It's all in the name....

Why am I called Coops? Well, it’s to stop people calling me ‘Richard’ instead of ‘Rich’. Well I don’t like the name Richard, and it has stuck with me for the last twenty six years, I have to use it on a daily basis. The thing is, I don’t mind Rich, so I actively started using that name a year ago. If I put it on a document, people will look at it and say, “so, Richard……”. If I say my name is Rich over the phone, they always end saying “Is that short for Richard?”, and I always end up saying “No, it’s short for Jonathan, what do you think?”. Being called Rich does create problems though. In Thailand, I had to fend off the local ladies after they though I was actually rich. In Singapore, people thought I was indulding my financial status everytime I walked into a shop and "Hi, I'm rich". In short, literally, that’s why I’m called Coops, and before you ask, yes it is short for Cooper.

Do I really care? Well, maybe not that much. And the reason why is sometimes I think it could have been a lot worse. Earlier this month a couple named their newly born baby Drew Peacock. Well what’s wrong with that? Well, I’m sure he will be the talk of the playground when his friends shout out “Oi, Droopy Cock”. And to make matters worse, the parents are not going to be correcting this error!