Posts:
35
Registered:
Mar 3, 2009
From:
Central Texas
Re: news that needs to be herd
Posted:
Sep 17, 2014, 8:32 PM
Well I was taught that it ain't polite to laugh at another person's name...(though i admit, i sometimes can't help but chuckle privately)
Obviously the parents of any child are ultimately responsible for the tragic consequences of really stupid choices when naming their kids. And we've all seen some incredibly pathetic choices some parents have made. Makes one wonder why those folks haven't been removed from society and deported to somewhere much safer for the rest of us (like maybe..Mars?).
One thing I didn't realize until fairly recently, was just how far many countries have taken their authoritarian powers (via outright bans) as imposed upon their citizens when naming children. I recall seeing articles in Huffington Post, BBC, Telegraph/UK etc... all describing the amazing (often petty and sometimes bewildering) criteria applied for either allowing or disallowing certain names.
Countries like Germany, Iceland, Morocco, New Zealand, along with a host of others around the world...have literally banned an often curious variety of possible kids' names based on such ideas as gender-appropriateness, religious ideology, alphabet, spoken-phonetics, and cultural-acceptability. Even modern technological considerations can play a part. For example, it's my guess that no matter where on the planet I might choose to live... I would probably not be able to name my first-born child using non-printable ASCII characters (dang it!).
Generally speaking though, I've never believed it should be left to the State..to interfere with the naming of children. That's something I feel is sacrosanct; with final authority falling entirely within the bounds of the family domain. But of course then we are left to figure out how best to deal with the idiots who would name their kid something really nutty like "Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybob-Bop-Bop?.
Ultimately however, I suppose it's like so many other things in life (or Pente), where choices made in the moment... carry with them an inherent potential for serious consequences down the road.
I'm not a particularly big fan of Johnny Cash although I respect his talent and his life's accomplishments. -- But all this business of naming kids just reminds me of his memorable song, A Boy Named Sue . The moral therein is that if a given name doesn't effectively ruin your chances for social respectability in life... then it may ultimately serve to make you stronger.
Communal Respect originates with each individual first however... and it's important to understand that such individualized group-wide respect doesn't necessarily overrule social humor (at least not in here in the U.S.). Neither, in my opinion, does it mean that respect and humor are fundamentally mutually exclusive ideas.
So I will defend any American's right to name their kid whatever they may so choose. -- But I can't be sympathetic if your son Yanky Doodle Dandee requires extra cash outlays for his sex-therapy counseling, or your daughter Crystal Roxy Metheny winds up spending time in jail for her abusive drug behavior. ~ And so that's all I have to say about that!
Geeez... i'm gett'n hungry for lunch... was think'n about hitting the local IHOP ~ bet they'd fix me up some yummy cherry-smothered waffles. ~ Anyone up for tennis after that?
Posts:
112
Registered:
Dec 16, 2001
From:
cottage grove, oregon Home page
Re: news that needs to be herd
Posted:
Sep 24, 2014, 5:06 AM
I would like to play some tennis!! As soon as I get off my brother's farm for the season. I haven't had a serious tennis game since the early 80s. I haven't ran into a tennis player since. Hmmm! That be a few years back. Time seems to be slipping into the future . . . Heyardy hyar!!
Re: news that needs to be herd
Posted:
Sep 26, 2014, 12:04 PM
When my wife and I were expecting I had come up with a few names. My last name is Smith so if we had a girl Pamela Marie, boy Anthony Steven. Didn't want my child to hate me for the initials so that didn't fly. But the best name I came up with was Arrow!
