A rant about people who define themselves by their relationships

[CanvasShoes]

@CanvasShoes

…, more self award [insert adjective of your hoice here])

That is supposed to be self awarE, but looking at the attitudes of some here, maybe self award fits better

[MissGypsy]

@CanvasShoes

My license plate said “5 6 7 8”. So I’m defining myself by what I love best as well. And IMHO, it involves a relationship with others. In my case it’s LOTS of others, many students in my dance classes each semester. But even though that is my parttime job, and I have a “real” career", my impetus for choosing that particular license plate wasn’t that I was “defining” myself, but that dancing happens to be something I love.

And, I have to admit, I was always secretly amused by folks who didn’t “get it” and would ask “what does five thousand, six hundred seventy eight mean”? Even though I didn’t know that would happen before getting the license plate.

Untile I read the dance part, I thought you were just a huge fan of Laverne & Shirley, and now I have that theme song running through my head. Thanks.

[Mellivora_capensis]

@RickJay

If you asked me who I am, beyond just my name, I imagine my first response would be that I’m a father. I’m also a husband, a businessman, a baseball fan, a retired soldier, a level 39 paladin on the Shadow Council server, a terrible golfer, a son, a brother, a best friend, a non-partisan moderate, a Canadian, etc. etc.

You left out the most important one, you’re also a Doper.

[Shirley_Ujest]

My liscense plate on my truck is KIDLIMO
But, I wanted it read: Gaswhore.
Either way, I’m happy.

[seenidog]

right on!

Originally Posted by RickJay
If you asked me who I am, beyond just my name, I imagine my first response would be that I’m a father. I’m also a husband, a businessman, a baseball fan, a retired soldier, a level 39 paladin on the Shadow Council server, a terrible golfer, a son, a brother, a best friend, a non-partisan moderate, a Canadian, etc. etc.

We all wear lot of hats, but it is damn tough to fit them all in a user name or a licence plate.

And to those who do not like vanity plates, just remember they are paying extra for them, more than you are paying. Why don’t you just belly up and voluntarily mail the extra money into the state? Because it is not worth it to you. It is to them, so lighten up, it is not a political statement, and if it were, who really cares? And no my plates do not say “Seenidog”. We can only have six letters in this state. I was going to get CNIDOG but fifty dollars was better put toward braces. Or so the wife said.

[CanvasShoes]

@MissGypsy

Untile I read the dance part, I thought you were just a huge fan of Laverne & Shirley, and now I have that theme song running through my head. Thanks.

Shlemiel, schlamazzle! Something Something incorporated!..

No problem…

[deadeyesdad]

deadeye/mj/tmac/mads/gracie’s dad didn’t fit. Mike was already taken.

[kittenblue]

@deadeyesdad

deadeye/mj/tmac/mads/gracie’s dad didn’t fit. Mike was already taken.

But as I mentioned above…don’t mj, tmac, mads and gracie feel a little left out and unloved? You’re only dead eye’s dad? Not theirs?

[ParentalAdvisory]

@kanicbird

Peterson came from son or Peter.

You say that as if Jefferson came from the son of Jeffer.

[Aangelica]

@amarinth

But, from what my teachers told me (yes, I know how they vector ULs) those came from a time when everyone knew John - and being John’s son would confer your status and place in society. They were also given to people, not chosen by people.

Being someone’s something still confers your place and status in society - at least certain portions of society. And those portions of society are actually really quite large. If you have kids, at your kids’ school, you’ll be “Child’s Parent” - and most teachers, staff and other parents will identify you as such (the ones with better memory will have the thought process “Child’s Parent… uhhhhh that’s Linda!” first, but you’ll still basically be “Child’s Parent”). To my husband’s work buddies, I’m Husband’s Wife. To my parents neighbors (in the home they’ve purchased since I moved out of the house permanently), I’m Parents’ Daughter. To my best friend’s mother, I’m Daughter’s Best Friend. To the client at the law firm I work for, I’m generally “My Boss’s Assistant”. Granted, most of those people can remember my actual name and many know things about me other than my relationship to whoever it is, but most of them have the thought process I described above: “Ooooo that’s ____________, uuhhhhh… that’s <my name>!”

Going strictly by the numbers, my primary identification is referential (i.e. Somebody’s something) to the substantial majority of people who’ve met me. The same is almost certainly true of most of us.

Granted, the license plates still make me roll my eyes because they’re silly and absolutely scream that the owner’s whole self-identity is tied up in being whatever the label happens to be.