Lois Lane must have rung me out at Best Buy.

[Mr Hero]

I spent a gift card towards a portable DVD player and used my CC to pay the rest. As is policy the checkout girl asks for my ID.

I had glasses on, but in my ID photo I'm not wearing them. She looks at me and my ID for a while.

"That's not you."

After I took off my glasses she sheepishly apologizes.

[Sunflash]

As long as she didn't say "Thanks for shopping with us today Mr. Kent" I think your cover is still good.

[Hobbs]

Reminds me of an SNL skit with Margo Kidder[sic]. When SNL chars put on glasses, she didn't know who they were

[BlaqueKatt]

I had glasses on, but in my ID photo I'm not wearing them. She looks at me and my ID for a while.

"That's not you."

I had that happen once-almost expired ID(they were good for four years-now it's 8 )-had me in short bleached blonde hair-got told it wasn't me because my hair is now it's natural red/auburn and long. Got refused a cigarette sale over that one. came back two weeks later with both IDs same info on both and asked the cashier if she was sure it was me when she looked at the new one, then pulled out the old one. Sadly all she could say was "your hair changed"-yeah it's called peroxide and 4 year's growth....

[Nashida]

That's why my license photo was taken while I wasn't wearing my glasses, mostly because I was told I had to take them off, and ever since I started wearing contact lenses I didn't look like the person in the photo.

Still kind of funny...you'd think they could pick out facial features behind the frames while comparing you to the photo.

[lobo94]

Know what you mean. I usually take my cheaters off for pictures. I've had people say that with the glasses on, I look benign, and without, brooding

[Red_Dazes]

I know the Beau is one of those people where the slightest change makes him look like a completely different person. So much so that even I think he looks different.
Like seriously, Glasses vs. No glasses, sometimes I have a hard time finding him in a crowd. and he looks about 10 years younger when he shaves... and if he twists his mustache up he looks about 10 years older.

...So I can understand this one. Some people really do look different with the slightest changes.

...Maybe I'll take some pictures some time.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Some people have a problem when they don't look like their passport picture.

[PepperElf]

i once had someone at the base bar study my id card trying to figure out if it was me...

The photo had been taken that day, about 6 hour prior. The difference? When I went to the bar I'd styled my hair nicely and put on makeup.

[morgana]

When I went to England mumble-mumble years ago, I had passport trouble. I had the picture taken wearing contacts and with my hair up. When I went to get on the plane, I had my hair down and glasses on. (Night flight, didn't want to have to fight with contacts when I wanted to sleep.)

Customs agent took the passport, looked at it, looked at me, looked at it again, scowled at me . . . I suddenly realilzed what was happening, snatched off the glasses, pulled the hair back in a ponytail, and looked at him. His face cleared, and he said, I quote, "Okay, now it's you," and let me pass.

Yeah, small changes can make a big difference.

[smileyeagle1021]

The photo had been taken that day, about 6 hour prior. The difference? When I went to the bar I'd styled my hair nicely and put on makeup.

Come now Pepper, we all know that you don't need make-up, you're just naturally good and young looking

[Stormraven]

And then there's the opposite problem. My appearance has changed more than a little over the years. Long hair, short hair, glasses, no glasses, dark glasses, light glasses. It never matters. People who knew me with long reddish-brown hair still recognise me with short white-mousy brown hair.

I've often wondered how anyone could expect to be overlooked just by changing some small part of themselves, but this thread has shown me that I'm apparently an exception.

[Ree]

I love the title of this thread.

Like Hobbs mentioned, it reminds me of that SNL skit.
I think Teri Hatcher did it as well in her opening monologue.

Different SNL cast members would come out, and she wouldn't have a clue who they were until they took off their glasses.

[LillFilly]

I didn't start driving till my mid-twenties, so I had a driver's permit for a loooong time. Clubs would ALWAYS give me a hard time because they figured I must have gotten some sort of cheap fake ID for being over the legal drinking age, yet only having a permit. I'd basically tell them it was none of their business why I wasn't driving! Perfectly legal ID and all and one of the best photos I ever had. I miss that photo.

[Seshat]

Another factor is that different people have different face-recognition ability.

My best friend is almost perfect - she can recognise someone she knew as a child a decade and a half ago, who's now adult, with vastly different hairstyle etc etc.

Me? I've failed to recognise my own mother. When we're shopping together, she knows that SHE may have to be the one to find ME if we separate - even though she's my bestest friend ever.

Honestly, I think we're probably at the two extremes. Much worse than me, and it probably counts as a pathology.

Google 'proposagnosia' and 'proposamnesia'.