A rose by any other name?
I labored long and hard over what to do with my last name when I married Jerry. I considered all the usual options, like just taking his name or hyphenating. Jerry considered taking my maiden name. In the end, we landed on both taking my maiden name on as a second middle name. Thus, I am S.K.S.S. and he is G.P.S.S. Now, I sort of wish we'd taken my maiden name.
You see, ever since 1998 when I wed Mr. Shannon, folks have been messing up my name. Essentially, I have two first names: Sarah Shannon. So, when I introduce myself as Sarah Shannon, I'll often get, "Nice to meet you Shannon," or my favorite, "Nice to meet you Sharon." That's all well and good in verbal exchanges. I can see mixing up Sarah and Shannon, or even slurring it all into Sharon. But now it's happening in print! Today I received an email from someone who actually typed my name as Sharon! It's quite clear in my display name via email, and every time I type it, that my name is Sarah Shannon. How does one visually mix that up into Sharon?!? It appears that we can trust neither our ears nor our eyes.
So if you see me walking by and want to get my attention, feel free to holler out Sarah or Shannon or Sharon. I've become accustomed to responding to all and graciously correcting. But if you're going to email me, could you just take a moment to think about in what order you're plunking the keys?