Thumper Thinks Out Loud

By Any Other Name…

This may come as a surprise to many of you—in fact, I’m certain it will, judging by my email—but my name is not Kathy.

Neither is it Kathleen, Katherine, or Kath.

Now, I have a sister named Kathy, but I’m not sure how so many people came to the conclusion that my name is Kathy. For the last 4-5 months I’ve been getting email a couple times a week, clearly intended for me, but they start out “Hey, Kathy,” or “Dear Kathleen,” or just “Kath!” Rarely are those emails from the same person… so I’m stumped.

I don’t think I’ve corrected anyone in email, mostly because the notes have been one-time things, comments about this or that on one of my websites. Lately, however, people with whom I have had many online conversations have begun addressing me as Kathy. These are people who know me as Thumper, and may have seen my “professional” name on a website (K.A. Thompson), but I’m still not sure how one goes about making the leap from K.A. to Kathy.

In any case, I’m not Kathy.
If you’re not sure what to call me, just call me Thumper.
Okay?
Okay.