Do you know how many times people, including teachers, strangers, telephone solicitors, and even friends, have mispronounced and misspelled my name all throughout my life? And the catch is that my name isn't exotic or extraordinary or made up of an endless number of letters. My name is Jennie for heaven's sake. And just to clear up any misunderstanding, Jennie rhymes with penny. At least in my case.
Jennie has been pronounced this way the most...genie. One boy in my school said to me one time, "Hey Genie can you give me three wishes?" Haha. Aren't you the clever one? Whatever.
Jennie has been mispelled these ways: Jeannie, Jenny, Jeanie, even Jennifer.
Oh and that last one...Jennifer. So many people, even my friends, have asked me if my name was really Jennifer, and if I chose Jennie as a nickname. And of course, I would say "No. Jennie is my birth-given name." There was one friend I had back in college and she COULD NOT, for the life of her, remember that my name was Jennie and NOT Jennifer. She always called me Jennifer. I corrected her constantly in the beginning. And then I just gave up and tolerated it. I do not know if she did it to annoy me...or if she did it because she just liked calling me Jennifer...or if she just had a memory defiency. Hehehehe. I am bad.
Oh and you can imagine my anxiousness at the beginning of each new year of school....from elementary all the way to college. The moment when the teacher first did a name roll-call to see if all the students were present. The inevitable moment when I had to correct the teacher if he/she mispronounced my name as Genie. Arghhh. It sucked. And you can imagine my elation and yes, admiration for, when the rare teacher actually said my name right. Hallelujah!!! I would sport a big grin and let out small sigh of relief.
I always make it a point to try to say and spell a person's name correctly to my utmost ability. In college, I occassionally volunteered to be an registration aide so I could have the privilege of registering early for the next semester's courses. And if you've ever been to college, you know that early registration is a godsend, because you know that classes fill up quite fast and it reaks to find yourself in a position of not getting the class you really need and/or want. So, one time, I took on the duty of calling out the names of the students whose schedule of classes were completed by the computer. I would call their names and then hand them their brand new official schedule of classes and their receipt. Well...one guy had the last name Jacome. Now, I watched the New York Mets a lot during that period, and there just happened to be a player with that same last name. Thus, I knew how to pronounce it correctly...."Ha-coe-may." Needless to say, I was kinda thrilled to be able to call this guy's name out because, chances were that someone else would have totally butchered his name to bloody pieces. I called out the name on the microphone. The guy came up to me...with a look of shock and gratefulness. He said, "I can't believe you knew how to say my name!" He smiled wide and thanked me. It made my day.
And another time...during one of my internships, I had to make countless phone calls to people, notifying them of a certain health awareness event. One woman's first name was Siobhan. I knew how to say the name because I always liked looking at a baby's name books and discovering cool new names. And I happened to remember seeing Siobhan and its pronounciation description..."Sha-Van." I called this woman and she answered. When I asked her if she was Siobhan So-and-So, she met me with a moment of shocked silence (which I KNOW is due to my perfect pronunciation)...and then said "Yes."
Just remember, if you ever meet me...or if you ever come in contact with another "Jennie"...keep in mind...it rhymes with penny. That is my 2 cents worth...or um, actually, one cent's worth. Heh.