mistaken identity?

[cellio]

Yesterday I picked up the ringing phone to be met with "Is this Mrs. Cellio?" Now, that's a telemarketing tip-off as far as I'm concerned, as is "...Mrs. Zweig?", so I asked who was calling. Sometimes I respond to such things with "there's no such person"; this time I started to and at the same time she was saying my full name, so I let her talk to me.

It turned out to be someone from Ohr Somayach, an organization I support, so it was, I suppose, ok that she called me. It wasn't a cold-calling telemarketer, at least. (Or UJF -- same thing.)

But the whole thing did make me wonder about one tangential thing: am I "Mrs. Cellio"? I mean, I'm married, and I kept my original last name of "Cellio", but "Mrs. Cellio" usually implies a "Mr. Cellio", right? And there's no "Mr. Cellio" living here. I don't think of myself as either "Mrs. Cellio" or "Mrs. Zweig"; I mostly just avoid honorifics, and grudgingly cough up an ambiguous "Ms." if forced to specify something. I've done this since college; it's not recent. (Aha -- a reason to seek a PhD! :-) )

I wonder what my various friends with mixed last names do.

Comments

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Pretty much exactly what you do, except that I'm completely comfortable with Ms. I am clearly not Mrs. Rivkis, since I am not married to Mr. Rivkis. I choose not to be Mrs. Jacobowitz. And I'm obviously not Miss Rivkis anymore, or what's that wedding ring doing on my hand?

Ms. Rivkis works, and for people who don't know me well enough to call me Naomi (at least those who don't do it anyway; I simmer in impotent fury against those who do so uninvited) I usually insist on it. I will permit business colleagues of Manny's to call me Mrs. Jacobowitz if I think they are too important to piss off.