You know, there’s something about us, humanoids, that’s so absolutely crazy… since the day we’re aware of the concept of names, nicknames & such stuff, we turn into big whiny complainers of how horrible our names are, how we hate them & how we’ll never forgive our parents for granting us such horrible group of letters for eternity. Then out of nowhere, when we’re in a situation where another fellow humanoid gets our name wrong or even forgets our name for that matter, we get crazy furious. A minute ago, we hated everything about that word that’s our name & once it’s forgotten, mistaken or even inaccurately spelled, we get all defensive & mad… confusing, huh?!
Of course, since I’m no better than any of my fellow humanoids, I get extremely mad when someone gets my name wrong but there’s some other quirk about me & my name that’s really weird yet really sensible -at least to me- ; even though you might be 100% sure I know you know my name, if you don’t address me using it (or any of its extracts), you’ve gotten yourself in the position of a sheer-anger receiver. I mean, for God’s sake, my parents gave me a name so you can actually talk to me using it!! But that’s not important now, you know what is?!
It’s why all of us are so ashamed of our names yet so proud of them; or rather so clingy to them!! I guess the answer is it’s not the names that we’re really enthusiastic over, it’s the attention, the respect, the appreciation that comes with getting one’s name right. Like for instance, what do you think reflects more respect or appreciation?! Walking into the office, saluting everyone with a generic “Good morning”? or looking each & everyone in the eye, giving them a sincere wide smile then giving them a specially-dedicated “Good morning, Mr./Ms. X”?
This is what we’re all really looking for; respect, appreciation, acknowledgement & attention. We all need to feel we’re being seen & heard & understood. We all need to feel someone out there cares we’re here for no reason whatsoever; no common business interest, no desire to impress us, just because we’re here, we’re alive & we’re humans. I know that sounds corny & clichéd (but there’s nothing new here, I’ve been posting nothing but corny & clichéd & you already know that -or you don’t if you’re new around here), point is, if this world needs something, well it actually needs a million things; but if it severely needs something, it’s for its inhabitants to show more respect, appreciation & empathy…
So, from now on, I’ll try to memorize as many names as possible. I’ll try to show respect as much as I can. I’ll try very hard to make everyone I know feel they really matter in this world & that someone out there knows they exist, cares about it- their existence I mean- & appreciates it. It’s not gonna be easy & I’ll surely flop so badly & act mean (and hopefully it’s not gonna be on purpose) but I’ll shake it off, put my ego aside for a minute or two, admit I was wrong & then apologize (sometimes I won’t be able to do that either). Still, I’ll wake up every day with utmost determination to be all respectful, appreciative with an impressive memory of names!!
May we all get all the appreciation deserve… & more 🙂
I Come in Peace... 