What's In A Name?

For twenty-seven years, I fought tooth and nail for people to pronounce my last name correctly.  "It sounds just like it's spelled," I'd say, while the person trying to pronounce it would either butcher it or give up before even trying.  Chabalewski...yes, it looks like a mouthful with all of its eleven letters, but in actuality, it's really quite easy.  I could spell and say it by age 4, while the rest of the world seemed to admit defeat at the "C".  I've heard every possible butchering that I can only imagine should have been spelled like these...Chabalenski (Chab-uh-len-skee; there is not a single "n" in my name), Chabalowski (Chab-uh-low-skee; ok, no "o" whatsoever), Chabaleski (Chab-uh-les-skee; where'd the "w" go?), and my favorite, "Well, I'm not going to even try."  On the first day of school when teachers would take role, I'd raise my hand in acknowledgement of my presence at the mere sound of "Ch".  Chab-uh-loo-skee.  It's not tough, I promise.  All my friends and family are doing it!  Try it; you'll see!

Then I got married and had no doubt that Lenahan was going to erase any bad memory I had of name mispronunciation.  How hard could that seven letter name be?  Boy, I had that one wrong.  It's pronounced "Len-uh-han".  All short vowels, for those of you who remember short and long vowel sounds.  I hear all sorts of crazy variations...Leen-uh-han, Lend-a-hand (seriously?), Lend-a-han, Leen-han.

I heard my new favorite today while in the waiting room at a doctor's office.  The nurse walked through the office door with a chart and called "Mrs. Line-um".  Since I didn't recognize this name as my own, I looked around to see who was going to get up and walk through the door with her, only to realize that maybe she was talking about me.  (The only comparison I could make to my name was that it too started with the letter "L".)  When nobody got out of their seat, I asked her if it was "Len-uh-han".  Never in a million years would I have thought that I should be the one to get the dirty look and "huff and puff" for pronouncing MY name correctly!  The nurse acted as if I was questioning her; I merely asked because I wasn't sure she was actually calling ME.  Her attitude continued all the way down the LONG hallway to the doctor's office.  I still can't believe she was angry at me...since she butchered MY name, shouldn't I have been the one to get angry at her?  (For the record, I wouldn't have because I am a nice person.)

Lesson learned today...pay attention in Phonics class in elementary school.  There really are great lessons to learn!