Today my neighbor greeted me with, “Hey, Melissa!” This is one of the name-perils that I have experienced throughout my life: the mix-up between Michelle and Melissa. I don’t quite understand it—both names begin with “M” and involve the letter “l.” Michelle has a soft “shhh” sound while Melissa has a harsher “ssss” sound.
I recall working at Borders. Every English major has either worked at a Borders or a library. Try playing “6 Degrees of Borders.” You’ll be able to find connections to Borders employee through 6 or less people that you know. 1 degree: I know John; he worked at Borders. Even if John didn’t work at Borders, I still could make the connection: I know John; John knows Justin; Justin worked at Borders.
Back to the Borders anecdote…My boss, Rudy, called for me to do some stupid task…probably shelf-reading or something. He got irked when I didn’t respond but… he had called out to me, “Melissa!” It was a great moment. When he asked, “Why didn’t you answer?,” I got to give an acceptable smartass response: “Because my name isn’t Melissa.”
It’s gotten to the point where the name mistake doesn’t bother me that much; I will respond if someone calls me Melissa. It’s just incredibly annoying.
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