In an re-blog earlier this month: I’m going to file this under things that just don’t ever happen to me. — #MILLENNIALLIFECRISIS, original post – I’m going to file this under things that just don’t ever happen to me. — #MILLENNIALLIFECRISIS.
I thought about sharing my version of things that rarely happen to me, but decided not to clutter the re-blog post with it.
I can relate from a somewhat different perspective. While I have a common first and last name (Paul Smith), it’s rare I meet someone with my name or even run across it much locally although there used to be 24 other people with my name who had phone numbers when I first moved to Wichita back in 1989. After I graduated from a local university, I would get e-mails for a professor who had my name. Not sure why I got them as my e-mail clearly included student as part of the e-mail address. It was weirder because many of the e-mails were from other professors who should know I am not the person they should be sending the e-mails.
While volunteering today at the historical/genealogical society, I mentioned his name to a regular volunteer (she’s 90+) and she said he had moved from Friends University to Nebraska. He appeared to still be at Friends University in 2016 I haven’t found his current school, but did find a photo of him: https://symposium.music.org/index.php/49/item/9236-target-training-an-approach-for-the-acquisition-of-a-more-efficient-vowel-production
On a slightly different note, I was volunteering at the historical/genealogical society the other day. Somebody came in and was talking to one of the other volunteers. The volunteer caught my attention and asked me to introduce myself. That was a strange request, but when I did, the visitor introduced himself by my name. It’s one of the few times, probably the only time in person, I have come across my name attached to another living person that I have met. I have run across headstones with my name on them. I think about 13 in the area based on Find-A-Grave, but I have only found half of them in visiting cemeteries.
I did have a stranger come up to me and shake my hand about 20 years ago. I asked him why. He said “Aren’t you So and So (don’t recall the name he used, but it wasn’t mine). Seems I have a twin that worked at a nearby mall. This guy was a close friend so for him to mistake me for the other guy was a shock. Shame I can’t remember the guy’s name or I would check and see if he still works there.
As I sometimes get bored, I do random searches for stuff. I was checking out schools on Ed2Go: https://www.ed2go.com/. These courses tend to be non-credit and pretty short length, many are only 6 weeks long; a few may go much longer. As a lark, I type in Paul Smith and was surprised there is a Paul Smith’s College – https://www.paulsmiths.edu/ in New York state. In his case, Paul was his middle name where Paul is my first name. I took an Ed2Go online course just so I could print out a certificate of completion from them. They don’t offer online degrees, or didn’t when I checked years ago.
If that wasn’t strange enough, I was working for a nonprofit and people were telling me I need to meet the new staff person. I asked why, but nobody would answer me. Turns out they were saying the same thing to her although they left out my last name in those conversations. She graduated from Paul Smith’s College, the first and only person I have met who graduated from the school.
If that was strange enough, she shared me with another Paul Smith she had come across – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Smith_(artist); later found a YouTube video about him 0 Paul Smith — Typewriter Artist – YouTube Video.
Ups Downs Family History 