Wednesday, November 18, 2009

"There he is!"

The best things to say when you don't know someone's name and they seem to know yours are . . .

"What's up?!"

"Hey, buddy!"

"Hey, big guy!"

"Hey there, chief!"

"Good to see you!"

Any of those will do, but when you work with kids like I do, and every damn kid seems to know Dr. Ken's name, you do like this:

Kid: Hi, Dr. Kenneth Noisewater!
Dr. Ken: There he is!

The expression "There he is!" implies that you have been looking for him or just looking forward to seeing him, making the guy feel special, even though usually you're pretty sure you've never met him. It does wonders, especially if you deliver it with a smile and some enthusiasm.

What's your standby phrase when you don't know who in the heck someone is?

5 comments:

JerseySjov said...

"hey, buddy!" is the standard greeting among my male friends group, with "hey, big guy!" coming in second.

when i dont know someone's name but they holla "hi jersey!", i just skip over that part and give them a little fast "heyhow'sitgoin?" action.

today during lunch i had to introduce two people and was only sure about one of them. luckily the one i knew for sure is a very friendly gal, so when i said "oh, this is my friend [her name]" she steamrolled right over the second part of the intro and right into the conversation.

HeatherLynn said...

I agree..."There you are!" is a life saver...

I also like "well would you look at you!"...it makes them actually look at themselves...they get disoriented for a second, long enough for introductions to be missed and skipped over!

I work with kids too, funny how you can get away with calling them everything other than their name...buddy, fella, pal, dude...

now adults is a bit trickier....when I can't remember someone's name...I just immediately ask them a question like "OMG, i haven't seen you in forever, how long's it been now?"

Or ..."Heeeeeeeeeeey! What in the world have you been up to? I never see you anymore!" (obviously i never see them if i can't remember their names...}

~hl~
{www.hoscorners.blogspot.com}

HeatherLynn said...

DKN ~ I did and commented on like 6 of her posts! lol...

she's a trip.

~hl~

Miss Organizized said...

1. I use "hey lady!" the female version of buddy.
2. I was listening to "She's Crafty" on my itunes and didn't even realize "Sounds of Science" was playing on your blog until MY BB song ended. WHOA.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

Jov: Nice work and funny that you just did that today!

Heather: Oooh, I like the how long has it been because then they tell you the time and place you last saw them, jogging your memory.

Organized: A Beastie Perfect Storm . . .