You know how it feels when you associate a name with some painful memory. . . maybe some person whom you didn't particularly like, or who unintentionally reminded you of something you couldn't stand, maybe even something in yourself?
Well, this doesn't happen to me too often, but a certain female name does carry unpleasant baggage and make me flinch when I hear it. Fortunately, I almost never do, because it's not a common name by any means. I've stumbled upon it only three times in all my life, and all three times have, for vastly different reasons, signified something deeply negative. Stranger still, while the first cringe-inducing encounter was a decade ago (and was enough of a deterrent in itself), the other two occurred lately and within a couple of months of each other.
Now, that was the proverbial icing on the cake. Those were the two incidents that really drove me over the edge and made me say, "That's it. I never liked that name in the first place, but now, I absolutely hate it. I never want to come into contact with it again. I'd cross it out in baby name books, but that would be somehow acknowledging its existence, and I can't give it the luxury even of that."
Is this all a big coincidence? Or is it just destined to be an unspeakably toxic name to me in general? I'm leaning towards the latter. I suspect things could work in the other direction, as well. In past years, I've liked three guys who had the same first name and very similar personalities, almost precisely the same qualities that appealed to me, all across the board.
Feel free to laugh, but honestly. . . even while I don't pretend to understand the intricacies, I'm thinking there could be some kind of psychology to it.
(P.S. I can't believe I almost forgot my shockingly consistent experience of envying Melissas. Ohhhh, man, Melissas. Got a half-hour or so?)
Well, this doesn't happen to me too often, but a certain female name does carry unpleasant baggage and make me flinch when I hear it. Fortunately, I almost never do, because it's not a common name by any means. I've stumbled upon it only three times in all my life, and all three times have, for vastly different reasons, signified something deeply negative. Stranger still, while the first cringe-inducing encounter was a decade ago (and was enough of a deterrent in itself), the other two occurred lately and within a couple of months of each other.
Now, that was the proverbial icing on the cake. Those were the two incidents that really drove me over the edge and made me say, "That's it. I never liked that name in the first place, but now, I absolutely hate it. I never want to come into contact with it again. I'd cross it out in baby name books, but that would be somehow acknowledging its existence, and I can't give it the luxury even of that."
Is this all a big coincidence? Or is it just destined to be an unspeakably toxic name to me in general? I'm leaning towards the latter. I suspect things could work in the other direction, as well. In past years, I've liked three guys who had the same first name and very similar personalities, almost precisely the same qualities that appealed to me, all across the board.
Feel free to laugh, but honestly. . . even while I don't pretend to understand the intricacies, I'm thinking there could be some kind of psychology to it.
(P.S. I can't believe I almost forgot my shockingly consistent experience of envying Melissas. Ohhhh, man, Melissas. Got a half-hour or so?)
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