It's Kristin. K-R-I-S-T-I-N

My name is Kristin. It's not hard. In fact it's name fad from the 80s. Seriously. Check it out. Lots of ladies in their 20s and 30s named Kristin. But apparently, I spell it weird. Don't know if that's just because it's more common to spell it with an E-N or what. I mean there are more ladies named Kristen than Kristin. Maybe my mom didn't want to be like everyone else or she didn't want me to be anyway. No telling what she was doing in the 70s when she decided on this particular baby name. Maybe she had a love affair with all things Scandinavian. Honestly, I've never really asked - she picked it in high school; I doubt there was any rhyme or reason to it.

It might be more uncommon to use two i's instead of an i or an e but I think that should make it easier for people - less letters to remember. But it doesn't. Most people don't spell my name right. And even after all of the years, it drives me crazy, usually. (In high school I changed the spelling because I was tired of people screwing it up. That really made my mom mad.) If you are the Starbucks barista who writes Kristen on my cup after only hearing it, you can go about your day without me cursing you silently. I especially like the baristas who get clever with spellings like Christyn. That can be exciting. I never understood why people try to over complicate things like the spelling of common names when so many things in life are already complex. I digress.

But if you are a coworker of mine, and you are sending me an email, you should spell it right. Unless you are a complete moron. But you've managed to hold down a job so I assume that means, at the very least, you can read. You can read my email address in the "to" line - it's all spelled out for you. No guessing required. And if you are just replying to my email, you can still read it in the "from" line. But not only that; I  make it even easier. EVERY email I send has my signature. Every. Single. Email. It's large text and a different color text.

Today, I am overly riled up because a coworker of mine spelled it wrong, not once, but twice. And she didn't even spell it wrong the same way twice. (For the record Kristina is a completely different name, not just a misspelling, which is so much worse.) Really? Can she not read? My name is there, spelled correctly at least twice in every email she receives from me. All you have to do is pay a little bit of attention and read. I know it's not as easy as Jane and Dick and Spot from those fun with reading books but it's not complicated. In fact, you don't even have to read it. Just copy the letters you see. Surely, an adult with a job can at least manage that? Evidence says otherwise in this case.

I'm not the queen of patience or taking my time. I know this about myself. But a name is part of each person's identity. It's part of who you are and it is how you identify yourself. I find it so rude when others don't take the time to call you by the right name or spell it correctly. And I don't think "I'm bad with names" is an excuse. I'm bad with filtering before I talk but I do my best to think first, talk second so I don't offend people. This is definitely still a work in progress for me and lots of things for people are this way so I try not to lose my mind when unwarranted. But when things are in writing, and there are helpful hints staring you in the face, I won't cut you much slack. Lock it up. Get it together.