That's a new one

I went to cover a wing-ding held by a local city in honor of the opening of a new police station today, and they had pre-printed name badges for everyone in attendance, myself included. Now, I'm accustomed to people spelling my name "Shawn," or (less frequently) "Shaun," but I've never seen anybody mangle it quite as badly as they did today.

"Chean." Yes, really. The city's Public Information Officer, who I'd spoken to on the phone before, but met face-to-face for the first time today, told me she felt embarrassed by how badly they'd screwed it up, especially since her son's middle name is Sean. Every time I went to talk to someone, I could see a look of confusion pass over their face before I would tell them my name and say, "No, it's not really spelled like that."

I disliked my name when I was a kid, wishing it could have been a little more "normal," but I've grown into it since then. But still, there are times like today when I wish my parents hadn't been quite so enamored of the work of a certain Irish playwright. Oh well, at least I could always find those little license plates with my name on them at Disneyland. No such luck for my brother, who was always pissed that the closest they ever had was "Brandon." Heh.