How psyched am I? I signed up for the June Blog Exchange and was fortunate to be paired with Mrs. Fortune! I'm a big fan of hers, so please go check out Mrs. Fortune and Her Cookie...oh, and my post there.
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I am obsessed with names. I blogged about it here and here.
Not in a bizarre-o TS Eliot “The Naming of Cats” what-the-hell-is-he-talking-about kind of way, but in a I’m a stickler for details don’t get everything right BUT the name sort of way. My own name often gets misread, and thus I get called Lori instead of Cori. My gynecologist actually did this to me recently. If it weren’t for the damn HMO you can bet I’d be on the prowl for a new one right about now.
I never liked my own name as a kid. I didn’t like that it was unisex. I
didn’t like that it wasn’t perky, like so many Amandas, Katies and Jennies
with whom I was forced to share a classroom. Surely, if my parents had opted
for one of those spunkier monikers, I would have been embraced instead of
exiled from the popular crowd. My middle name is truly horrific. I won’t
reveal it here, but suffice it to say, my sister’s middle name is Reagen,
you know, after the girl from the Exorcist, and mine is worse. Because that
makes so much sense, obviously, to name your child after a vomit-spewing
maniac with a head like a merry-go-round on speed. My parents truly embraced 1970s culture, in every way, wink wink.
As a teacher, names are especially important to me. It is a point of personal and professional pride that every year, without fail, I am the first teacher to learn all their students' names. Other teachers remark to me, come the second week of school when I am able to refer to everyone in my classes by their correct names (9 times out of 10). I make it a point to greet every student by name every day before every class. Who knows, it may be the only time in their day they get greeted in such a way. I started doing this when I was a student teacher, and my supervising teacher warned me that it wouldn't - no, couldn't- last. Five years later, I have kept this practice in-tact.
I hate it when people say "I am terrible with names." I think this is a choice. What you are saying when you say to someone "I can't remember your name" is this: when I met you, you were not important enough to me to warrant remembering your name." Considering that I always feel I am unimportant to people, it's not surprising that names, remembering, giving and cherishing them, are a big thing for me.
And for the record: please don't call me Lori. It's Cori. With a C-O-R-I.
(MrsFortune is a clueless new mommy who blogs when baby sleeps. You can normally find her here.)
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This post is part of a June Blog Exchange on the theme "What's in a Name?" Click here to read more. And, if you'd like to participate, email Kristen at kmei26 at yahoo.com.
4 comments:
I totally thought your were LORI. Just kidding. Actually, I hate when people misspell my name.
And, I, am VERY good with names. Particularly kids.
CORI! That is a perky name if I've ever heard one. I can see it embroidered on a varsity cheerleader's jacket, clear as day.
I do make an effort with names. I may not know your birthday, but I will remember your name. And probably your phone number.
I know all the names of the kids in the girls' classes, plus the names of several other kids in their school. And ALL the teachers. That's important stuff to me.
Farrah? Brooke? C'mon, spill the middle name.
I've got the same problem with my name. Its either misspelled, mispronounced, or I'm called a completely different name with the same first initial. These days I'll answer to almost anything.
I've had to really try with names....once I get them, I have them forever, but often when meeting someone for the first time I get a little anxious and am trying to focus on remembering *them* and figuring out what portion of my usual small talk will just be WAY too innappropriate and I totally forget to pay attention to the name. Eeeck! But I'm trying....I met a woman in my class last week...and successfully retained her name after her only telling it to me once! Woo-hoo! I can be taught!
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