Clear, sunny but cool.
Well, today was a normal sort of day, very quiet. I doubt that it's very interesting at all, so I don't think I'll do much of an update. Highlights were going to the post office to buy a stamp, going to work, finishing season one of Corner Gas, and watching Doctor Who. Hubby and I had a bit of a snuggle before he went to sleep. But that's all it was. Don't get me wrong!
The Daily Rant
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose would be any other name smell as sweet." Auld Bill (Shakespeare) said something like that in Romeo and Juliet, but I'm afraid I have to disagree.
My family name, which many of you know is usually a man's first name. I kind of like it. I'm a feminist and I always vowed that if I got married I wouldn't change my name. Speed forward 20 years and I did get married. I married a lovely man with a weird (in my opinion) first name and a family name the equivalent of "Smith" in the west. Why would I want to change to it? I didn't. I didn't want to and before we married I talked to my husband to be and told him I wasn't going to change my family name. He said that was fine with him. By law, foreign wives of Japanese men don't have to change their names. He did warn me that members of his family would probably call me by his family name. I accepted that. They're a pretty traditional bunch in Tsuruoka.
But,(here comes the ranting part) the people who seem to have the hardest time accepting my non-name change are the people from North America. At Christmas and other times during the year, I get mail with very strange names on them. To make things easier for the post office, I often use a double barrelled name, my name hyphen hubby's name. Hubby's name is listed on the door, mine isn't.
So, I receive mail addressed to Mrs. "Smith"....that's hubby's mum, NOT me. That one's from my best friend who really should know better. I get mail addressed to Helen and Fumihiko "My Last Name". Not bad for me, but strange for hubby. I get mail addressed to Helen "My Last Name" and Fumihiko (What, is my hubby like Madonna or Prince?)
Then of course there's the mail that we get addressed to Mr. Smith Fumihiko and Helen "My Last Name". Nice try. No cigar! Is it really so difficult to put two different names on our Christmas card? Or, to write "The Smith Family"?
I really, really prefer this address on my mail. Ms Helen "My Last Name". Period. If the mail is for both hubby and me, then please write, Ms Helen "My Last Name" and Mr. Fumihiko "Smith". Very easy! There are a few people who get it right, and you know who you are. I thank you very, very much!
Night!
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