Friday, September 26

 As we waited to see the doctor yesterday I couldn't help thinking about a Tony Hancock sketch I remember.from over 60 years ago.  It was first broadcast in 1961 and was called The Blood Donor.  Tony was appalled to find they wanted a pint of his blood.  "That's very nearly an armful" he complained but he was reassured by the fact that the doctor had a Scottish name.  "Great doctors, the Scots," he enthused. "It's the porridge, you know."

I don't know whether Dr Hamilton enjoyed porridge but he was very pleasant and I felt comfortable with him.  He didn't twig that I had a Scottish background and I didn't confess.

We had a Tenu delivery yesterday, the first of a few expected over the next several days.  One item wasn't suitable so I 'sent it back'.  In fact, I simply notified them, attached a photograph and the refund appeared in my bank account. I don't know what to do with the too-small support belt but I'll keep it just in case.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?                                                                                                                         26 JULY, 2024

Do you think it’s true that people’s character can be affected by the name they have been given at their birth?  Is it possible that Joe Biden might never have become president if he had been saddled with the moniker Hayden?  Hayden Biden .. would you vote for this man?  If this is nonsense, why do Hollywood Studios, as a matter of course, invent new names for their stars?  Can you really believe that Norma Jeanne Mortensen or Frances Ethel Gumm could ever have achieved international fame, or even Roy Harold Scherer Jr?

Mabel used to think that her failings in life were due almost exclusively to the name with which she was saddled.  And it was worse; it was not just her first name which was a problem, it was her second as well.  How would you like to carry the name Mabel Gertrude through life?

Going through school was a nightmare.  Young children are not always intentionally cruel but often seek out the members of their circle who are different.  Mabel with her old-fashioned name was an obvious target.  At first, it was just mild teasing such as the chanting of the simple rhyme, ‘Mabel, Mabel, under the table’ but it progressed to more blatant abuse. ‘What sort of name is Mabel?  Only ugly people would have an ugly name like that.’  So, schooldays for Mabel were not the happiest time of her life.

When she was sixteen, she asked the lady behind the counter in the post office how she would go about changing her name.  You may wonder why it was the lady in the post office who was singled out.  Well, Mabel couldn’t ask her mother or father, obviously, as they were the ones who had chosen those names from among all the other, wonderful, names which might have caught their attention.  She couldn’t ask the lady next door, because she would have reported the conversation straight back to her mother and, for the same reason, she couldn’t ask any of her teachers at school.  The lady in the post office had always been nice to her and she was one of the few people that Mabel trusted.

The lady in the post office confessed that she didn’t really know the answer to the question but suspected Mabel would have to be eighteen years of age, at least, before she could legally make that decision.  There’s probably a form for it, she said, and promised to make enquiries.  In the meantime, Mabel continued her lonely existence, avoiding confrontations with her school-mates in case the dreaded teasing started up again.

One day, Mabel was walking past the newsagents and noticed a little sign in the window: ‘Help Wanted. We need the assistance of a 16 or 17 year-old girl for two hours each Sunday morning to work behind the counter.’  Without pausing to reflect, Mabel went into the shop. The bell attached to the door alerted the harassed woman behind the counter.

When she smiled, Mabel said, shyly, “I saw the sign in the window.  I’m 16 and I’m interested.”

“Oh, good,” said the woman. “I only put it in a few minutes ago.  What’s your name?”

Without thinking, Mabel blurted out, “It’s Gloria.  Yes, Gloria.”

“Alright Gloria, can you start this weekend?  The work isn’t hard.  I just need someone to help me out behind the counter when it gets busy with people coming in to get their Sunday papers and their lottery tickets.”

Gloria never looked back.  The newsagent had a badge made for her which clearly stated that her name was Gloria.  Being successful in her part-time job gave her the confidence to deal with her insecurities about her name. When anyone she knew came into the shop and reminded her that her real name was Mabel, Gloria pointed out that Mabel was a name from a previous life and now, as she was moving forward into the future, she was Gloria and she would now only answer to that name.

For all official matters, Gloria still had to use the name that had been given to her at birth.  She might have gone through the process of changing it but that no longer seemed necessary.  She refused to answer to Mabel and found that people were generally happy to use the name she had chosen. Of course, years later, when her boyfriend finally got around to suggesting they might marry, he learnt the truth about her name.  But, that’s another story.