Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Student loan and the Twilight Zone

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Student loan and the Twilight Zone

    Finally called the student loans people today to ask a simple question about a form for the Repayment Assistance Plan (which might be on the chopping block soon ... )

    Staffer: "Hi, thank you for calling the National Student Loans Service Centre; my name is Pixelated, how may I help you?"

    Me:

    Yep. She had the exact same first name as I do. It's a pretty unusual name so we were both a little stunned there for a couple of minutes.
    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
    ~ Mr Hero

  • #2
    When I was a kid I was the only Trixie around. Went to school with one girl who's name was close but she was a jerk. Anyway, fast-forward many years and a move half way across the country and there are Trixie's everywhere. Including one of my managers so it's fun when they page to try to figure out which one they need. Guess now I know where all the Trixie's have been.
    I would have a nice day, but I have other things to do.

    Comment


    • #3
      At my current employer, I hired my friend AW. Turns out, there was another AW working in the ddivison in another department, that we routinely worked with. Yes, both AWs would be in the same meeting.

      A few years later, we consolidate departments and AA is moved into our department. We now have two As in the department.
      About this time, the other AW leaves the company. My AW starts getting all of his emails.
      About 6 years ago, my AW leaves. We hire a new person, AK, to replace him. AK is often referred to as "A 2.0" (we should have waited for 2.1).
      Over the next couple of year, we hire hire AM & AP.
      AK left about two years ago.

      For those keeping score, we currently have three As working in the department, two former As, both who were on my team and one of which was a full name match for someone in another department.
      Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
      Save the Ales!
      Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

      Comment


      • #4
        Interesting. This used to be a problem with the name "Dave". About 15 years ago, there were a whole lot of Daves around. In fact, it was kind of famous...

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nvzEqsZIGo

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sneetches_and_Other_Stories#"Too_Many_Daves"

        There was also a concept in Engineering schools called the "Dave:female ratio". It was usually close to one, that is the number of females in Engineering classes was usually very close to the number of people named Dave in the class...

        At one point, I worked in a cube farm where there were fewer than a dozen people. Four of them were named Dave. And they were, in fact, Dave A., Dave B., Dave C., and Dave D.

        It looks like other names may be taking over for Dave...
        “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
        One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
        The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

        Comment


        • #5
          Quoth Nunavut Pants View Post
          Interesting. This used to be a problem with the name "Dave". About 15 years ago, there were a whole lot of Daves around. In fact, it was kind of famous...

          . . .

          It looks like other names may be taking over for Dave...
          Another Dave/David here... in one elementary-school class I got stuck with "Davey" as the junior of three Davids The webcomic Narbonic also introduced "The Dave Conspiracy". (To give you an idea of just how far-reaching and powerful they are... when the protagonist gets kicked out, people spontaneously switch to calling him "David". )
          Last edited by EricKei; 01-19-2019, 04:13 AM. Reason: we just read it, thanks

          Comment


          • #6
            When I was at the technical college I had the worst time remembering names because they all started with D. Dave, David, Don, Dan, Daniel. Ranging from middle age to just graduated high school. Also, at the same school for about two quarters there was a girl with the same name as me! First time in my whole life, including school and work.

            When I quit at the fabric store there were three Megans, each spelled differently. In high school it was all Kellys and Jessicas and Melissas. You can likely easily guess about when that was based on those names, huh?
            Replace anger management with stupidity management.

            Comment


            • #7
              A relative of mine has a similar issue --


              Relative is named, shall we say, AB. He got his license to practice a certain profession for a certain company. Once he did this, he googled to make sure he could get his name for his (mandated by Corporate) individual promo website. Found out that there is another AB, in the same profession, who works for the same company, who lives halfway across the country ^_^
              "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
              "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
              "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
              "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
              "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
              "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
              Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
              "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

              Comment


              • #8
                Something I just remembered. At one point we had a Mckayla, Kayla, Katie, Kylie and Hali. At another time we had 3 Jessica's, at least they all worked in different departments. Mostly though we just used their last names to tell them apart.
                I would have a nice day, but I have other things to do.

                Comment


                • #9
                  I've yet to run into anyone in person with my name. Although I think I did once. It's one of those that one could consider unique, and also has a less-common spelling, apparently.

                  Though I did Google it, and there are a number of people with my first name all over the U.S., I've never actually met any of them.
                  Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    My name has a weirdly widespread heritage ... it is not uncommon in Gaelic countries, but is also found in the Middle East.
                    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                    ~ Mr Hero

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I know the feeling, in a way. Growing up, I was the only person at school with my real name. I think the number of other people with that name I met up through high school, I could count on one hand.

                      Now, though? My friends and I have a Facebook friend who lives about an hour away who stays with us at cons, who has that name. (We've ended up dubbing him "Little [Name]" to differentiate between him and me, when talking about stuff.)

                      A Facebook friend of mine who lives in Louisiana, completely coincidentally, has a son with that name. No possible way he named the kid after me, since said friend doesn't know my real name.

                      And ANOTHER Facebook friend of ours, who lives in Scotland, has the Scottish equivalent of my real name.

                      And that's leaving aside the callers at work, who will say, after hearing my name, "Oh, my son's name is [name]!" (To which I frequently reply, "I'm flattered you named your son after me!")
                      PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

                      There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Someone on Facebook with the exact same name as me tried to friend me once... I was thinking, that's cute and all but just from the look of your photos and posts we have nothing at all in common so yeah, nah.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          In 6th grade, I had one class with three people by my first name. The teacher solved this by calling one of us "Eric B," calling me by my middle name, and calling the last one "Mouth," as he was the sort who seemed to never shut up. He frequently wound up with his mouth duct-taped shut during class when he got too noisy.
                          "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                          "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                          "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                          "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                          "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                          "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                          Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                          "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            My mother shares a name with someone a few blocks away. This has posed some problems with mail delivery and voting as they are in the same precinct.
                            I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                            Who is John Galt?
                            -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X