Namesakes in the Workplace
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
The best nickname we had was "the arthritis lady." Now, I know that sounds terrible to make fun of someone with a debilitating disease, but here's what really happened: One day a group of us were in the break room talking about the new secretary who had some very nice features on her chest. One of the guys was describing "them" with his hands about chest high, fingers cupped, etc. You know the gesture. About then the new secretary herself walked in and the guy said, without missing a beat, "And my uncle really had bad arthritis." The secretary saw all that and said "You should be ashamed of yourselves, making fun of someone with arthritis." To which we could no longer control ourselves. I think it was about an hour before we could stop laughing. And from that day on, she was "the arthritis lady."
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
I did find that first names lacked variety in the UK. At work there were 2 Matts, 3 Mikes and 2 Andrews (more if you count the sister company that was on the same site) in a small company of around 35 employees. At school it was 3 Chrises and 2 Daves and probably more but escapes my memory at this point... I went to a school where there were more boys than girls, so there weren't the similar sort of overlaps for girls' names, and there have definitely been more male colleagues than female ones since I entered this career. I have a feeling the situation is a little better in the US, AU and NZ, but probably about the same. So why people get upset over getting "the wrong Matt" on the phone, or assume that they will always get "the same Matt" on the phone when it's a business number and therefore could be shared in an office, I don't really know... (You'd expect less of this problem for a home number or a mobile number, of course...) At work, the lady that tended to pick up the phone asked which of the Matts or Andrews was being called for if she couldn't tell from the context of the conversation to that point, and if that failed, the "wrong Matt" or "wrong Andrew" would politely forward the call to the "right Matt" or "right Andrew". Can't be that hard...
Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike... me...
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Which one did you use? Dot or Net? Bryce
MCAD --- To paraphrase Fred Dagg - the views expressed in this post are bloody good ones. --
Publitor, making Pubmed easy. http://www.sohocode.com/publitorOur kids books :The Snot Goblin, and Book 2 - the Snotgoblin and Fluff The Snotgoblin for the Ipad
Dang, you beat me to it! :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
In my office, we all answer to the same name from time to time, but it varies a bit, and none of the variations can be repeated here. ;)
Will Rogers never met me.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
I work in a small company (30 employees) and we have 3 Bretts and 2 James'. Phone calls are generally no problem as each is in a different department but people will assume an email address so as the original Brett in the company I tend to get a lot of email meant for the other two. Cheers, Brett (#1)
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
So Johnny Cash was wrong?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
Mathew Crothers wrote:
Anyone else have namesake issues at their work
Yes.
Und wenn du lange in einen abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
Mathew Crothers wrote:
I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt.
And how would someone outside your little group be expected to know that in advance. Where I last worked there were three Richards but only one James; both fairly common names in the area where I live.
The best things in life are not things.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
Having a name which is quite common and also gender neutral there are quite a few here called Chris. In our team of 18 we currently have 3 Matts, 2 Pauls, and 2 Andys. As an organisation (we are not very large) we have 2 Andy Smiths (there have been some payroll mix ups in the past), 2 Paul Smiths and 1 Paula Smith. Also one team has a John Surname Snr and a John Surname Jnr (the Surname isn't the real one) in it. Would love to say they are not related, but they are father and son. It is quite a specialised and technical job they have.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
Sorry, you are being too nice. Instead, tell them to call back after 9AM and ask for Elvis. :)
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra] posting about Crystal Reports here is like discussing gay marriage on a catholic church’s website.[Nishant Sivakumar]
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.
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I work in a fairly large business where there are 3 Matt's, 2 Mark's and 2 Daniel's. I get to work at 8:30 and we open at 9am. So when I answer the phone calls before 9 and ask people to call back after 9am and ask for Matt (which they think is me) they get annoyed until I explain to them there are 3 Matt's that work here. I get annoyed that people don't have the smarts to know that Matt is a common name and I obviously am refering to another Matt. Anyone else have namesake issues at their work. Would be nice to know I'm not the only one who has to put up with this.