Has a stranger every said to you "Hey, you look familiar. Do I know you?"?

Question

And I'm NOT talking about some cheesy pickup line either. For about the past year, at least once / month I get someone say "Hey, you look familiar?...etc." Then I get a bunch of questions of such as:
- "Do you know so-and-so?"
- "Did you ever go to such and such school?"
- "Did you ever work at such and such?"
All the time I say 'Nope' to the above questions because I don't have the commonality with them. It's from both genders. And always when I'm out by myself running errands or something, never when I'm with my friends. I get a little taken by surprise by it. I admit that I don't tend to volunteer information such as saying "Oh, I never worked there but I DID work @ blah blah place."
Also I cut over a foot and a half of hair off in November and shaved my goatee so I look a LOT different, and it still happens. AND I moved to a different town in June 08 (1/2 an hr West)
I did bartend some years ago and I used to be pretty social but I don't know if that's it. It's kinda eerie actually.

Most of the time I say "Sorry, you must be thinking of someone else." but the last two times I shrugged and said "I have that kind of face." But I realize that may sound a little conceited. I'm not rude but I still find it slightly offputting.

Has this every happened to you? What do you do about it? Should I feel flattered? No rude or sarcastic answers please.

Answer 1

Either you have a common looking face or you have a twin walking around. They say, everyone has a double (someone who looks like you) somewhere in the world. I get that sometimes too. It is a weird kind of feeling. I hate when someone says, "Where do I know you from"? Now I have to remember, "what did I do, and I hope its good".



I once played a football game on Thanksgiving (old tradition) with my old buddies from my old neighborhood and this guy goes, "I know you, but I just can't remember where". It turns out that I had beat him and his brother up real bad, where their mother came out and threatened to call the police. We were both 10 years old at the time. The kind of beat-down you don't forget. It was an awkward feeling still some 20 years later.

Answer 2

It has happened to me, although not very often. I guess you have a normal face (not in a bad way). You can just handle it the way you have always handled it. It is good to just answer no and not elaborate too much. You must be getting quite annoyed by now. I know I would hate it if it always happened. By the way "I have that kind of face", doesn't sound conceited to me. I hope I helped :D

Answer 3

No, sometimes they do know you from somewhere. Maybe it just slipped your mind that you might know them? In the case of someone in another country, that's never been to your country, they might have seen someone who looked like you in a way. In that case, you are familiar to them. So, don't get annoyed, ask them who they are and what circumstances they think they might have saw you before under.

Answer 4

Yea that happens to me 2 but its worst people come and hug me like we family and i gotta sit there and play it off like we go back to the sandbox when the truth is that ive never seen this person before in my life. You really don't know if its flattering until you see the person they think you are. If they not up to par then its a problem

Answer 5

You Look So Familiar

Answer 6

I get that sometimes... But then again my mom knows everybody in the entire world, so they all know me from pictures and stuff, lol. But then I feel bad because I don't know who they are.



Have you ever heard Demetri Martin [I think that's his name], he's a comedian and in one of his show things he says, 'A man I didn't know came up to me and said hi, then said, oh sorry, I thought you were somebody else. And I said, I am.' Heh.

Answer 7

People ofetn remember faces of people who work in the service industry.

I'm a waitress in a busy pub and I get the same thing all over the city. I dont usually remember their faces but they seem to remember me.

Answer 8

I've had the same experience. I feel flattered that they recognized someone they knew in me. I just smile and say ' I'm sorry but I am not that person' and exits with a smile.

Answer 9

No, but i'm sure it gives you alot of opportunities with the opposite sex? No?

Answer 10

Next time someone says "where do I know you from" I'm going to reply "Maybe your bedroom"? LOL.

Answer 11

yes. sometimes they look familiar to me. but usually i just say no and let it go at that.