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Old 11-04-2010, 02:31 PM   #2 (permalink)
Jinn
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Location: Seattle, WA
I lucked out and got a dual-purpose name, and if I ever have kids I will try to give them one too. It's one that can be shortened, like Jessica to Jess, Ezekiel to Zeke, Michael to Mike, etc.

I'm thankful for it, because if anyone pulls this nonsense you're talking about, they call me by the longer one, which I've reserved as a "formal" name I introduce myself with and that I use for work and professional relationships. Anyone who is on a "first name basis", anyone who is actually my friend, uses the shorter one. By this token, it's immediately obvious to my brain what kind of person I'm talking to.

That said, I hate this sort of policy still. False closeness really upsets people, and they used to ask me to do this when I was telemarketing. Each call I had the person's name and address, and they asked me to call, saying something like "Dave?" The person would think I was a friend or something, and then get really upset when I offered to save them money on long distance by switching to MCI over AT&T.

Add to that mistakes in pronunciation or bad data. For example, everytime I check out at Safeway I just use my parents phone number - I rarely go to Safeway, and I figure any points can go to them. So everytime, they read the receipt and say "Thank you, Mr. <My Mom's Last Name>". It's jarring.

I've read stories about people who use 876-5309 at Safeway, and someone has registered that number. The greeter says "Thank you, Mr. Tutone."
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