Ah, names

I've always been fascinated by names, actually. The whole thing about living up to your name, and your name sort of shaping your character. Back in the Hebrew days of the Old Testament, names were rather important and God liked to change them when he did something significant in someone's life. And here in Africa, people judge your character by your name. They make decisions on how to treat you according to your name. In our culture, your name is your identity. We want to be known by our names. It's like in the theme song to "Cheers"... "you wanna be where everybody knows your name... da da da da dum dum..." It means something when someone takes the time to know and remember your name.

So why is it that someone here has suddenly started calling me "Tammy" today? It wasn't just once... it's been several times now. And I'm sorta wondering how to tactfully tell him that actually, that's not my name without making him feel like a dork. Because it is a pretty dorky thing to do, to suddenly forget someone's name, isn't it? I mean, I have to admit that I've also done it, but I admit that I can be pretty dorky sometimes. But I don't always want my dorkiness pointed out to me. And I'm sure I would be even dorkier if my name actually were "Tammy" (sorry if there are any Tammy's reading this, but I don't THINK I actually know any Tammy's anymore...).

So if anyone has any sage old advice of how to tactfully remind someone of your name... let me know!