I seem to live in a world of clones; they are not clones in the sense that they bear any resemblance to me in any physical sense. Only in name, and this is enough.
I have a name, like you who would read this, a popular name with origins from the United Kingdom. For examples sake I’ll say my name is Jessica.
There are many and have always been many other Jessica’s in my world other than me, some are Jessica’s, others Jess and some are known as Jessie then there are other stranger nicknames. I would say that the latter would cause me most outrage, as it immediately conjures an image of a schoolgirl, clumsy, geeky with braces and pigtails. Let just say I’m not the biggest fan of that particular nickname. I am known by the first two.
Now since I’ve been with my boyfriend we have discovered that many of his closest male friends have girlfriends, daughter, sisters etc also with the same name. I would like to say I was there first, I’ve known him for half my life and that’s got to count in ranking. So each time we go out to a dinner or whatever it may be, there is a high chance that there will be another Jessica in the room. So what happens in these scenarios? Well one of two things….
1- The people around both us Jessica’s start getting very confused as to how to differentiate between us, so they decide usually to call one Jess and one Jessica. I find this sometimes amusing, as both of us Jessica’s don’t usually look anything alike so it cant be that hard to differentiate us surely?
My only rule is that I don’t get branded Jessie- that would be my worst nightmare, and should anyone call me that they will not get an answer. The thing that amuses me is that no matter what people try to do in this situation it will not stop both Jessica’s snapping their heads whenever their name is called, a perfectly natural response.
2- The other Jessica will feel the need to take control, and will start telling everyone what her preferred nick name is, whether its Jess, J, Jessica or whatever it may be and the give me whatever she may not want. I think this too is a pointless exercise, as I do not like to be dictated to as to what my name is. I think having been called Jess since birth it’s not going to come as a shock to me when I hear it. I just sit back and relax, being completely secure in the knowledge that I know what my name is.
Ok so I like my name and it suits me just fine, but I’m not about to change it just because there are millions of clones of my name out there in the world. There no one quite like me.
So what’s in a name? Plenty, just remember to say the right one especially if you expect a reply.
Creative*
creativeandthegeek
walkinginmymind
