Calling Bradley Manning a She---Educate me DU.

[laundry_queen]

259. So true.

My dad and I both have names that are commonly shortened. My dad used the shortened version as a child but decided as an adult to use his full name. He still has people unable or unwilling to make the switch. I have NEVER gone by the shortened version of my name and yet that's what I often get called. It's annoying. I remember a doctor's office calling the shortened version of my name and I ignored them and feigned ignorance until they said my last (very unique) name and I said, OH, are you talking about ME? You got my first name wrong, did I write it down wrong? She never got my name wrong again.

But I can't believe I still deal with it to this day. The shortened version of my name is less common than the full version, so why do people keep using it? I think some people are more interested in what THEY want to call you than in what you want to be called, KWIM? A friend's mom decided she was going to come up with a nickname for my daughter because her name was 'too long' and she insisted on calling my daughter that nickname for years, even though all of us hated her nickname and no one ever used any nicknames with my daughter. I think it's a form of control for some people.