Name Game

On the way back to Plummer from coeur d'alene last night after watching my granddaughter Kimmie play a volley ball game, my daughter Jennie and I got to talking about names, specifically, student names. I related to her Rose's thoughts on the subject of names and what we as a society have done to the process of naming our children. Rose has a real problem with the spelling and appropriateness of given names. Often times the parents are attempting to make a statement rather than actually naming their child. Rose's particular peeve is with names that are, arguably misspelled rather than creatively spelled. Turns out, Jennie has the same peeve. Jennie concedes that, at the first of the school year that she does not call on the "strange" names but waits to hear what other students call the so named student to see what the pronunciation of the name is. Sometimes the pronounced name can be attached to several spellings of the same name. Or, upon occasion, different pronunciations are attached to the same spelling. Jennie also noted that she had a student named Dakota ~ not a particularly unusual name considering recent celebrity names. However, after she had conversations with fellow faculty members in the faculty lounge she learned that colleagues had the siblings of Dakota ~ Oregon and Montana. Seems the parents had named their children according to the states within which the children had been conceived! I guess North and South Dakota were merged into the Dakota territory. I thought it could be worse. The kid could have been named "back seat of a 67 chevy" or just simply "back seat". I guess the possibilities are limitless using such an approach to naming your child.

The name conversation got me to thinking about my teaching experience. I have to admit that when I started teaching I could pretty much pronounce every first name that came on the course enrollment sheet. Last names were a different matter. I have a terrible time with spelling and pronunciation. If you can't spell it there's a pretty good chance you can't pronounce it! I remember one last name in particular. I still can't spell it and I sure as heck can't pronounce it. I remember the first day in class when I read the student's name ~ Linda three Z's. I couldn't begin to pronounce her name and I was flabbergasted that it contained three Z's. She immediately knew it was her name, said present, and started laughing. We became good friends in later years. She was a key member of our accounting summit group and was controller of our local community college. I still call her Linda three Z's even though she is now married and has a different last name. I told her it must have been hard giving up that last name. :-) But the "name game" now extends beyond ethnic derivation.

During my latter years of teaching, I probably had as much trouble with the first names as with the last names ~ maybe more. I had no way of knowing how to approach the pronunciation problem. And, the names had absolutely no connection to ethnic derivation or social strata. So I had bi-lateral name game problems!

I had one rule that I always followed. I never, and I mean never, showed any disrespect to a person's name and/or the name's pronunciation (Linda's last name was handled in a tactful sort of way.). When I was a teenager growing up in Absarokee, we had a rancher neighbor whose teen aged daughter was named Teresa Lou. Teresa Lou was an extremely shy young lady ~ a really nice person, but just so self conscious. As it turned out after high school we both went to the same college as beginning freshmen and ended up in the same beginning English class. We were both out of our element. I'm sure she was as frightened as I was. On the first day of class ~ our first day in a college class room ~ we were given assigned seating as the English instructor read off our names. The so called professor got to Teresa Lou's name and said, "Teresa Lou, my god. I want you students to remember when you name your children that they will be adults longer than they will be children. Teresa Lou. My God!" I glanced over at Teresa Lou and silent tears were rolling down her cheeks. I was so angry at that woman. It was so cruel and uncalled for. Years later when I taught at that same College I had occasion to meet that professor on a personal basis. She was as big a bitch in person as she was in the classroom, a truly angry person who took it out on her students. One of the problems of higher education, then as it is now, is how do you get people like that out of the classroom? I couldn't understand it then and after forty years in higher education, I still can't understand it! In my view she should have been "red rooster-ed", i.e she was clearly bear bait. I'm tempted to post her name, but won't. But, I have never forgotten what she did to a timid young lady.

If there is a lesson here, I guess it would be that we must learn from our bad experiences as well as our good experiences ~ and learning experiences show up in the damn-est places! Both of my daughters I am sure realize the impact that they have on other people, most especially their students. That's why they're in the business.  To the point of my essay, the parents name the child. The child has no choice in the matter. If you have a problem with a name, take it up with a parent.  I sure would have loved to see that professor talk to Teresa's mom about her child's name.  She was a wiry old cowgirl that worked right along side her husband.  She'd have kicked her ass.

Gordon, et.al.

This boy's name is John Bradford Chapman.  I'm sure glad mom and  dad found  him.  He was so dang cute, you couldn't help but like him ~ like an Akita pup.  I've always liked my brother's name. We Chapman's all had good strong names ~ Candace, John, Elsie, Gordon, Brassbed.