Retail Memory

          I’ve had a plethora of different retail and service jobs in my life.  In this kind of “profession” a lot of different people pass through your workspace.  Some customers stand out in your mind - you’ve made an actual connection with them, or just through some idiosyncrasy of memory.  But then there’s the humanity that passes through your life, sometimes frequently, but whom you only vaguely recognize if at all.  Obviously you don’t have time to pay close attention to every detail, especially when you’re working. 

What I’ve always found interesting – and it may just be my own brain for all I know – is the way my memory works in this situation.  Because there have been many times – and this spans back over years of different jobs – when I won’t recognize the customer’s face at all but then my memory will be jogged when I see their bag, wallet, jewelry, or some such insignificant  marker. 

         Why does my brain recognize and remember material objects over human faces?  The human brain, looking at something unrecognizable, will often see faces and other visions of humanity. Pattern recognition.  Maybe memory is different; maybe it’s too much to ask it to store all those people.  So I recall material objects before the people they belong to, who I’ve obviously spoken to before or I wouldn’t recognize their objects.