Better let it go!
Thursday June 30th 2011, 10:08 pm
Filed under: Life

I had a summer job in college back in the day working for a company that processed payroll for other companies. That’s right, kiddies: I was a keypunch operator. Ask your great-grandpa.

That meant a lot of names went by as I typed, and I used to keep a mental collection of the funnier ones.  Cherie Baum, for instance. (Was there ever a kid who didn’t get teased about their name?)

During college, I worked as a copy editor for one of the colleges on BYU campus and the other woman hired said she could never change her name when she got married; she’d been born a month before the book had come out, and nobody ever forgot Charlotte Webb.

Okay, so. On my way to Knit Night tonight, same old route, about to turn left, when over to the right was a company name emblazoned on a building where I’d never noticed it.

Ron Fetsch and Associates.

I have no idea who they are nor what they do, but I tell you, that’s a name you just can’t shake a stick at. (Just tell me his parents didn’t give him the middle initial N–and yes, I’m sure he’s heard it all. Whatever we go by, we all have.)


15 Comments so far
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while doing family history research in SLC my mother and I were reading through miles of microfilm when we came across the name Theopholis Lillycrap — now that is an unforgettable name

(and yes, I remember keypunch!)

Comment by Bev 07.01.11 @ 5:12 am

I used to do key punch! I also remember when computers were the size of a specially air conditioned room! Now I’m showing my age! LOL! I often marvel at that little computer in my hand when I send email over my smart phone! My Dad worked for NY Tel when I was a kid and he would come home laughing about the name of the persons whose phones he installed….Lovey Crump, Ima Pigg, and some other doozies I can’t remember anymore.

Comment by Jody 07.01.11 @ 5:59 am

Showing your age here. I remember Dad talking about Step n Fetchit.

Comment by Sherry in Idaho 07.01.11 @ 7:13 am

Hahaha… And since I’m sure they don’t read my blog, much less yours…

The Knight’s cousin, who named her eldest Zachary. Love that name, but… Their surname is Davis. No relation, none at all. I pity Zach in a few years… isn’t 3rd grade when you start learning presidents?

Comment by Channon 07.01.11 @ 7:45 am

The man who installed our roof is named Armand Leggett. Seriously. And once, I was copyediting an article on gastroenterolgy; the authors cited a related reference written by a man named Assman. The last name of the pastor of a local church here is… Pastor… and my eye doctor when I was a child was Dr. Doctor. And yes, his wife was Nurse Doctor!

Comment by India 07.01.11 @ 7:57 am

My eldest sister worked for social services in San Francisco, and she used to come home with some doozy names. The only one I recall at the moment was that they used a system other the]an alphabetic, and my sis found a Cummings and a Goings back to back. Oh, and high school here was a fellow named Les Brilliant. Unfortunately, that was pretty accurate.

Comment by Don Meyer 07.01.11 @ 8:00 am

LOL….names are fun stuff! My maiden name was/is Cecil…my brother, luckily, got most of the Beanie comments. 🙂

Comment by Ruth 07.01.11 @ 8:18 am

My grandmother’s name was all Christmas, all the time- Noelda Holly.

Comment by RobinH 07.01.11 @ 9:59 am

Why are names SO funny? My DH worked in credit at Marshall FIelds and kept a list. Crystal Waterford. My sister lives inIreland, and her handyman’s name is Cecil Poole, and they pronounce it “cess-il” – Cess Poole. My current favorites are from my friend who works for a doctor. LaSonya (like Lasagna)and La-a, (LaDasha, “the dash don’t be silent”).

Comment by Sara 07.01.11 @ 11:22 am

Hey India, the opthamologist who surgically corrected my cross eyes as an infant was Dr. Aicher (that’s Eye-care.) There’s something in a name!

Comment by LynnM 07.01.11 @ 1:30 pm

Did you ever see the adds for the Washington School for secretaries ( way back when I actually watched TV voluntarily)? If you learned to key punch, your future was assured. Yes, I learned to key punch–fast, too, because it was too boring to do slowly. But my future is still up in the air.

My favorite goofy name belongs to a library in New England, the Frost Free Library. (I wonder if the Self Cleaning Fire Department is across the street?)

Comment by LauraN 07.01.11 @ 1:39 pm

Our youngest’s kindergarten teacher was named Miss Treat. A perfect name for a kindergarten teacher, except my husband could never remember it and often called her Miss Snack!

Comment by twinsetellen 07.01.11 @ 7:06 pm

I used to visit teach a Sister Hamm on Mayo Street. Or maybe it was the other way around; I’ve slept since then.

Comment by Lynn 07.01.11 @ 11:16 pm

lol…how about a name like Sandy Gravel or Lily Pond….those poor women!

Comment by Joansie 07.03.11 @ 7:38 pm

i personally know a Bob Roberts, Erik Erikson, John Johnson, and Crystal Geiser. and my first husband had a set of identical-twin cousins. they were the 10th and 11th children, and i think the parents just ran out of ideas: their names were John and Johnny.

Comment by Tola 07.05.11 @ 12:34 am



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