(02-28-2015, 06:36 PM)Steel Wolf Wrote: Dear Phoenix,
I have something of a comfortable problem on my hands...but a problem nonetheless.
As a sellsword, I have handed my contact information out to a great deal of individuals. Â Roaming the realm and offering my strength at arms requires one to be comfortable with offering a smile and a level of personal information with complete strangers, along with taking the names of same for later contact. Â However, over the course of my travels, I have come to realize that the list of names I have collected has become foreign to me. Â A great deal of them remain on my personal list for reasons that elude me entirely, and it would not do much for my personal reputation were I to reach out to each individual person to remind myself why they are a part of my contacts.
Do you have any suggestions for me to work my way out of this rather embarrassing situation?
Signed,
Bad With Names
Dear Bad With Names,
Where to even begin with this one. This is a huge problem with many a sellsword--even I myself had this problem for several years when it came to letters and contacts within the 'exciting' world of advice column work. To get out of the situation with your dignity intact is very simple;
If you haven't contacted them in so many moons and they have not done likewise then obviously, you're not in a place to feel ashamed. In fact, it's a prime opportunity to make yourself feel very important! By contacting them, you could always drop the ever popular, 'Oh, I'm just SO popular and SO called upon that I couldn't POSSIBLY be expected to remember EVERYONE,' line. This works incredibly well for business purposes and, if worded properly, can make the customer (i.e. you contractors and fellow-sell swords) feel as if they are wasting YOUR time by not getting in contact with you more often.
Or, I suppose, if you want to go for the more civil way of doing things, you could very politely contact them and say something along the lines of 'Hello. I once worked with you concerning some mercenary job or other and I still have your information. Do you have any further need of my services in the near future?' You could also substitute the latter phrase with things like, 'For the sake of my records, do you recall the exact details of the job in question?' or something similar. At least in that case, you're being tactful and avoiding the social blunder of looking like an uncaring rube.
I prefer the former of the two, though, since it leaves the one on the receiving end questioning their life choices as to why they aren't NEARLY as popular as you apparently are.
Signed,
The Phoenix