On days I work in my office I leave my house at 7:15am, but I usually don't have any real need to be in my office until 8:30ish (I share a vehicle with a teenager and he drops me off on his way to school). My normal routine includes the kid dropping me off at a fast-food place close to my office and I drink 7 gallons of Diet Coke and read for 45 minutes or so to get my head on straight.
At the very least I do this 3 times a week, but 5 days this week. I go there so much that the people that work there call me by name. Unfortunately though, not my name.
It started about ONE. YEAR. AGO. Let's pretend for sake of argument that my name is Tina. About a year ago, as I walked in the door to said establishment, the manager piped up, "Good morning, TAMMY." And like a moron, I said "Good morning." Not, "Good morning. But hey, my name is Tina". Nope. Just "Good morning".
Two days ago, the manager even introduced me to a new employee as Tammy, and the new kid, said, "Oh what is your name, ma'am?"
I now bow my head in shame, I can't even admit what I said.
It would have been less awkward if I had said my Pirate name, Mad Grace Kidd, my fairy name, Twinkledance Flittertoes, my rapper name, Mobb Bone Flava-T, or even my transformer name, Slugface Defensor.
Now what the hell do I do? Do I gracefully tell the manager that I am such a douche that I let her call me by the wrong name for a year? Do I just change my name to Tammy to avoid the conversation all together? It might be less awkward to send notices to my family and friends. Or maybe I should just let it go, and take old Shakey's advice:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
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6 comments:
Ouch, that's a tough one.
If you always go there alone (without a friend or family member who knows your real name) I would let them call you whatever it is (Tammy, Zeke, whatever) and let them think that's your name.
It would be fun to imagine you're a double agent and at that place they know you as Tammy.
But the rest of the world knows you as Tina. Then you can act however you want because you're not really Tammy. You know?
I'd just go with Tammy being your name at that establishment. It is too late now, unless they get a whole new staff, then you can start over.
I guess you should embrace Tammy. I once did a freelance job and was referred to as "Jane" for the entire month by my producer. (My name is JEN) I didn't say anything, even though I thought he must be a total moron since I sent him at least 3 emails a day from my personal email account (the address is my name!). I finally had to 'fess up when he made my check out to Jane at the end of the project. Ugh.
Love your blog, by the way! Happy NaBloPoMo! I'm bookmarking you so I can check back!
I used to pay with my debit card every day hoping they would see my name on their own. I make sure I have cash now.
I think I am stuck with Tammy, but I do like the idea of being a double agent, I could do dorky things on purpose, and when they are telling the story it will be, "Oh, that Tammy..."
I had a "friend" who called me by the wrong name for THREE YEARS! I mean, this was supposed to be a very close friend. She called me Nate (my name is Nat) and even after I would correct her and tell her that I went by Nat, she'd STILL call me Nate. She even introduced me to people as Nate, to which I would add, "Hi, yes, I'm NAT"
It was such a relief to move. I tried not to be a douche about it, but c'mon, telling someone that you'll call them what YOU want to call them is a little crappy, I think. Should it be up to the person whose name it is?
(Sorry, I just hijacked your comments) ;)
How about you do like they do in the SCA? "Well, my mundane name is Tina, but my [name of establishment] name is Tammy."
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