I Need to Get to City Hall Immediately!

Or else this confusion will never end.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

This is a postscript to my story called He Goes By Mike.

In that story, I wrote about how I’ve spent a lifetime of frustration with my name, as simple and straightforward as it is.

Photo: The Author

I use my middle name, Michael, even though my first name is David. He Goes By Mike will fill you in on the details.

It’s been frustrating, but I try to roll with the punches. Just this past weekend, while making arrangements for a flight using airline points, I got stuck in a loop between my keyboard, the airline’s automated online systems, and their telephone system. You see, heaven forbid The System says, my driver’s license shows me as David Michael but my miles account is under Michael.

I had taken that flight to attend my best childhood friend’s funeral, who had died suddenly a few days before.

During the visitation time at the funeral, I ran across an old fraternity brother, Dewey, who I’d not seen in 50 years. We didn’t recognize each other, but we had kept up through our mutual friend who had just passed away.

Dewey and I chatted about the good old days and current goings on, including how we each knew our mutual friend.

So, nice chat, all was well.

As we were shaking hands to say goodbye, Dewey said:

Great to see you again, Dave.

GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN, DAVE?

Holy schmoly!

I didn’t correct Dewey, but I chuckled to myself a little as I walked away.

There it was — again — the universe telling me I need to accept that my name is David and to just live with it.

Now, where is that City Hall address so I can go make the name change official?

Michael Werner is a publisher, writer, and ponderer. In a prior life, he ran a 1 Million+ member online community and publishing company. He lives in Florida but travels as much as he can get away with. He wants to live three other lives simultaneously, as a retired diplomat and spy novelist in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as a painter in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and as a raconteur somewhere in Tuscany. You can find him at Mindtrekker and Twitter.