It's probably no secret but just in case you haven't heard, I'm terrible when it comes to names. People will introduce themselves and it goes in one ear and out the other. "Gone In 60 Seconds" isn't just the name of a movie about a car thief. It describes the shelf-life of a name in my brain.
However, I know of at least one person in town who must be worse than I am when it comes to names. His name is Tim Mahoney (see, I don't forget everyone's name). He works for the Gas Company and is active in the community. That's how I met him a few years back. Based on the fact that he can never get my name right, my guess is he doesn't read this blog.
Whenever I would see Tim on the street he would always say, "Hi Bruce." I don't know who "Bruce" is but that's not me. But I don't have a lot of ego so I never stopped and corrected him. About a year ago I was at a fundraising event and Tim was there. Once again it was, "Hi Bruce." Finally! I was in a situation where I had an opportunity to correct him. I politely pointed out that he always calls me Bruce but that my name is Craig. Tim graciously apologized for getting it wrong.
Mission accomplished? You would have thought so. Late Saturday afternoon Allison and I were at the Carr Winery over on the east side of town and Tim is there with his wife sitting across the room from us. He sees me and says, "Hi Chris." Chris? Well, at least he's on the right letter of the alphabet. I let it go without saying anything. Anyway after close to an hour later we finish our wine and head for the door. As we're leaving I hear Tim's voice call out, "Bye Bruce." I turn, wave and shake my head as I walk out the door.
Maybe I should change the name of this website to "Bruce's Blog."
I was watching KEY News at 11 pm Sunday night when weekend anchor Coleen Sullivan teases an upcoming story by saying, "Five months after leaving the pro golf tour, Tiger Woods is swinging again!"
I guess that stint at the sex rehab clinic didn't do the trick.
© 2010 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com
