Here, in Switzerland, and also in Germany, where I was formerly working, it is considered polite to remember the titles, names and faces of every people we are introduced to.
I am not physiognomist : I have an issue with faces which I hardly remember... Or at least only if I discussed enough with them to remember their look.
Now, it has become quite difficult for me to just come to a new collegue and tell him "Grüssech, Herr Doktor Stähli" (or was it Reber ? Anyway, you don't need to know their actual names.).
Of course, I just say "Hallo" and sometimes explain to the most surprised about my problem.
This is due to another cultural custom which I've been taught in France:
In my home country, this is considered unpolite to fix people in their eyes. My problem is that I remember better people's look than their physiognomy.
Now, could this be another reason the French and the German often declared war to each other, during the last centuries ?
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