I've been recruited by Chase Gordon to go into a Facebook poking war against Chie & Phil. So if you're friends with them, go choose a side and poke away.
It occurs to me that I've never once seen Chase Gordon referred to either here or on Facebook without his last name. Also, all I know about Chase Gordon is that he pulls a lot and drinks a ton of coffee. I kind of imagine him as the Most Interesting Man in the World, but he drinks Intelligensia Black Cat in lieu of Dos Equis.
Chase Gordon is an awesome person with an exciting sounding name that fits him. That's why it is fun to say his whole name because it makes him sound like a super hero.
People from the internet and the UK call me Dave. Meatspace friends in the US call me by my last name, even girls I've been intimate with. It's a bit like how Wee Bey's wife calls him "Bey" in The Wire.
Check out my really shitty Photoshop skills. I didn't learn anything about coloring, but I did learn how to make text take all sorts of awesome shapes and paths!
It's weird how often American males get called solely by their last name. I like my first name too much to go solely by my last one, but it seems like that's the standard.
It's weird how often American males get called solely by their last name. I like my first name too much to go solely by my last one, but it seems like that's the standard.
My last name is too long to be called by it. Even in ROTC we all shortened it.
My first, last, and middle names are common first names. I started going by my initials in third grade. It's been long enough that even some of my cousins don't know what my actual first name is.
I had one teacher who called students by their last names. My crazy pre-cal teacher at NCSSM... but he called me Nuri-chan. I guess it was catchier than Steinhauer.
I hardly ever get called by my last name... People also tend to mispronounce my first name (the "legal" version, as it appears on my driver's license, not my nickname, "Lou").
Actually, around my family and depending on the language being spoken at the time, I often get called by both my first and middle names, but that's because my first name is very common among all the men in my family and the middle names were always used to distinguish us.
Aaron Diaz of Dresden Codak has something interesting to say.
People can be oversensitive, sure, and I think a lot of social justice/outrage on the internet is completely overblown and mostly the product of very young people forming an identity around being offended or being offended on behalf of other people. Self-righteousness of this kind is a lazy kind of behavior done in the place of being legitimately socially conscious. Reblogging or retweeting something someone said and repeatedly calling them a bigot is not the same thing as actually raising public awareness about an issue or (ideally) working to solve it.
On the other hand, that doesn’t in any way mean there isn’t a massive amount of horrible, hurtful things being said by people everywhere, and that there isn’t a huge amount of the public mindset that has some screwed up ideas of how to treat people. Every thoughtful human being has a moral obligation to combat bigotry and all forms of intolerance, but the way you combat bigotry is extremely important. Doing it incorrectly or for the wrong reasons can make matters worse.
How do you strike the balance? Here’s my rule of thumb: Before saying something, ask yourself: am I doing this to realistically change the mind of this person or others’, or am I doing this to show how much more progressive I am? Nothing’s more venomous than attacking someone simply to assert your place in a subculture, even if it’s a subculture of activism. It’s important to always think pragmatically: if what you’re about to say/type/do seems like it’s more about making your feel better, you should rethink how you’re doing it. Lashing out or even mildly nitpicking can potentially hurt what you’re actually trying to accomplish.
The purpose of calling out hurtful language, etc is to ultimately change human behavior for the better. Anything you do without that goal in mind has the potential to be toxic. Don’t release more hate into the world, it’s the opposite of what you set out to do.
It's weird how often American males get called solely by their last name. I like my first name too much to go solely by my last one, but it seems like that's the standard.
People I know use my first and last names interchangeably. My boss always says my full name for some reason.
Aaron Diaz of Dresden Codak has something interesting to say.
Comments
I need to get some work done.
Actually, around my family and depending on the language being spoken at the time, I often get called by both my first and middle names, but that's because my first name is very common among all the men in my family and the middle names were always used to distinguish us.
That was certainly insightful.