Hello, My Name Is:

  I read this article on-line from Time: http://tr.im/kFdu. It's about the German courts putting restrictions on the length and type of names people give themselves or their children. There's criticism that the German government is placing too much restriction on individual rights, limiting their citizens' freedom to choose. Well, yes, such rulings are clearly limiting choices. Many social justice movements and advocacy groups have found that there is power to be found in naming or renaming oneself. Many have even successfully taken derogatory terms and reclaimed them so that they could begin be associated with positive, desirable traits.

  Then again, it seems to be cruel and unusual punishment to give a baby a name they'll likely grow to despise. At my job, I'm on the telephone most of the time with different people and updating hundreds of client files. I can't count the number of times I've read a name and wondered: What were they THINKING?!? Sometimes, it's difficult to decide which is worse, getting stuck with a name that borders on child abuse or the people who intentionally get their own names changed to the bizarre and/or unpronounceable. Is this just about attention-seeking? In a world where everyone seems to want to be a star or an idol or have some kind of special talent that will make others notice them, perhaps, a funny, strange or confusing name is an attempt to feel special.

  I've always liked having the name "Kami", and people have told me it's cute. It's different from some names, but not in an in-your-face kind of way. I can still blend in with the crowd if I want to. This, I think, would be more difficult if my name were really Kami Maria Louann April von Xzjhkalfaioh-Niaofna-Jiafnai bein Aklhoain-Lsahfin-Mnaofanfgi, but I prefer having the right to figure that out on my own. In sixth grade, my teacher printed out a banner for each student with their name on it. Unfortunately, he used a ridiculous font which I believe was particularly designed to aid children in tormenting one another. This font made the capitol "K" in my name look like an "H" instead, so, to my young horror, I was then called "Hami" instead of "Kami". I found the porcine comparison hard to accept. Thankfully, there wasn't all this swine flu talk then, or I would have felt REALLY unpopular.

  I believe in a parent's right to name their baby whatever they choose, and for an adult to change their name to anything they so desire. I, myself, have had four different last names in my life...so far... Who knows? Perhaps I'll change my name to "Prince", then to an unpronounceable symbol, be known as "The artist formerly known as Prince" or just "The Artist", and change it back again to "Prince".... Although in my case, I'll start by changing my name to "Princess" and go from there. I'm certainly at liberty to do so, and you'd be at liberty to wonder what I'd been smoking....Maybe, some smoked Hami.

  My grandpa, a wonderful man who passed away from cancer just over three years ago, used to have funny names for things and people. He called a former boss "God" so often that his co-workers started to use it too, and there would be completely serious conversations with statements like "God, told me to fix the west conveyor belt" or "God, was being so unreasonable today." He teasingly called some of his kids and grand kids "Sue" irregardless of whether he was speaking to one of the girls or one of the boys. He'd say "Howdy, Sue. How do you do?" or he'd say, "My name is Sue. How do you do?" This comes from a song made famous by Johnny Cash "A Boy Named Sue". I can empathize with that boy, and I laugh at the lyrics.

Until I type again,

Kami