By Any Other Name?

This morning the CEO walked by while I was sitting with Proposal Man and helping with the WBS for this proposal and he says, "I like it when Lynne is working on proposals, that means she's not bugging me."

So many things wrong here, I don't know where to start....maybe with the fact that my name is not Lynne. Seriously. It's not. Not even close. I know who he meant - a real person named Lynne - but he clearly does not think I am me. Or maybe we should just stop with the ponderance of he clearly does not think. I guess I am becoming that McDonalds radio commercial where the coworkers are calling each other pal, buddy, etc. because they don't know each other's names.

You can go read the gas guy's rant about names and how they're just words that we get overly attatched to...I'd link it but I don't know his URL -- just click through to Waiter Rant and then over to Gas Guy. But you know, I disagree with him hugely. And for that matter - I disagree with Shakespeare more. I don't think a rose by any other name would smell as sweet -- as Anne of Green Gables put it (roughly) how could you love a rose if it was a stinkweed or thistle?

For all the fact that a name is just a word...words have power. And I think we need to take more care in their use. If the pen is mightier than the sword...it's not because it's full of ink. It's because the pen creates words...and again, words have power. But more so than words in general, names are powerful. The first job given to mankind was to name the creatures of the earth. Not just so it would be easier to refer to them, but because it helped establish our dominion over them. Groups of friends have nicknames for eachother because names help establish the community. Even the shortened names you choose for your child (if there are multiple options) can help shape who they become. Think through the Beths, Lizes, Libbies, Betsys, and Elizabeths you know...if you're like most, the personality of each is somewhat different and grouped (to a degree) within the nickname they use. Obviously there are exceptions --- there are probably a number of people who agree that a name is just a handle pushed on us by "the man" to make it easier for the IRS to collect. And maybe there's something to that.

But at the end of the day, for good, bad or indifferent, our names are all balled up in who we perceive ourselves to be. And so parents should be careful about naming their children strange things that sounded cool at the time (or at least have a justification for WHY you named your child after a fruit). And we should be careful to address people properly, and maybe err on the side of not using a name if you're not sure it's the right one.

Because I, for one, would rather not know you have no clue what my name is than have you consistently call me someone else's name.

Especially if you're the one writing my paycheck.