I loved that line when Sidney Poitier used it in the movies. And I’ll bet they got his name right then, huh?Names are funny things. There’re personal. About as personal as you can get –publicly.
Some people don’t mind if you mispronounce their name. I used to be that way. I’d cringe but wouldn’t say anything. After all, it’s really not all that common – Colleen – or it wasn’t back then. Actually, my daughter recently tried to buy me one of those cute little personalized candles in the pretty little decorated flower pots from Hallmark. I ended up with one that says, in their pretty calligraphy, “They didn’t have your name”……
Anyway, back to Mr. Tibbs. At work I answered the phone with my usual chipper voice, “Hello! This is Colleen! How may I help you?”
Silence on the other end.
“How do you spell that?”
“C-o-l-l-e-e-n”
“Oh, so it’s COOlleen”
“No, actually it’s pronounced ‘Colleen – with a soft o”
“No. It’s COOlleen”
“What?”
“You’re pronouncing it wrong. Or spelling it wrong.”
“What??”
“It’s PRONOUNCED COOlleen.. …(…Like I was having trouble hearing him…)
“You know, I’ve been PRONOUNCING it this way for 57 years. I’m pretty sure I’m right about this one.”
“Whatever”
“And who am I speaking to?”
“Mark”
“Oh, hi MERK! How can I help you???”
….whatever….
Signed, CWASO - (Colleen With A Soft "O" )
2 comments:
Hi CWASO,
Did I ever tell you about the Sorority I belonged to? It was not affiliated with any college, just a group of ladies that did philanthropic projects, etc. There was a Cathy and a Kathy that were members. We had secret sisters and we had to come up with a secret name for ourselves. I came up with "KWAK" and signed all my correspondence with the head of a duck and "KWAK". No one ever guessed who "KWAK" was, can you? !!!!!
K-athy W-ith A K!!!!
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