Throughout reading The Namesake, one of the topics that resonated with me the most is Gogol's embarrassment over his name and embarrassment in general due to unwanted attention from a unique name. I have a pretty common name so I never feel singled out because of it. However, I have always enjoyed others' unique names. Whenever I go to the movies, my friends and I always stay until the very end of the credits so that we can pick out the most unusual names. I owe many hours of entertainment to Skip Longfellow, Missy Poppageorge, Lance Kerfuffle, and Yolanda Snowball, among others. But after reading how much Gogol suffers from his unordinary name, how people called him "Giggle" and "Gargle," I started to feel a little guilty (67). Obviously I would not walk up to Skip Longfellow and say, "you have a really funny name!" Still, what if he suffered in childhood because of his name? What if Skip was ridiculously short and people called him Skip Shortfellow? Maybe he had to spend years in therapy to get past the many traumatic experiences of his young life. Skip has no idea that I sat in a movie theater one evening chuckling over his name, but should that make a difference? I hope I can appreciate others' unique names without seeming offensive or completely ignorant. Reading The Namesake has made me wonder when one crosses that line between enjoying something and mocking it.
I googled Skip Longfellow; he works as a sound editor and has an impressive resume. He certainly did not allow any traumatic experieces due to his name hold back his professional career
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0519309/
Katie, about two years ago I got my hair cut by a woman who's name tag read "Toeknee." Her name was pronounced Tony, but she spelled it weirdly and I kept laughing at her as she cut my hair. Upon leaving, I felt bad for laughing, and after such an experience I feel that as long as the laughter is not directly to their faces, you can guiltlessly appreciate such names.
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