Name Games

My wife and I have different last names. Nothing unusual about that. Ours was her second union and when we married among other things she didn’t want to change her daughter’s last name or confuse things by leaving a then-six year old with a different one than hers.

This arrangement has always worked well for us though once in a while there will be a little confusion when one of us has established a new account and the other makes an inquiry regarding its status. On more than one occasion I found it useful to just pretend I had changed my last name when speaking with a customer service representative who was looking at my wife’s last name on our account.

On one such occasion I had to call a company regarding some errors in a bill. When the representative answered the phone and asked for the name on the account I gave her my wife’s last name, which for purposes of this story will be Smith. The representative then asked for our zip code for further verification, and I dutifully supplied it. Finally, she asked was she speaking with Mr. Smith?

“That’s good enough,” I replied.

“Oh, OK, then, Mr. Goodenough. What can I do for you?”