Names.
Sometimes they help us. But sometimes our parents saddle us with labels we have to deal with all our lives. (A Boy Named Sue!)
In first grade I sat across the table from a kid named "William William Williams".
We called him William. I wonder if, as a teenager, he picked up a nickname, (Sue, for instance.)
I went through OCS with a guy named "Land Grant".
I once met a gal named "Female"... (pronounced "Feh-mah-lee"). While trying to decide on a name for her, her Mother noticed the tag on her nursery container...
Female Boyd. Her Mother decided she liked the name if she could pronounce it the way she wanted.
I'd like to talk with "Moon Unit" Zappa to hear if she thinks her name has been a plus or a minus in her life.
And then there's the guy in the photo above, Placido Domingo.
I don't know Italian, but my limited Spanish fluency hints his name probably means "quiet Sunday", or "peaceful Sunday".
You're holding your new son in your arms...
Could you name him "quiet Sunday"?
I went to basic infantry training with a guy named "Danny Deer-in-water" and think Native Americans have the right idea. Holding a newborn baby, the temptation would be great to name them something like "Screams Like Banshee", or "Smells potent".
And folks you meet would have difficulty forgetting your name.
5 comments:
Personally I think some blacks have the right idea. I arrested, one time, a female black named LA DINETTE. Clearly, her mother had just recently read an advertisement in a newspaper.
I also booked a black male named SHITHEAD. He said it was pronounced SHI-THEED.
"I am sorry sir," I replied. "I stand corrected."
I'm afraid to admit I may have smiled at that point.
BZ
Served with a Navajo with one name, "Coffee". First, last, and middle.
You might have to be a programmer to understand why this guy's name caused an issue in processing this guy's loan application.
His name was Jim Null.
Since Null is frequently used to refer to a data field being empty, we literally had to change the guy's last name every time there was some change from Null to something else in every step of the process and then change it back if some document needed to be printed that went out to him.
I would assume we weren't the first company to have issues processing his data.
I would consider changing my name if I had to deal with that all the time.
Ah yes... they ARE out there... :-)
I remember being told in basic that our name had to be pronounced however we decreed it.
It occurred to me at the time to have it pronounced Jones, but I didn't think the TI would play along.
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