What’s in a name?
When I was 10 years old I decided I wanted to change my surname.
When I was 14 years old I decided to change my name.
When I was 15 years old, just before I sat my ‘O’levels, I changed it.
It was easy to change it then: I just told all my teachers to change my name on their registers, and I didn’t need to fill out legal documents cos I was under 18.
That was 1982
I had all my qualifications in my new surname along with my driving licence and bank account. I never bothered getting my passport changed after my original birth certificate was lost in the post and put me off posting important documents.
My new name was on my replacement birth certificate anyway because I’d changed my surname to my mother’s maiden name.
The reason I wanted to change my surname when I was 10 years old was due to being teased at school. Not by my peers but by a teacher (who will remain nameless here).
My name was David Wong. The teacher went through the register ridiculing the Ahmed’s, the Mohammed’s and the Pratt’s and then got to last name, mine, and called me “Ching-Chong, Wing-Wong, from Hong Kong, who always gets everything wrong”! Fekking hilarious! An incredible climax to an amazing rendition of the class register. I think mine was the most hilarious at the time but after laughing along with the rest I must have decided that in hindsight I didn’t find it as funny as it was cruel. It was a good lesson though, and taught me how labels can be a disadvantage. (rascism was an accepted norm in those days). (as was homophobia, the teachers name was Mr Gaye)
So at 14-15, I changed my surname from Wong to Walker. Still got teased by my so-called mates though, who thought, and still think, that Walker-Wanker is an hilarious nick-name.
What’s the point? Well I suppose there isn’t one. Being over-sensitive about being labelled is perhaps more of a disadvantage than having a ridiculous name and the more ridiculous you appear the more ridiculous you become. When I was Wong, I felt Wrong and it felt like a self fulfillling prophecy. Now I’m 52 and have been Dave Walker for 36-7 years, my knees and back are ceasing up with osteoarthritis and soon, I will no longer be able to walk.....er.
Shit
