"we all more or less look the same in gym clothes"

Maybe my brain works differently than the author, but I'm surprised at this statement. Gym clothes don't change recognition for me, it's about the face, body, posture, clothes don't really enter into it. For me it is nonsensical enough to be suspicious.

And for a human centric perspective, not recognizing who someone is sad, it's knowing that you probably won't meet them again so it's not worth it, the community isn't there. Where community and interpersonal relationships between people are something we still hold dearly.