Thirtysomething

Name Game

While I may have (somewhat) started using my married name socially, my legal name is still my maiden one. I've been in no hurry to change it. It's crossed my mind more than once that I don't actually have to change it--that I could just continue to socially use my married name.

Even that, though, presents some problems. I've semi-adopted using my maiden and married name together (minus the hyphen). That's what my outgoing emails say. My business cards, however, still have my maiden name. If you ask me what my name is, I tend to fluctuate and give any combination of my maiden and/or married name. It's a bit ridiculous and I'm beginning to feel like I have an identity crisis.

Ron is beginning to lose his patience about the whole thing. He says that he's fine with me keeping my maiden name, but since I've been saying all along that I would change it, he's wondering why I'm dragging my feet. He says it's a pain to have to explain that his wife's got a different name and that our bank accounts don't have a shared name. But really, the issue is that like most red-blooded males he wants his wife to take his name--he just won't admit that. Men are funny sometimes. I asked him if he would ever change his name to my name and he looked at me like I had suddenly started speaking Swahili. See? I said to him. The thought of changing your name seems ludicrious to you. Why should I feel any differently?

People, I am lazy. If changing my name was something I could do online, I may have done it by now. But I've got to start by getting a new social security card, which means standing in line at the Social Security Office...and why do I have a feeling like that won't be a particularly steamlined process? And then, once I have that, I need to change my license, which means a trip to the DMV--and that's NEVER a good time. Then once I have a new social security card and a new license, I have change the, oh, FOUR HUNDRED OTHER DOCUMENTS THAT HAVE MY NAME ON THEM. Credit cards, loans, leases, bank accounts, you name it.

And he thinks it's a pain for me not to have his name? For who exactly? Him? I think it just MIGHT be a bigger pain for me to change it.

At any rate, I'm off to the damned Social Security Office today at lunch. Wish me luck.

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 6:37 AM