(Fox) Mulder, it’s me (not Scully)

Have I blogged about this before? It seems quite likely, but I don’t want to waste the time to verify, I just want to waste the time to write about it. Also, my blog has been suffering so as of late, what with the total lack of entries this new year and all.

Well, the “this” that I above refer to is this: The tragic and frequent misspellings of my name.

I do not mean this as a letter of complaint (I feel very jovial today), but rather as an observation. Think of this whole blog as one big “huh!” with perhaps a shrug of the shoulders and … whatever it is that one’s mouth does when feeling apathetic.

What has prompted this today, as this is surely a lifetime affliction for one with a name so unusual(ly spelled)? Nothing of note, really. Although, I’ll note it anyway.

Today on my way out of the office for a much-needed breath of fresh air, I asked if I could get anything for a coworker while I was out. After some convincing, she decided she’d like something from Starbucks. And she highly suggested (yes, really) that I get something too. I have been on a nearly-three-week coffee-purchasing hiatus (well done me?), and oddly enough, I felt indifferent initially toward the idea of getting Starbucks. Long story short, I ended up getting a Tall Skinny Vanilla Latte (yes! I strayed from my old standard Caramel Macchiato! What is the world coming to?).

As usual, the barista asked my name, I said “Andrle,” and as soon as I saw her confused look begin to surface, spelled it for her. I collected the beverages and went back to work. When I got back to my desk, I noticed that she had spelled it “Anderle.” And thus, the new round of musing began.

There are various ways giving my name can play out. This is how it can go down:

1. They spell it correctly. Bingo! (I thought I’d put this first, to help convey my feeling of optimism on this topic.)
2. They spell it incorrectly, but their version of phonetically. Meaning, they get how it’s pronounced, but not how it’s spelled (even though I spell it for them). Examples: Anderle. Annderlee (an explostion of letters!). Anderly.
3. They neither spell it correctly nor in a way meaning that they understood what I had said. Examples: Andre, Annerlee, Annaley, Amber-lee.
4. They call me Angela.

At this point I begin to feel like I’m repeating myself, for I know I’ve discussed the following in some forum, so forgive me if this is a reiteration.

It’s because of the above that at the establishments where they “require” names, I used to have this momentary freak-out debate in my head about what name to give. Should I give them my middle name, Holly? Abbreviate my name into some strange boyish form like the acceptable, but to me awkward to say, Andie? Allow a deeply-submerged alter-ego to surface, thereby proclaiming that I am a Madison, a Kaylee (not Cally), a Colby (I never had this desire before, but just now that popped in my head, and why not), a Mia, a whatever other not entirely normal, but not entirely hard to spell name that comes to me?

The problem exists: I am none of those people. I don’t even feel a strong kinship with my middle name. So to exclaim, Holly! Or Penny! Or Aubrey! when someone says, “and your name?” seems like abandoning the first name that was given to me that I actually like quite a bit.

So in the end, I’ve decided to stick to “Andrle.” To thine own self (title) be true? As it turns out, I think I’d rather endless variations of my actual name than a correctly-spelled someone else on my cup.

Thus endeth today’s musings. It seems so self-indulgent to have an entire blog that is essentially obsessing over … myself. Therefore, I shall conclude with an unrelated link: click here please.