My Name is Not Anna

Growing up I had the pleasure of having a name that wasn't so common. I never had to be the second or even third "Ann" in a classroom. I loved that. I also loved the fact that it was easy to say. I mean, it's pretty hard to mess up a one syllable name. It wasn't until college that my name was even remotely said incorrectly during roll call. Even then, it was because my school for some reason put my middle name with my first, so I always got "Ann Marie." Still at least that was pronounced right and was close.

But for some reason the name "Anna" has haunted me at work. With my new last name being "Arena" I suppose I can see how maybe some people may get confused. But even before I changed it, people thought I was "Anna." Although, I will admit that most of the mistakes have come post name change. I've tried everything too. Signing with:

Ann Arena
Ann M. Arena

and yes even

Ann
Arena

And still I would get "Hello Anna" in return. Seriously. I just didn't get it. So, I gave up all together and just did:

Ann . . .

Nope, still ANNA! Sometimes even spelled "Ana." I even put a message under my name in our instant messenger that my name is not Ann or Ana. Doesn't seem to matter because once again today, after even speaking to the person on the phone, they wrote me an email and addressed it to "Anna." UGH.

I am beginning to wonder who this "Anna" is? I should just adopt the name as my work name, my alter-ego.

But really . . .

I AM NOT ANNA!