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Being called by your first name at work

Stanley Doble

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There are exceptions to every rule.

Millionaire to new chauffeur: What is your name?

Chauffeur: Call me James

Millionaire: I never call my driver by his given name. What is your last name?

Chauffeur: My full name is James Darling

Millionaire: Home, James.
 
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Stearmen

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7,202
[video=metacafe;5216187/blackadder_general_melchett_and_captain_darling/]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/5216187/blackadder_general_melchett_and_captain_darling/[/video]
 
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Stray Cat

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Millionaire: I never call my driver by his given name. What is your last name?
Chauffeur: My full name is James Darling
Millionaire: Home, James.
:pound:

[video=metacafe;5216187/blackadder_general_melchett_and_captain_darling/]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/5216187/blackadder_general_melchett_and_captain_darling/[/video]
This was my first thought, too. lol
 

GHT

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There are exceptions to every rule.

Tell me about it. When I worked in the big conglomerate world, I had a salesman whose name was Mike. And Mike is what I called him.
The joke about Mike Hunt isn't so funny if you have parents who are either so ignorant, or so perverse as to call their male offspring Michael. But when you have the unfortunate moniker as McHunt, then if you work for me, you will always be called by your first name.
Protocol? **** that!
 

GHT

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And as a post script to the above, one of my deputy managers was named Adrian Flay. He had lived with Susan for over eight years. She refused to marry him because, being a chef in one of Oxford's most prodigious hotels, she was determined that she was never going to be known as:
Mrs. Sue Flay!
 

Jennifer Hebert

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Pacific Northwest
I work in an industry where we're required to go by our first names - customer service. Specifically, at an inbound call center. As a result, forms of address stay casual all the way to the top of the food chain. It's never "Mr. Smith" or even "John Smith", just "John" (unless we have to specify between two different people, of course). At call centers especially it's a security issue. I deal with enough creeps without them being able to google me.

Even at other jobs though, I usually took pity on people and just told them to call me Jennifer. I can count on one hand the number of people I've met who pronounced my name right outside of Louisiana. On the plus side, I can always tell when it's a telemarketer on the phone. "What's that? No I'm sorry, there's no HEE-bert here. You must have the wrong number." lol
 

GHT

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New Forest
I deal with enough creeps without them being able to google me.
Sometimes the obvious is so obvious, that it's easy to miss. I was always intrigued by the way young women drank from the bottle in Brit pubs. My curiosity got the better of me one time when I spoke to a young woman. She explained that if you keep your thumb over the neck of the bottle, it was impossible for some odious turd, to spike the drink with a date rape drug.
She went from being uncouth to smart lady in a nanosecond.
 

Stanley Doble

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And as a post script to the above, one of my deputy managers was named Adrian Flay. He had lived with Susan for over eight years. She refused to marry him because, being a chef in one of Oxford's most prodigious hotels, she was determined that she was never going to be known as:
Mrs. Sue Flay!
I knew a couple named Bugg who were going to christen their daughter June until the minister talked them out of it. They weren't trying to be funny. They were used to the name Bugg and didn't notice the joke.
 

Stanley Doble

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Nevil Shute in his memoirs, talked about this. When he ran an airplane factory in England in the thirties, the rule was no Christian names in the office. This caused no problems until they hired a girl named Barton, whose cousin already worked at the firm. This meant they had two Miss Bartons. The new hire bred Cocker Spaniels in her spare time and soon became known as "dog Barton".

Next thing you know it was "Bitch! Oh bitch, will you please type out these letters for me?"

Perhaps Joan and Edna would have been better. :)
 

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