Oh, don't worry, I don't anymore either. Unless I've recognized they're "safe" strangers, like neighbors. Or the staff at the hospital, or people I see around a lot, like the delivery guy.
Which I recognize can be very stupid because the fact I see them around a lot doesn't mean they're safe.

Talking about that, (creepy) people I don't know have been saying "hello" to me a lot lately, like, pretty much every time I go out, which I guess is their attempt at flirting but didn't happen so much before. It doesn't exactly make me feel unsafe but it doesn't make me feel very safe either. So for the most part when I'm out of the house I decided I only understand French and ignore every other language XD

Woohoo event time
Which means time to get my non-wilds all set up so I can dig lol

I'm from an small town, so for me it was just natural to say hello to everybody.
Even if I didn't know them, it was so likely they did know me or my family.

Now I'm living somewhere else and it does not happen that much.
But it's also an small town so I guess that eventually I'll be saying hello to many people I don't recognize anyway...

Amura you said you were a teacher right? Soon people you don't remember will say hello to you and it turns out they were your students years ago. Happened a lot to my mom, probably still do.

Yeah mom still gets that from the years she taught at the local college
She hasn't been there in...ten years?

I'm sure it will!
I'm terrible at remembering names, so it won't take very long.

When we moved here, I was one day talking to the pharmacist.
She mentioned she was from this town in another region, and I said "Oh, I know the place, I worked there as a teacher, 10 or 12 years ago".
Apparently I might have taught her son, whom I do not recall at all. And of course I would not recognize him, he has 13 or 14 back then, now a grown up!

So it's already happening

Talking about that, I once have been recognized by my father's elementary school teacher at our first meeting. He didn't quite know who I was but he thought he knew me and only connected the dots when he finally gave up and asked for my name.

Small towns are connected like that. Worked with one my dad and cousin's ex colleague once too. He randomly came to me asking how was my cousin and I was like what? Do you know my cousin? Why? How do you even know he's my cousin? And which one are we talking about anyway?
I still don't know who spilled the beans on my family name, which I avoided using on purpose too -___-

That's one good thing about having moved countries, no more small towns "problems" (well, that means different problems though XD)

That sort of thing happened a LOT to me when I was in high school, and first started working at a nursing home. Pretty much everyone I worked with who I got along well with knew my dad from when the Eveready Battery Plant was in town. Dad was the HR guy, and we have a pretty unique surname, so my first few weeks at the nursing home, I'd introduce myself to someone new, and they'd go, "*surname*? Are you related to *Dad's name*?" and then they'd tell me how they knew him from the plant.

The weirdest thing happened to me about 20 years ago.
I was visiting my parents. And while waiting for the bus an old woman approaches me and asks me if I belong to the family of X (my great-grandfather).
"I do indeed!"
"You must be the youngest of the grandchildren then."
"I'm actually one of the great-grandfathers. I'm the grandchild of his daughter Y."
"Oh, I see! And how is he doing?"
"Well, he died. Like 6 or 8 years ago."
"So bad. I did not know it. Well, I've been living abroad for the last 50 years, that's why."
"Oh. I see..."
"Yes."
"And... how on earth did you recognize me?"
"Oh, that was easy, you look exactly like his mother when she was young."


Apparently I look exactly like my great-great-grandmother, of which there is only one photo and she was already an elder woman.