What's In a Name?

I rarely go by my full name, Gabrielle, always by Gabe, but recently I have been introducing myself by my full name. You see, my nickname, Gabe, throws people for a loop all of the time. I'm a girl and it's typically a guy's name. I get it. I really do.


My freshman year at BYU I was signed up for an Honors English class. We had an assignment due the first day of class (and you better believe my English professor was already on my bad side for that). We, as a class, would reply to our professor and to the entire class on a message board. Well, it was class of all girls and the first day of class the professor introduced the class, went over the syllabus, blah blah blah and then said something like, "well I thought we had everyone here but we must be missing someone. Where's Gabe?" OF COURSE. So I raised my hand and much to the shock of my professor...I was a girl! She kind of stammered for a second, regrouped and then said she thought I was a guy. Good thing this is really nothing new so I was fine with it. Situations like this have happened on numerous occasions. I ran a 5K years ago and instead of my name and time showing up under the female section, despite my checking the "female" box, it appeared under the male section. 


Now I know there are some pretty odd names out there (Apple? Really? Really?), but I don't think my name is all that complicated. Say it with me people: GABE-REE-ELLE. It is not GAB-ree-elle (I do not like being called Gab, Gabby, Gabriella, or any variation where the pronunciation of the first syllable of my name rhymes with dab, bab, scab, lab, flabby; you get the picture).


Nor is my name pronounced Gabe-ree-ULL. That would be the male pronunciation. Think of the difference between Daniel and Danielle. That's like my name: Gabriel (pronounced GABE-REE-ULL) is the male name and my name Gabrielle (GABE-REE-ELLE) is the female version. It's GAAAAABE (long "a")-REE-ELLE. So when I have 10-15 patients to see in a day, I don't have time to spend dissecting and explaining my name. Plus, dealing with a lot of old, hard of hearing or nearly deaf patients complicates things, so I just introduce myself as Gabrielle and usually they say, "Awwww GAB-rielle, how pretty!" A little spark flares through my eyes and I smile, nod, and carry on. 


Anyway, this whole rant stems from a conversation I had with the one and only Dr. W today during staffing. We had a few patients and their families come in to discuss their progress and such, and I introduced myself using my full name Gabrielle (one more time, that's GABE-REE-ELLE *obnoxious smile* Got it? *sweet toothy smile*). After the patient and family left, Dr. W turned to me and said, "Oooooh Gabrielle today? No Gabe?" I said yes and explained my reasoning that once I say "Gabe" they completely stop listening and become fixated on the uniqueness of my name. Dr. W sarcastically retorted, "Well it's not like it matters. They don't listen to you anyway." Thank you Dr. W. You are a gem. No but really, it's cool. Dr. W is the bomb. Except if he calls me Gabby or Gab, woe, woe, woe unto him. The wrath of the redhead will be upon him. *wickedly innocent smile*


I have homemade fruit leather in the oven. We'll see how this goes. I don't have a food processor or a blender so it might be a little chunkier than it's supposed to be. But I'm VERY excited. Pictures tomorrow.