Southwest Airlines apologises for mocking girl's name

[delisen]

37. In Praise of Nonconformity. Let parents be imaginative and Scold the bullies

I am not in favor of mindless and ignorant conformity.

Years ago Dr Joyce Brothers , a well educated psychologist, who won the $64,000 Question game show due to her expert knowledge of boxing, warned us all to not name our children "unusual" names claiming they would be ridiculed and not be successful in life.

Actually millions of people with unusual names are quite successful and mostly are not ridiculed.

I surmise that Joyce Brothers was a northeast big city person and was used to many people being named the standard James, John, Mary, Joseph--conservative names often forced upon parents by the Catholic Church.

At that time I was pleased to know many people in other parts of the US who proudly sported more interesting names and lived in communities where they were not bullied.

Ironically many people who ridicule name due to their own ignorance, make exceptions for their favorite "stars" or pop musicians.

Moon Unit, anyone?

Obama's grandfather named his daughter "Stanley Ann.'" She dropped the Stanley as an adult but seemed to handle it well as a child. She did remarkable work. Her family was non-conformist. Good for them.

Apparently big money can be imaginative, but the less affluent get dumped on if they exercise their creativity.

While some names may be truly cruel or unwise, the vast majority of unusual,unique, or imaginative names add to our culture.

Let's scold the bullies, not the nonconformists.