The Name Game

Not that this is a serious post by any means, but I realized that I have just been posting updates, and not posting what is on my mind...it's Friday, my brain is fried, and I have a few minutes...so here is what is currently going through my head (not sure why).

Disclaimer - I am in no way trying to put Stephen down or talk bad about him, or offend any friends out there!!

First of all, my husband's name is Stephen Mowat (pronounced "moyt" for those of you that weren't sure). My maiden name is Snyder...pretty easy - how can you pronounce Michelle Snyder wrong? I grew up and never really knew what it was like to have people say my name wrong. Now that I am married, I am not sure how to deal with this new dilemma - because it is not humanly possible to pronounce Mowat right unless you have heard it before - and even then you may be hesitant to say "moyt" because it logically just does not make sense in the English language. I have come to grips with this fact - and have now accepted it. Sometimes I correct people (if I am going to be in contact with them again) and sometimes it is just not worth it.

My main issue, however is not with my "new" last name...it is with my husband's FIRST name. It has now become a "pet peeve" of mine - probably because I never had issues with people calling me anything but "Michelle Snyder" my whole life.

Let me step back to 2000 when I first met "Steve Mowat" in college at IWU...I didn't really even know that his name was Stephen...everyone called him Steve. It wasn't until I met his family and people from his church who always called him Stephen. Thinking that this was someone I could spend the rest of my life with, I asked him what he preferred people call him - and he said "Stephen." So, as awkward as it was, I began forcing myself to call him Stephen even though no one else at IWU did...for obvious reasons!

Back to my pet peeve...the fact that Stephen never corrects people on his first name, but hates it when people say his last name wrong. :) I am dumb, I know. Knowing how awkward it was when I asked him what he preferred to be called and trying very hard to honor that, I can only imagine how terribly awkward it would be for all of his friends at IWU to now call him Stephen. My personal feelings (having gone through this) is that it is MUCH more awkward to not know what to call someone at the very beginning when you first meet them. What is even harder is that not many people prefer the name "Stephen" and go by "Steve", which is why if you don't correct them at the beginning, every time you see that person it will get more and more awkward - first of all to correct them, and secondly for them to start calling you by the name you prefer.

When he was the youth pastor at Bethel Friends in Jonesboro, some called him Steve and some called him Stephen...it was awkward all the way around. I told him when he got the youth pastorate at Main Street Wesleyan in Jonesboro, that now was the time to start fresh if he really wanted people to call him what HE wanted to be called. And it is wonderful because almost everyone calls him Stephen and IT IS NOT AWKWARD.

I guess I am saying all of this because my name is important to me - it is who I am, how I am identified and how I am recognized by others. Don't you feel awkward and kind of offended if someone says your name wrong, or calls you, say, Melissa (or more embarrassing, Michael) instead of Michelle (both are popular mistakes I have experienced)??? Or calls you by Timothy when you really prefer Tim (other than when you are were trouble, or maybe by your grandmother or mother who has never called you anything else). Don't you feel awkward when you have to say a name, but know you are going to slaughter it (like Mowat)?? I guess that is why I am so adamant (I admit, probably too bossy and pushy) that Stephen correct people if he really does want to be called Stephen. It just seems like it would be SO MUCH easier for everyone, and much less awkward.

Anyway, my random, strange, dumb thoughts on a Friday afternoon...I don't really have a point at all, but just wanted to get this out of my head. :)