[StBernard] The name game

[Westley Annis]

Last year we were forced to replace our old hvac system.  The guy we hired
was a good natured good ole boy and we sat around the table talking while I
wrote out the check for payment.  He took one look at my "formal" name on
the check (Penelope) and asked how to pronounce it.  Since I hate that
stupid name that my sister stuck me with at my birth, I hung my head and
told him that no one ever gets it right.  He laughed and said it wasn't the
goofiest name he had ever heard of.  His wife is an elementary school
teacher and one of her new students came in with a name she didn't know how
to pronounce so she asked the little girl how to pronounce her name.  The
little girl replied, "Paj - a - ma", emphasis on the first sylable and the
dashes be silent in this one.  The teacher asked the girl how she came about
having such a pretty name and the little girl said that in the hospital when
she was born her mom saw a pretty word on a package and decided that was
going to be her name.  The package contained pajamas.......
Penny T.