Wednesday, June 1, 2011

What’s n a Name?

At my previous job selling Newspapers etc. in a kiosk at a Railway Station, I got to meet many people, even if only very briefly every morning. One of them was a young man who seemed to respond to my special sense of humour and so one day I decided to ask him his name, seeing that we ”Chat” every morning. When he told me his name, I had trouble believing him, as I had a mental stereotype in my head of people called Andréa.
Firstly, if not French, they would obviously be foreigners, and certainly tall and dark and if not handsome certainly Sauvé and sophisticated. Well my new friend was none of those things, and covered from the neck down as far as I could see, with tattoos. So the next day when I spoke to him again, I told him that I had trouble believing that his name was Andréa and he stunned me when he said, “And I can’t believe my parents called me Andréa in the first place.”
This led me to thinking, not just about the names we give our children, but also of the other quirks and habits that we pass on to our children and others, either intentionally or unintentionally.
I am not talking about the good things that we wish to pass onto them and others but am talking about the not so good things that we say and do. Remembering that some of the things we do, like the naming of our children, last all their lives. Thus I can’t help but wonder how much real care do we really take with what we are passing on to others?
I am still thinking through this, so what are your thoughts on the matter please?

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