It’s Just 7 Letters
Reading “The F Word” by Firoozeh Dumas has gotten me to explore much further into the lack of willingness to learn about different cultures. However, it’s also gotten me to think about ways in which I can personally relate to closed-mindedness present in some people. Being named “Kaitlin”, I tend to get my name misspelled all the time, and I mean ALL THE TIME. Not only does Kaitlin have a million different spellings, but mine is one of the less common ones. Apparently, my name was going to be “Caitlin” until my mom decided she didn’t want my first initial to be the same as my last initial, so she picked the closest variation, with a K. Although this isn’t something that I am usually offended by, it still shows me how ignorant some people can be when learning to spell my name. Even people that I’ve known and have been correcting for years still spell my name wrong. It’s currently at the point where I don’t mind sometimes and don’t mention it to avoid awkwardness. “Katelyn, Caitlin, Kaitlin, Caitlyn” is constantly around me. I mean, I even live next to a street called Caitlin Court. Yet, I have yet to meet a single person named Kate-Lynn with the same spelling as me.
Unfortunately, this is enough of an event that it shows up in almost all situations. Saving contact information, placing a food order, texting, etc. Not once have I told the barista my name and gotten the correct spelling. Not even my uncle can get it right. Last year I received the following text the day BEFORE my birthday: “Happy Birthday Caitlyn! 17! -From Uncle Luis” (Which wasn’t even my age).
Although this is not the biggest issue in the world, it’s still frustrating knowing that I’m gonna have issues with the spelling of my name for the rest of my life. But tying this back to “The F Word”, I’ve realized how important it is to care enough to pronounce someone’s name correctly, because it can be extremely frustrating when a big part of who you are is often misinterpreted. I couldn’t even imagine a reality where everybody I met had trouble mispronouncing something that I literally identify by.
Hi Kite Lynn, I love your post and am honored to have contributed to your frustration regarding misspellings of your name because that inspired you to create this beautiful blog post. All jokes aside, I totally agree with your argument about the importance of correctly pronouncing and spelling someone's name, as it is a big part of their identity. I can totally relate to you when you said not even your uncle can't spell your name right (and my family in India doesn't know my age either - you're not alone! T_T). Let's not even get started about the incorrect spellings on all the Starbucks drinks. It's not their fault but as you said, it is kind of annoying to know that we will "have issues with the spelling(s)" and mispronunciations of our names forever. Great job, Catlen - your post was very fun to read!
ReplyDeleteHey Kaitlyn, I've personally always known how your name is spelled. But I do think that it is annoying for people to constantly get your name wrong. People spell my name wrong all the time. Especially when I order food and the name is "Bryceon." I relate to the frustration.
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