My name is Nunya. As in Nunya Damn Business!

[uberreiniger]

The subject line is something I would LOVE to be able to say to nosy customers who walk up to me wanting to know how to pronounce my name/what it means/where it comes from as if the fact I'm wearing it on a tag gives them some sort of right to. I LIKE my name. I DO NOT like being a captive audience to curious strangers who want to interrogate me about it.

Today however one these gawkers-at-the-zoo who came through my line turned out to be very funny in hindsight. I don't think she was on anything, I think she was just naturally spacy. REALLY space. She talked like a New Age crystal hippie although she didn't really look like one. Here's a dramatization of our conversation.

HER: Are you from Kentucky? I know a Tyree and he's from Kentucky.
ME: (makes a non-committal noise as I go about ringing up her purchase.)
HER: Are you from Kentucky?
ME: No. I'm from around here. (I'm actually not but just wanted not to be the subject of discussion anymore.
HER: Are you a Pisces? I'll bet you're a Pisces!
ME: ...No.
HER: You're not a PISCES! What are you?
ME: A Leo.
HER: You're a LEO? And your name is TYREE? I was sure you were a Pisces!
ME: Sorry. (I may not have actually said sorry. It many have just been an inarticulate noise: the verbal equivalent of a shrug.
HER: But you're so CALM! Not like my daughter! She's wild, and flirty, and acts like she's fifteen! She's so wild! My daughter is so wild! And you're so CALM! You're like the opposite of her! She's so wild... So wild...

Variations of this statement went on for the rest of the transaction but I think you get the idea. Did anyone else know that my name is a Kentucky phrase for "I'm a Pisces and I give two shits about your crazy ass daughter?" Because I sure didn't.

Comments

[lucretiasheart.livejournal.com]

*snarf*

|^P

[gothicbeauty21.livejournal.com]

I get that a lot. People will always mispronounce my name (and have a look on their face like WHAT A RETARDED NAME YOU HAVE when they say it wrong) and when I correct them, I always get "OH THAT IS SO PRETTY!" I reply "Yes it is, it's Hawaiian" and then they look at me like I'm an alien.

"YOU DON'T LOOK HAWAIIAN. YOU LOOK WHITE."

"I am white. My name is Hawaiian."

*their brain explodes*


Like it's totally unheard of to pull a name from a different culture.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

I get what you're going through. With me it's explaining to disappointed black people who thought they were about to meet another black person and getting puzzled looks from them when I explain that my name is Irish.

[rustie25.livejournal.com]

I just looked up your name on one of those baby name websites. It does, in fact, mean "I'm a Pisces and I give two shits about your crazy ass daughter." Mine means "please feel free to add an 'e' or an 'a' at the end of my name if you think it isn't long enough somehow".

[ravenbrenna.livejournal.com]

As I read this (and of course shared this w/ Bryan cause I wanted to see if it was the same thing he thought of first too) all I could think of was this woman that I used to work with. One time at our Christmas party she started going on about this velvet shirt she used to have. And she proceeded to express repeatedly in very different ways how much she liked this shirt. "I like velvet" "Velvet feels so nice" "Velvet is so shiny and pretty" etc etc. And there was no break between these. She just kept going and going. And the "she's so wild..." totally made me think of that!

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Put those two ladies in a room and I bet they'd have a lot to talk about.

[ravenbrenna.livejournal.com]

I would lock the door behind me and run for my life!

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Don't try running to Kentucky. They'll look for you there.

[ravenbrenna.livejournal.com]

We'll lock them somewhere....far, far away. The moon.