Whitney Houston Rocks!

Suzi.  That’s it,  just Suzi.  That’s my name and that is what I prefer to be called.  My full name is Suzanna.  My mother loved it, I tolerate it and will answer to it when called, but I prefer Suzi. I really don’t care how you spell it…Suzie, Susie, Suzy, I’ve seen them all.   I will also respond to Sue, Suz, and Suzanne on a good day.  But please never, ever, EVER call me Susan.

I have nothing personal against the name Susan or anyone with that name – it’s just not me.  I’ve felt this way since childhood.  I would never correct people on the spelling of Suzi but would always chastise them for calling me Susan.

Whitney Houston made my year back in 1990 when she released her “I’m Your Baby Tonight” album and one of the tracks on it was “My Name is Not Susan.”  I thought, an anthem, just for me!   Check out her video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKi5tyUnDIk)   Sadly the song was about a man who called his new girlfriend the old girlfriend’s name, so it didn’t exactly apply to me but nonetheless I felt validated!

I answer the phones here at CourageInStone and I tend to speak quickly, so many times my name gets heard as Cindy, Sandy or Judy.  I usually won’t correct people on this because in the long run it really doesn’t matter to anyone but me.  I will, however, correct them if they say “Susan?” Most recently I have had this conversation over and over:

Ring-Ring—

– “CourageInStone this is Suzi, may I help you?”

– “Oh hi Susan, I’m a Susan too!”

– “Actually, I’m a Suzi but that’s okay.”

– “Oh, Suzi, well I’m a Susan and I’d like to purchase some stones.”

I ask you good reader, why do they have to restate that they are a Susan instead of saying “Sorry, I must have heard you wrong?”

I knew this blog was meant to be written when yesterday, I received an email response from one of our long time vendors.  I had written to him and signed the email “Thanks, Suzi.”  English is not his first language, so I am always careful in my wording and always have to work at interpreting his response.  Imagine my horror when he started his response with “Hi Susan,”  How does that happen?  There is a language barrier and people still get my name wrong???

So for the last time – in Ms. Houston’s immortal words…MY NAME IS NOT SUSAN, SO WATCH WHAT YOU SAY!