many years ago I had a boyfriend who grew a moustache. I wasn't keen but was polite initially.

Then one day I gave in and told him I absolutely hated his moustache. He wanted to keep it. Much grumbling.

One evening we were out for a meal and he kept looking at me oddly. Sort of expectantly. Wobbling his head around.

I asked him what on earth he was doing and in the end he pointed to the spot where the hated moustache had been. Hadn't noticed it had gone.

People have new kitchens, new cars, make changes and to me it means nothing. Never notice.

However I can spot a crooked picture a mile off.

Nannan2 Fri 19-Nov-21 12:53:54

Zoejory-??

Pantglas2 Fri 19-Nov-21 13:01:59

However I can spot a crooked picture a mile off.

Snap Zoejory! I have to sit on my hands in other people’s houses!

JackyB Fri 19-Nov-21 13:27:59

I never comment on people's glasses, hair or weight gain/loss just in case I put my foot in it

Grandmadinosaur Fri 19-Nov-21 15:10:06

It’s a bit of a running joke with my DH how long it takes me to notice he’s been for a haircut. This was after I didn’t notice it for 3 weeks ?
In my defence he’s a bit thin on top so there’s not a lot to notice ....

sodapop Fri 19-Nov-21 15:34:54

I would be totally useless as a witness to a crime, no idea of the colour of the car, what the suspect was wearing etc. If it happened more than a couple of days ago forget it - literally.

BlueBelle Fri 19-Nov-21 15:35:10

I have always been unobservant as was my Dad My mum ‘saw’ everything I really don’t take much notice and would be dreadful in a police lineup I swear peoples faces look different each time, unless I know them very well
One day I was walking to town with my then12 year old granddaughter when she said wasn’t that a nice ring that lady had on (we had just walked past a lady and I didn’t even see her hand let alone a ring)
My friends friend (C) who I met a few times when I was asked to join for a special meal ( birthdays/ Christmas etc) my friend would pick her up after me in her car one day I asked my friend if (C) had ever driven, only to get the answer ‘well she can’t can she! she’s only got one arm’ ??

midgey Fri 19-Nov-21 15:39:16

Phew! I thought it was only me. I was standing talking to a fellow parent a long time ago, after a bit I said to her I know I know your face but don’t know where from……she replied….I am your neighbour!

sodapop Fri 19-Nov-21 15:58:55

I have that problem midgey if I meet someone out of their usual context I am lost. I usually nod & smile and hope they give me a clue in the conversation. Mask wearing has made the problem worse smile

MerylStreep Fri 19-Nov-21 17:33:57

I wish I wasn’t as observant as I am. ?

Chestnut Fri 19-Nov-21 17:41:16

I'm another who notices very little. They have proved Police line ups are very dodgy because witnesses all give different descriptions of cars, faces, heights, clothes etc. which is rather worrying.

Hetty58 Fri 19-Nov-21 17:42:46

I have no face recognition (born without it) so I have to memorise faces - as you would any pattern. So, yes, out of context, new hairstyle etc. I could easily walk straight past and not recognise somebody. I had to explain this to every new class I taught!

mokryna Fri 19-Nov-21 17:53:16

It’s called Prosopagnosia and I have suffered from it all my life.

When I was young watching children’s films I got by because the good cowboy wore the white hat and the baddy the black one otherwise I was completely lost and have been ever since.

Unfortunately, I could never remember names and I was a teacher with 20 odd classes.

LadyGracie Fri 19-Nov-21 17:58:50

I'm very observant of my home and surrounding neighbourhood, DH says I'm nosey. Many of our neighbours are alone or very elderly so I like to keep a look out.
On the other hand when we're out DH will say 'did you see that'. No, I'm switched off.

Roxie62 Sun 21-Nov-21 10:39:57

She probably thought the windows looked different with the new blinds up and meant to say something like ‘I love the way your windows look with the new blinds’. X

LadyJus Sun 21-Nov-21 10:41:56

I can top the experiences so far! I walked into the kitchen, deposited my work bag on the breakfast bar, turned, went into the living room and spoke to he who lives in my house then returned into the kitchen. I noticed an A4 sheet of paper so picked it up and read the info on it - it was a receipt for a 'large mirror'. The very same mirror that I had walked past, twice, that measured 15 foot long and 10 foot high that HWLIMH had spent all day installing on the wall.....

maddyone Sun 21-Nov-21 10:46:39

I thought this was a thread about religion when I saw the title grin

antheacarol55 Sun 21-Nov-21 10:48:04

I didn’t notice my husband had changed our front window for months I went to open it and realised something was different.
Another time he got a different car and I didn’t notice until he ask me if something was different.
He was very sneaky he bought one the same colour

gillyknits Sun 21-Nov-21 10:58:15

I’m quite the opposite , I notice things that my family don’t. It really surprises me how unobservant they are.

Gabrielle56 Sun 21-Nov-21 10:59:46

It's about pattern. Our brains are drawn to patterns as a way to make sense of what see. The usual pattern she always seen as your window has been altered y your blinds! Therefore"ooh new windows!?" ?

JaneA Sun 21-Nov-21 11:01:01

No wonder people I know walk straight past me. I won't feel like they are ignoring me now.

Gabrielle56 Sun 21-Nov-21 11:02:18

midgey

Phew! I thought it was only me. I was standing talking to a fellow parent a long time ago, after a bit I said to her I know I know your face but don’t know where from……she replied….I am your neighbour!

I chatted to a woman for about ten minutes once in our local market thinking she was from our gym! My DH pointed out that she was a fellow dog walker! The opposite happened again when chattering to what I thought was a choir member, who was from my aqua class in the gym ! I didn't recognize her in her clothes ???