November 2nd - Susan vs. Sue

Growing up and with my family I was always Susan ... except for one brother to whom I've long been Sue (I can still see the poster he did for me when I was reluctantly running for student council president – very simply ... Vote for Sue ...) Then in university, through one friend I met the first week, I became Sue – and then in London, my first friends were from university, so I was Sue socially. I've always been Susan at work – except for one manager to whom I became Sue naturally. Back in Vancouver I was Susan – though ever since my niece and nephew were born, I've been Auntie Sue (my favorite title – and Auntie Susan? Nope, not me ...) and so now increasingly I'm Sue with the rest of my family ... except for my mother ... I've never been Suzy or Suzy-Q ... and if you know me, it's pretty clear why ... though I'm Suz to an Uncle who can get away with it :-)

At this point, by all rights you will be wondering – just how schizophrenic am I ... I'm not honest ... but I have been wondering over the last year, just what is in a name? I was Susan in Africa and seriously considered introducing myself as Sue in India ... almost to test the theory – which name am I? But missing orientation killed that idea as I then just instinctively introduced myself as Susan. But then naturally, I became Sue to a few people here.

I like being called Sue – it is more informal and in many ways more me right now – will I ever introduce myself as Sue, I'm still not sure – but I do like and appreciate it when people call me that – it's almost like they see a little more of the real me ... either that or they just like giving people nicknames :-) Though with my French friends I'll stick with Susan – sounds much nicer than Sue with the accent! And then I wonder, to what extent does it matter? Does it need to be one or the other? The answer to both - not much and no ... Other than keeping straight who I am when sending emails, any name is good ... other than maybe 'hey you' ...

So really what is in a name? If nothing else, hopefully a slightly amusing blog post ... :-)