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It's just a name... get over it.

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  • It's just a name... get over it.

    *name. buh.

    This wasn't so much sucky as it was confusing and slightly irritating.

    Woman comes to my cash and eyes my name tag.
    Woman: Why is that your name?
    Me: Excuse me?
    Woman: Why is that your name?
    Me: Why?
    Woman: Yeah. Why?
    Me: Because that's the name my parents chose for me?
    Woman: What's your background?
    Me: That'll be $xx.xx
    Woman: *handing me her card* What's your background?
    Me: It's irrelevant. Sign here please.

    Just for reference, I have an Arabic name with Arabic spelling and am Caucasian. Apparently this is fascinating.

    People are constantly eyeing my name and trying to pronounce it, failing every time.
    Sometimes it gets so annoying I tear my name tag off in front of the customers.
    The customers often ask my background and I've yet to answer any of them.
    Last edited by rerant; 07-23-2007, 05:45 AM.

  • #2
    I think that's awesome. I love different names. I have a typical, male, caucasian, name, and I'd rather have a name that no one has ever seen. Like Aldous. I've seriously thought about getting my name legally changed. Be thankful your parents decided to be creative with your name, and not say "Heads it's X, Tails it's Y"
    It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
    ~~~H.L. Mencken

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    • #3
      Quoth rerant View Post
      Me: It's irrelevant. Sign here please.
      Good!! It's none of their Frickin business, Why the name how bout how's the tude, dude! Some woman thought I was east indian even though I am 100% caucasein!
      Providing Excellent customer service and Filtering out nonsense people.

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      • #4
        It would just be curiosity for me. Growing up in white bread America, where every one had "normal" caucasian names, anything out of the norm was interesting to me.

        There's a convenience store I go to almost daily. The same person (owner's son) has been there for years. We know each by name. The first time I tried to pronounce his name, I royally screwed it up. Pretty embarrassing. But one day, while I was inside, a giant rainstorm came down and I was stuck inside. We got to talking, and the subject of names came up. He told me what his name meant and a little about his family history. Then he asked what my name meant, and why I go by my initials. I told him what my name was going to be, but thankfully my mom stepped in and said "No way" to my dad. (My dad wanted to name me after 2 very large Texas cities).

        So when I come in to your store and ask about your name, please, don't get upset. Yes, to some people it is fascinating. I'm one of them. I love hearing what names mean, and the background of them.


        *but I can understand your annoyance
        Age and wisdom don't necessarily go together. Some people just become stupid with more authority.

        "Who put the goat in there? The yellow goat I ate."

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        • #5
          I would like the name Circe Nightshade on my name tag. Pity my employers only go by what was on the birth certificate.

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          • #6
            Shit, that woman sounds like she has no people skills whatsoever. If life were fair, she'd have no friends at all and live in a shithole apartment with 40 stray cats.
            "I used to be Snow White... but I drifted."~Mae West

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            • #7
              Nothing wrong with curiosity, but I think it's all in how you ask. "What an interesting name" is more likely to encourage someone to talk about it than a rude "Why are you named that?" I've had some wonderful conversations with people from other countries by saying, "That's a lovely accent. May I ask where you're from?" Then again, if someone doesn't want to talk about something I'm curious about, then I'm polite enough not to push it.
              "Lady, people aren't chocolates. Do you know what they are mostly? Bastards. Bastard-coated bastards with bastard fillings"-Dr. Perry Cox

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              • #8
                I have a welsh name - so I had my real name on my name tag when I delivered pizzas. They still have that tag and give it to staf who forget to bring theirs in... both male and female :-P

                One day at work, someone was looking at my name tag and asked "Where's that from?"... "Sydney, I think" (where all the name badges are shipped from :P).

                And lastly, I use Frank over the phones. One day I did my usual "Welcome to xxx, this is Frank".

                "Well, hello Francis..." .... Uh - yeah!!

                Not to mention (well - alright - actually I am...) the caller who said "Ah - Frank, that's a nice Australian name, isn't it?" ... <no comment - snigger snigger>
                When I said "From my research", what I actually meant to say was "Made shit up" - from a thottbot thread

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                • #9
                  A former co-worker's name is Shilo. She is a very nice girl. A while ago, after Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had a baby (named Shiloh) a customer asked her if her parents named her after their kid.

                  Shilo:....
                  SC: ?
                  Shilo: I'm 29 years old.
                  SC: Oh.
                  https://www.facebook.com/authorpatriciacorrell/

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                  • #10
                    I missed the part where your ethnic/cultural/national background happened to be any of that bitch's business.
                    Herewith, a nugget of wisdom from the very wise Mike Brady: "Alone, we can only move buckets. But if we work together, we can drain rivers."

                    --
                    mannabozo.wordpress.com

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                    • #11
                      I'm really interested in names and their meanings too. My name is Amanda, it means "worthy of love". That woman was rude though. Why are you named that? What kind of question is that? It seems like she didn't like your name and wanted to make some kind of racial remark once she found out what your background was, which was totally inappropriate to ask a stranger.
                      It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.
                      -Helen Keller

                      I got this av from Court Records, made by Croik!

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Deanna Darkstone View Post
                        Shit, that woman sounds like she has no people skills whatsoever. If life were fair, she'd have no friends at all and live in a shithole apartment with 40 stray cats.
                        Which would be totally unfair to the poor cats.


                        My name is long, horribly long, and odd. I have three first names, two last names. My last name makes people weep when they glance at it, or stammer, have an apoplexy and die. The first name I use (second one) is very common in a small part of the world, the lowe countries, but I live and was raised in South America, so you'd guess I get all forms of grief over my name all the time.
                        I pet animals, I rescue insects, I hug trees.

                        "I picture the lead singer of Gwar screaming 'People of Japan, look at my balls! My swinging pendulous balls!!!'" -- Khyras

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                        • #13
                          My name is not that uncommon, but people regularly ask about it. My first name is French, and my last name I happen to share with a controversial boxer. Both names are on my nametag (which I HATE). Most people mispronounce my first name but they ALL recognize my last name. Several times I've heard; "Oh! Is that your REAL last name?" When I say yes, they usually say, "But... you look white." "Actually," I inform them, "The name is Cherokee, which I am."
                          Sometimes it's like a weird combination of Samir Naga...naga...nagonnaworkhereanyway
                          and Michael Bolton from Office Space.
                          I'm tempted to change it to Ygramul Shelob and actually have something interesting to say when asked about it.
                          SC: "What does your name mean?"
                          ME: "That I am an Arachnophobic Bibliophile. Enjoy your day and thanx for shopping with us!"

                          What on Earth does our name have to do with the level of customer service we provide? I'm just askin'...
                          The Closest to Perfection a Person Ever Comes is When He Fills Out a Job Application Form

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                          • #14
                            I was always flattered back in school when the foreign exchange students from Germany would say "You're German aren't you!", and they were the only ones who could pronounce my last name.

                            It was always cute when all the European foreign exchange students would say my first name with the short "a" sound, not the long one.
                            You really need to see a neurologist. - Wagegoth

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                            • #15
                              I grew up hating my name because I was always asked "Oh! Like that Princess in the Star Wars movies?!" which drove me up the wall. Judging by my icon though, it doesn't bother me too much anymore.

                              Anymore, the only name related issue I have is when someone sees my nametag and starts to try to convert me to Catholicism because I'm obviously Jewish (even though I'm not).

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