Where nobody knows your name
There's this thing in books. All these friendly shopkeepers, members of the community, cafe workers, all knowing the main character. All being friendly and involved in the main character's life. I understand the allure. It's easy, it's cosy, it's aspirational.
It's also... not very realistic? Is it just me that can frequent somewhere multiple times a week and no one knows me from Adam? I'm not sure I want to be known from Adam. I've got zero expectation anyone at my regular spots should be remembering who I am, much less caring. My aim is to get in and get out causing as little bother as possible.
Give me the stories where no one remembers anyone's names. The main character has to introduce themselves every time they meet the same person. Harassed service workers who absolutely do not care about the drama. No one even remembers the drama. Best friends who are only talking about their own business and the main character doesn't get a word in edgeways for the whole scene.
It's main character syndrome but it's a book where they literally are the main character. Even still, other characters don't need to be NPCs. I'm a huge fan of side characters being the hero of another story.
I've got questions. Realistically, how would this happen? Do the main characters introduce themselves? Do people do that? I understand some places require a name. Are we expecting staff to remember thousands of customers?
In a society where loads of people don't know their neighbours how helpful or unhelpful is this? Does it offer us community to shoot for? Does it encourage a "don't you know who I am?" energy? Does it make us feel bad we don't have that? Does it put super unrealistic expectations on us and other people?
Every so often I have this criticism, then I go to the small town my wife grew up in where my mother-in-law not only knows the names of basically everyone in a mile radius but their whole family tree, which school they went to with whom, everywhere they've ever worked, and all the illnesses they and their family have ever had. Then I'm like, okay.