A little rant

A large, officious envelope arrived in the mail today. It was addressed to:
Brian Marley-Clark, and
Nancy Marley-Clark
.....no "e" on either name.

This came from our lawyer, a lawyer we have patronized for 20 years. A lawyer who has collected a lot of $$$ from us. I was outraged -- or was it "pissed off". I mean, seriously, how can you get a client's name wrong?! Giving the hapless solicitor the benefit of the doubt, I opened the envelope to see if maybe only the address label had been incorrect. Maybe the letter itself had been correct and our name graced with the required "e". Nope. Not a chance. The lawyer had signed it himself. Marley-Clark, without an "e".

Here's the deal: With names such as Clark(e), or Mac, Mc...you have to check the correct spelling. Is it Clarke with an "e"? Clark without an "e"? Is it "Mac, capitol someting? Is it "Mc, capitol something?" Is it "Mac, lower-case something?" Is it "Mc, upper case something? There are so many possibilities. And here we have a well-paid lawyer who.... GETS IT WRONG!

You have to know that taking on B's double-barrelled name was a challenge. (I was going to say "problem", but am trying to be polite). For many years it has always been, "Mrs. Clarke" this...or "Mrs. Marley" that. Many think my maiden name was "Marley", that I am a liberated woman who kept her maiden name -- a hyphenated/liberated feminist. No such luxury. I am in bondage like every other woman with a husband, children and a fulltime job. When I married B I had to decide whether to revert to my maiden name, or take on his. My children had their father's. Would I keep that one? No, I decided to take on B's name. I was his wife; that would be my name.

In a small town such as Ottawa that has proven both a blessing and a curse. With an ex-wife who insists on keeping B's name -- without his permission -- "Marley-Clarke" stands out in this town. Happily, after 30 years we have long established our own identity as a couple. But I am one who thinks women who wish to keep their husband's name after an (unnecessarily) sour divorce should have to be given legal permission by the ex-husband for the privilege. Why dine out on a man you hate? I guess the answer is obvious.

But back to our lawyer. I called him to complain and he had the audacity to say it was a "typo". No, it was not a typo, I explained. A typo would be one missing "e". Four missing "e's" was not a typo. It was inattention to detail and pretty much inexcuseable. The lawyer continued to argue that it was "just a typo". This is why I will not use that lawyer again. He could not help himself..."Once it gets into our computer system, it's wrong on everything." Whaaaaaaaat??!!@ How is that an answer!!!??? I remember working for a lawyer in the "carbon paper" era. You could not get anything wrong. Ever. If you typed something incorrectly, the entire document had to be re-typed for it not to appear to have been tampered with. With computers, getting anything wrong is unfathomable.

I told him to re-send the entire package. I ripped the "typo" one up.