“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
-Shakespeare
My name has always been something I have found humor in for most of my life. I just love how uniquely generic it is. Emily Johnson. Emily, the most popular baby girls name for over a decade in the early 2000s. All of us lost in the sea of the Emily wave. And Johnson, the second most generic last name in the U.S. losing to only Smith in mediocrity. Emily Johnson. Simple, classic, easy to remember. Or so I thought…
It was two weeks into the program when I realized that to Alex, my name was Ellen. We were in the midst of hiking the mountain to Alicante’s Santa Barbra castle. The ironic part was he was on the phone when he called out “Ellen! This way.” so I missed my opportunity to correct him. I thought to myself, “Well, we’re two weeks into the program. Let’s just see how long this plays out.” And in the subsequent days I watched Alex become confused where everyone else in the program (whom I informed of this adventure) alternated between “This is EMILY’s video.” and “Hi, ELLEN.” The straw finally broke the camels back when I sent an email listed as Emily Johnson but at the bottom, I signed off “Best, Ellen”. The next day, this was how the conversation played out:
“By the way, what is your name?” Alex asked.
“...” I silently smiled because I knew the jig was finally up.
“Because your last email really confused me”
“Well… my given name is Emily.”
“But you go by…”
“... Emily”
“... Then why am I calling you Ellen?”
“I don’t know… I don’t mind, I’ll answer to either.”
“No. I want to call you by your name. Is Em alright?”
“Sure.”
And while this is the funniest nickname story I’ve experienced this summer. I’ve gained a lot more from my classmates including Ellen, Em, MLE (get it?), MLA, Paris (my middle name), Paris Champagne, Emilia Johansen, Jo, americana alta etc. It’s really been a new experience because, other than my parents, I’ve never had nicknames before (my parents calling me Bubba Jones isn’t really something I want to advertise). Emily was always too simple to be worth it. So the little bit of pizazz to my typically generic name has made me super happy this summer. It’s a little sign that I know I’ve made friends I will treasure for a long time. But, in the end, I know that no matter what I’m called the person who they know is just me.
-Ellen :)
love you Jo it's your roommate! Btw I made up half of her nicknames.
Lov ya too, Kathy ;)
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
-Shakespeare
My name has always been something I have found humor in for most of my life. I just love how uniquely generic it is. Emily Johnson. Emily, the most popular baby girls name for over a decade in the early 2000s. All of us lost in the sea of the Emily wave. And Johnson, the second most generic last name in the U.S. losing to only Smith in mediocrity. Emily Johnson. Simple, classic, easy to remember. Or so I thought…
It was two weeks into the program when I realized that to Alex, my name was Ellen. We were in the midst of hiking the mountain to Alicante’s Santa Barbra castle. The ironic part was he was on the phone when he called out “Ellen! This way.” so I missed my opportunity to correct him. I thought to myself, “Well, we’re two weeks into the program. Let’s just see how long this plays out.” And in the subsequent days I watched Alex become confused where everyone else in the program (whom I informed of this adventure) alternated between “This is EMILY’s video.” and “Hi, ELLEN.” The straw finally broke the camels back when I sent an email listed as Emily Johnson but at the bottom, I signed off “Best, Ellen”. The next day, this was how the conversation played out:
“By the way, what is your name?” Alex asked.
“...” I silently smiled because I knew the jig was finally up.
“Because your last email really confused me”
“Well… my given name is Emily.”
“But you go by…”
“... Emily”
“... Then why am I calling you Ellen?”
“I don’t know… I don’t mind, I’ll answer to either.”
“No. I want to call you by your name. Is Em alright?”
“Sure.”
And while this is the funniest nickname story I’ve experienced this summer. I’ve gained a lot more from my classmates including Ellen, Em, MLE (get it?), MLA, Paris (my middle name), Paris Champagne, Emilia Johansen, Jo, americana alta etc. It’s really been a new experience because, other than my parents, I’ve never had nicknames before (my parents calling me Bubba Jones isn’t really something I want to advertise). Emily was always too simple to be worth it. So the little bit of pizazz to my typically generic name has made me super happy this summer. It’s a little sign that I know I’ve made friends I will treasure for a long time. But, in the end, I know that no matter what I’m called the person who they know is just me.
-Ellen :)
love you Jo it's your roommate! Btw I made up half of her nicknames.
Lov ya too, Kathy ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment