The other day at work one of my collegues was relating a story about a nurse calling a patient and was not sure about pronouncing the name. This nurse tried everything and no one came forward. The nurse retreated to the office and after some time came to recall the patient. A lady stood up and came forward and with her hand in the air started to point out her name by spelling it. The name started with three letters and then there was something I had never heard before--and this is why I have decided to blog. She then included in the spelling of her name an 'upper comma' and then finished spelling her name.
I have lived with the infamous 'upper comma' for 28 years and have never heard this before. I was always told it was an apostrophe. Silly me!! We have had our share of problems with this 'upper comma'. Most people ignore it and never include it in our last name. Some think each member of our family has a middle name that starts with the same initial and the 'upper comma' is ignored. Some computer programs don't acknowledge the 'upper comma; and so when one of our kids went to university they couldn't admit her with the 'upper comma'. Oh 'upper comma' what shall we do with you?
I was always taught your name is yours and yours alone and it is to be respected. When I was younger I always corrected people for any misspelling or wrong pronouncing of our name. Now as I am older I think it amusing that I should have enjoyed the 'upper comma' all along. Who knew it could be so much fun.
This is why I have decided to blog --to have fun and enjoy some of the ridiculous and lighter times in life.
