It's the first day of school, and the teacher is calling roll. He goes through the list, and all of a sudden there is no response to the teacher when a name is called. You, along with everyone else in the class, start to look around. It finally hits you that the teacher just totally murdered your name, and it's you that they are waiting for a response from. You have to say something. You battle between saying present or correcting him with how your name is supposed to be pronounced. If you just go with it, the teacher, as well as everyone else in the class, will call you by the wrong name for the rest of the year. If you correct him, though, it is now a 10-minute conversation on how you correctly say your name, and then he still proceeds to mess it up the next time he calls roll.
This has been an every year, every day, every moment occurrence for me since grade school. It continues to be a challenge throughout college as well as jobs. I always get nervous when someone asks my name or I have to introduce myself. I already know the look they are going to give me when I say, "Hi! My name is Daysha. Day-Sha." Easy right? Wrong.
I know I am not the only one that deals with this on the daily. Once I say my name, people just look at me and I have to repeat myself not once, not twice, but sometimes four times before they somewhat start to understand what I am saying. You would think that I am speaking a foreign language or something with the looks some people give me. The computer even thinks my name is a spelling error.
I've gotten to where I just let people call me what they want. Dasha, Dashay, Stacia, and any other clever name people come up with aside from my actual name. Those who know me just shake their heads when they hear someone say my name wrong and I go with it. Trust me, it's better to just smile and nod than to explain the pronunciation of my name. We get really excited, though, when someone reads our names and pronounces it right the first time. They are the most awesome people in the world for a split second.
When you have an uncommon name, not only do people butcher it when they say it, you also can never find your name on keychains, necklaces, a Coca-Cola bottle, or anything for that matter. You usually have to go with the ones that say "princess" or "the boss." It doesn't mean that you don't look every single time, though, "just in case." When something is specifically made with your name on it, you cherish it a little bit more than others may.
There is good to having an uncommon name, though. Because your name is so different, you usually don't have to worry about someone else having the same name. In school or the workplace, when you hear your name you know exactly who they're asking for instead of having to say "which one." You're unique. You stand out. Your name rocks. Though it can be a struggle sometimes, you are also very honored that your parents gave you such a unique name. You enjoy the fact that not many, or no one at all, has the same name as you do.
