I've never been good with names and now that I'm old I'm not good with names and a lot of other things. The last year or so has been just a series of panics and embarrassments over this in action, and I extend a continued grand apology for my continued grand lapse.
In the beginning...it was all only names, a list of names and dates and lockers that required a bit of unraveling. I would consider the name, I would decide the person who belonged to it, and over time that person would eventually show up and I could compare notes - the reality of them versus the them I assigned based purely on their name. Some names have a formal sound. Some are less contemporary. Some sound perky, some have a lot of bass in them, some are exotic. Laid back, professional, artistic, republican; they are all in the name.
I have been wrong 100% of the time. It's like reading a book and then seeing the movie. You think, oh, no, that's not what he looked like at all.
Yesterday a guy came in, first time here since my being here. (I've yet to see about a third of the roster). He told me his first name and I offered the rest of it. I've seen it on paper a dozen times; on paper it's always easy.
