Friday, January 15, 2010

My name is ANNE

My name is Anne. NOT Ann, not Annie, or any other variation of those letters.

I wonder why I am so often called Annie when a person (specially someone new) sees A N N E written, and pronounces it with the extra vowell ... there is no I in ANNE.

During my recent adventure in the world of medicine, every time someone came in to my hospital room to administer therapy, medicines, or anything else, I was asked my 'name and date of birth'..... which I obediently gave every time, "Anne Babin, 10-16-30".

I sure did not say ANNIE.... But the next fellow who came in with my chart looked at the written word, and then at me, and said ANNIE? I finally had to tell them NO! I AM NOT ANNIE.!

It's always been difficult enough to get people in general to allow me to keep the E at the end my my given name... ANNE. It's amazing how many people only know how to spell ANN without the E. The sound is the same, so I guess that's expediency... just drop the E and go with ANN.

When I was younger, I served as recording secretary for a state-wide women's organization. The leaders of this group were all good friends, and I enjoyed my term as secretary. BUT at the beginning I had to convince everyone that I am ANNE not Ann or Annie. I cut out 100 copies of the letter E from newsprint, magazines, etc., and pasted them onto one big sheet of paper.

I sent this to our president of the organization, explaining that she would never have to leave off the E from my name again, since I had provided enough for the 2-year term.

She got a good laugh out of my shenanigan, but I did notice that it worked. I never had to beg for an E again.

So the moral to this story is probably non-existent, except to say that a person's name should be respected, no matter what it is or how difficult it is to spell or pronounce.

1 comment:

EYR said...

Love this...I always thought "Anne" much more elegant than plain "ann"...and reminded of Anne Shirley of Avonlea fame who always said, "I'm Anne,with an 'e'"...keep on setting them straight!