Agent Smith

I hate my name. I've always hated my name. Besides having the same name as a yellow male cartoon character with a beer belly, my name is the female equivalent of John Smith among the Chinese community. Up to now, I have met at least 30 people with the same name as I. Every time I come across a new one, I can't help but feel like one of many duplicates from a despicable mass production plant, me being the better copy of course. I lived through two painful years in high school because one of my friends with whom I shared four classes with had the same name as me, FIRST AND LAST! For two years I could only be identified by a number.

I am not going to change my name. My first name is as precious as my last. Though, my first name is also as common as my last name. Actually, the majority of the Chinese population suffers from the same dilemma, we're all really Smith Smith's. One could easily find a couple dozen Jackie Chan's on the same subway train at any given time of the day in Hong Kong. But I do realize the importance of names. So I think it makes sense to think ahead and, every now and then, jot down nice unique-sounding names carrying special meanings for future reference. I'd like to think that preventing them from the deep-rooted predicament would be the least I could provide for my children or pets.

The trouble of being a John Smith is phenomenal. Try setting up an email account without being suggested using a few underscores and a string of meaningless numbers behind your name. Or try retrieving your profile from your college student center or the Cosco membership database and not be asked for additional information to shortlist you from the 637 other John Smith's, then for additional additional information to further shortlist you from the 125 other John E. Smith's.

Before I can find a solution to this problem, I still enjoy cheering for my worn-out name once in a while. Hey, at least it sounds better than John when it comes to the Name Game. And so I chant on... Winnie Winnie bo binnie, banana fana fo finnie, fe fi mo minnie, Winnie!