a you can conjure up at any time in order to give your as a more

interesting “edge.” In terms of trite exploitation such tactics are right up there with

_ white people who get tattoos of Chinese characters on their backs.

People often ask me what I will be known as when I “grow-up.” The

implication is that an initial name is somehow juvenile, on par with being called -

| “Mad Dog” or something, and thus not appropriate for an adult. Considering there

have been Presidents of the United States named “Jimmy,” major Hollywood —

producers named “Billy Bob,” and Grammy-winning musicians who go by little

_more than dorky nicknames like “The Edge” I think “J.J.” is more than mature
enough, thank you very much.

'. The single most irritating question ‘that all isin have to deal with,

however, is the inevitable “what does it stand for” query. consider myself lucky

_ whenever I can savor so much as three second pause between the moment I am

introduced to a stranger and the moment that stranger demands to know what

the two J’s stand for. I usually just make up some crap, like Joe-Joe and see if

that appeases them. I’ma — believer in the “don’t ask a question unless you

} actually care about the answer” school of thought. I have yet to meet a person who
: genuinely cared, or had some legitimate reason for knowing my full name, yet

people continue to spit the question at me for reasons I may never understand.

Oh and another thing. People who neaotouely declare, upon learning my full
name, that “that’s what I’ll call you from now on.” Bravo, that never, ever gets
old. Hearing my legal name! Ooh, take that me! It’s all part of the underlying bias
people have against us initialers. They act as if having an initial name is some kind
of big game, and that by calling us something else they are being rebels or sioato
or funny or whatever. In reality, they are just being assholes.

There are few things in life that are more personal and intimate to an

  
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
  

My name is J.J. That’s what I’ve been called since birth. We have countless baby
videos of me as a toddler stumbling around, doing toddler things, while my off-
’ camera father can he heard.saying things like “do your happy dance, J.J.” or
~ “don’t put that in your mouth J.J.!” My parents consciously decided that they
wanted me to go through life with the name J.J., just as your parents decided

to call you Frank, or Jessica, or Steve, or whatever. An initial name is really individual than his or her first name. Indeed, Stephen Covey, the famed author of

no different than a name of any other type, yet few people have their namesas —_—_soyen Habits of Highly Effective People, once wrote that hearing one’s own name

consistently questioned, contested, and. belittled as we anfialers. is the “sweetest, most pleasant sound in the universe.” So you can imagine how
Weird as it may be, I’m proud of my two-letter name. And I’m proud that having to go through life having your name constantly questioned and undermined
I’ve had such an usual name for my whole life. It’s always cool to meet another ouid be a tad frustrating. So please, give us initialers a break, we're people just

person in the same situation, since we initialers-since-birth tend to be a rare ___ like you. Let’s try to look beyond the fact that some of us have names with two
breed. I have great distain for initialers-come-latelys, by contrast. You. know, kids - letters and some with six and just focus on the things we can all agree on.

who live their whole lives as “Daniel” or “Benjamin”. until one day they abruptly - Like what a stupid name “Billy B ob” i oS
decided it would be cooler if they were henceforth known as “D.J.” or “B.P.”

or whatever. Such gestures are profoundly offensive to us true initialers, as they - 1 . acne ee : a
_ reduce our names to mere novelties, as if two-letter names are‘simply some __ JJ. McCullough, — = Chief of the Other Press

 

 

Lettor to the Editor

Dear Editor,

In response to your query, ““why are student papers and student unions so
unpopular?” (November | issue), I believe that the answer you seek can be
found, at least in part, on page five of the same issue of the Other Press.
Facebook and other social-networking sites are the means through which any
member of a student body (or society in general) can express themselves and
advocate the social issues for which they stand. A person can update their, in
some cases, hundreds of friends (and “‘friends”) of their views on any issue
through status updates. They can join groups, where they can post opinions on a
wall and discuss any aspect of the topic, with other members, on the discussion
boards. Then, there are applications that have a political or social message
attached... You get the idea.

So, in answer to your question, student papers and student unions are
unpopular because they are, in the face of new forums (I have to disagree with
you on your view that there is a lack of forums), inefficient. Who wants to spend
hours forming their thoughts into a coherent article or tied up in union meetings,
when it is so much easier to update a Facebook profile?

 

Linda Tobias