What's in a Name?

A few months back in the "Crossroads Connection" class I attended at church (aka "New Members Class"), the teachers presented us with a list of possible volunteer opportunities if we wanted to get more involved in the church.  It was at that moment that my alter ego, the one that is outgoing and likes the idea of striking up conversations with random individuals, decided to surface and sign up to be a greeter.  As a greeter, I was going to be given a name tag, which I received this morning.  Ms. Janeen, the lady in charge of the program, was so happy to present me with the name tag.  Having a last name that is spelled incorrectly 99.9% of the time, I glanced at the tag, wondering how it had been spelled this time.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that "Homonai" was spelled correctly!  My eyes then drifted over to my first name: There in perfectly etched letters was the name "Kati."

Ms. Janeen was in a hurry to go spend time with her family, so she didn't stop to ask the usual questions like, "Does everything look good?"  or anything like that.  I just looked at the name tag for about two seconds, laughed, clipped it to my shirt and started greeting.  Half an hour later when we were all done, I placed my tag in the basket and again laughed at "Kati."

Now, I don't care that I get called by different names, call me whatever you like (within reason, of course!) and I'll happily answer.  My given name is Katherine, but aside from people who are just reading my legal name, there is only one person who knows me personally and still calls me by that name.  If you're a friend or a member of my dad's family, you know me as Kate.  My family on my mom's side are the only ones who call me Katie.  Then there's my Uncle Dean and my best friend, Katie: they call me Kate-ums.  Oh, and we can't forget that two of my cousins took to calling me Kacy for a year or so when they were little!

Now, that last paragraph applies to Ohio only.  Obviously I still have the same name, but since moving here I've had fun listening to all the different names I go by. When I was first meeting people, I introduced myself as Kate.  I am now called Katie by nearly all of those people.  There are maybe five people in the area that I speak with on a regular basis who call me Kate.  The only other time I get called Kate is when I'm being addressed by a stranger who's reading my name off a paper or something like that.  One co-worker calls me "Katie-Kate-Kate" EVERY time she sees me, which always cracks me up.  There is another lady at work that calls me "Katie girl" because, "that's what you call girls named Katie, even if they say their name is Kate."  I think one of my co-workers is afraid to call me Katie since I introduced myself as Kate, but she's also told me that calling me Kate doesn't sound friendly enough.  She now compromises by always calling me "Miss Kate."  And now I guess there are about 200 people who will call me Kati!

Well, I have dawdled long enough and should probably go get some work done.  This is code for:  "I will set out with good intentions but will most likely end up just playing with my markers, crayons, and colored pencils again just like I did yesterday."  In the words of my sister, "Life is so hard."  In any case, have a fantastic Sunday and enjoy your week!  Sincerely,
       Kate, Katie, Kate-ums, Katherine, Wilson, Hey You, Person Over There, etc.