F-U-L-K-E-R-S-O-N

(By Jen)

All of my life I feel like I have had THE most perfect name. Jennifer Lynn Kelly. I loved my name. Three first names - easy to pronounce, easy to spell. It just baffled me that most of my friends didn't like their names and wanted to change them, or better yet, they didn't like the spelling of their name and wanted to change how it looked. Me? I was completely happy with my name...... until 4 1/2 years ago that is. ;) Now don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic at first to take on the last name of "Fulkerson," but little did I know how much I would come to want my old name back. The main reason? Kelly was much more simple to say AND to spell. It took much less time out of my day (and for those who know me well know that I hate to waste time). When I USED to say my name over the phone, here is how it would go:

Person on phone: "And what is your last name?"
Me: "Kelly"
Person on phone: "Is that with an "e-y" or just "y"?"
Me: "just y."
Person on phone: "OK, you are confirmed for........"

Time of phone call? 2 minutes. =) But NOW when I say my name over the phone, here is how the conversation goes:

Person on phone: "And what is your last name?"
Me: "Fulkerson"
Person on phone: "Uh (long pause)....... can you spell that?"
Me: "F-u-l-k-e-r-s-o-n"
Person on phone: "OK, let me confirm. Your name is Jennifer, last name Sulkerson. S-u-l-k-e-r-s-o-n."
Me: "No, not "S", "F." "F" as in Frank."
Person on phone: "Oh, I'm so sorry. Let me go back and fix it......... I now have Jennifer Fulkerson. F as in Frank -u-l-k-e-r-s-o-n. Is that correct?"
Me: "Yes, that is correct. Thank you."
Person on phone: "OK, you are confirmed for........"

Time of phone call? 2 hours. =) I keep trying to get Greg to change our last names to Kelly, but he won't do it...... something about how I should have thought of that BEFORE and how it might make some people upset. Can't blame me for trying though, eh?? ;)

(By Greg)

Well, I've had this name all of my life and really haven't given it a second thought. But it IS funny to hear and see how badly people can butcher my last name. Just last week for example: Brian, my brother-in-law, went to reserve tuxes for their wedding. Apparently it was quite the adventure. The lady took the names of everybody in the party, and from the sounds of it, she might have been old and hard of hearing. She obviously couldn't hear, or couldn't spell (even though Brian spelled EVERY name, letter by letter for her)! Jeff Belval (correct spelling: Belveal), Sean Haz (correct spelling: Hayes), Josh Dunkin (correct spelling: Duncan, as in yoyos, not donuts). But the best one by far was my name -- Greg FUKerson! Seriously? Who would have that last name?

Which brings me to my somewhat newly acquired nickname -- "Focker." If you've ever seen "Meet the Parents," you'd know what I am talking about. I'm not 100% sure where that came from, but I think my old roomie gave me that nickname back when that movie came out in 2000. Now granted, this isn't THE most appropriate of nicknames, but when you have my last name, you just have to take what’s been given to you. Besides, it IS pretty unique -- I can only think of two people that have that nickname.....