Monday, December 8, 2008

This is what I have to look forward to... forever

The process of changing your last name when you're married is tedious and boring.

The end result when you see how credit card companies (yes, plural) think your last name is spelled, however, is much more entertaining.

When I married Dave, I went from one Italian last name to another. No big deal, I figured. In 25 years, I'd never, ever had a problem with people spelling my last name. Nor should I -- it was an easy one.

Now?

Quite different, I'm noticing.

I don't feel like giving out my last name, so I'll just reveal that it ends in "tto." Amex, however, decided to give me a new card that ended in "to." Yeah, who cares about that extra t? Totally superfluous. Get it outta here!

My BOA credit card decided to get even more wild. Fuck those t's entirely! This other credit card now ends in "ppo," making my last name sound like a wacky cartoon character. Umm, thanks.

I now realize that I must succumb to a life of constantly repeating and spelling my last name, and I am not happy about that. To change two credit cards, I have had to spell and repeat my name a total of 5 (soon to be 6 or 7) times. You know how people say that we spend however-many-years of our lives sleeping or on the phone or watching TV? I'm wondering how many years of my life will be spent spelling. The short answer: too many.

Tell me, Facebook friends and stalkers, is my last name REALLY that difficult?

19 comments:

TKTC said...

NO! Super Super common for all you I-talians!

Rachel said...

My husband's last name is Greek. I did not take it, but supplies me with plenty of giggles when telemarketers call;

"Is Mr. Marz-"
"Wrong!"
"Mr. Mais-"
"Wrong!"
"Mr. Mine-"
"Three strikes, you're out buddy!"
*click*

Aunt Becky said...

Ah, the name change. I went from Sherrick to Harks, which you think would be an easy transition. Big fat ha-ha. No one can get my last name right now. Period.

ANG* said...

welcome to my life darling!

Ray said...

I went through the same thing, I was married last June. I went from an easy-to-pronounce english last name to vowel hell.

Maxie said...

People usually spell my name right, but they seem to always say it wrong even when I tell them it sounds JUST LIKE DiMaggio... They still don't get it. Bah.

alexa @clevelandsaplum said...

your old last name and my current last name are only different by one little letter. but O equals italian and S equals greek!

and i don't think your last name now is all the difficult.

ps why aren't we FB friends? weird, i'm going to fix that now.

Kyla Bea said...

I'm changing to a last name that's easier than mine, but the process is driving me up the wall! All of my official documentation is in the mail validating other official documentation that's being changed.

Totally frustrating! I hope that your change has gone smoother from an administrative standpoint.

Lisa said...

TKTC: That's what I thought.

Rachel: Yep, Dave says that's the upside to a "hard" last name!!

Aunt Becky: Wow. I would say that's shocking, but I have a pretty low expectation for others' intelligence in general.

Ang: I know, I totally thought of you while writing this. Your last name IS really hard though.

Ray: Hahaha, aw, sorry, that sucks. "Vowel hell" made me laugh though.

Maxie: Bah is right. People are stupid.

Alexa, aka New Facebook Friend: I almost gave you a shout-out for our almost exact last names!

Kyla Bea: Been pretty smooth so far, which probably means I'm doing it wrong.

Anonymous said...

Sorta makes me wonder what'll happen if, by some chance, I end up marrying my honey. I'm thinking we'd just keep our respective last name, but who knows. :)

Unknown said...

It's easy. And I feel your pain - people always think they can just leave out my apostrophe like it doesn't matter. But it matters dammit. It matters!

Anonymous said...

i'll take a misspelling over everyone asking me if i am related to a certain watermelon smashing comedian. seriously, people just never get tired of asking that.

i'm sorry your name change is so much trouble! xo

Marie said...

My first name is Marie (duh). You wouldn't believe how many people get that wrong.

I'm not kidding.

The Alleged Ringleader said...

I have such a difficult 1st and last name, I have been spelling my whole life.
It sucks.

Lisa said...

Phil: If he's got a crazy last name, you've got some serious thinking to do!

Surviving Myself: Dude, I'm an editor. Apostrophes ALWAYS matter.

Rachel: Hmm, these people you speak of sound a little lame. ;-)

Marie: THAT is just ridiculous.

Ringleader: Ugh, that definitely sucks. I guess I'm right there with ya now, huh?

Anonymous said...

I have a 10 letter long German last name. If I marry David, I'll go to a Polish last name that's six letters long and sounds much cooler!

Anonymous said...

I have finally got off my butt and changed my name, I have gone from super easy Anderson to his name. I will have to spell that all the time too... Oh the joys.

Unknown said...

Ugh, nobody EVER spells my new last name right. And it's not even hard to spell. My husband's name was wrong on his driver's license! It's quite annoying.

Anonymous said...

just keep those accounts open for when you eventually kill dave and need to secure a quick line of credit without pesky law enforcement getting in the way.

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