Member-only story
I Had to Be Myself…Everyone Else Was Taken
When I made the decision to resign from my classroom teaching position in 2006, after twenty years and many sleepless nights I arrived on the internet without an identity. I was Connie Green at that time, but that wasn’t going to do. Too many women with that name, primarily in North America and Europe ad many of whom owed money to others or had otherwise tarnished their reputations. Even the dot com of my name was registered to one of my namesakes who was selling something related to fashion. Because my clothing was off the rack and purchased on the sale or clearance rack I knew we would never be confused, but she still had the rights to my name.
With a chance encounter at the public library in the city to which I had just relocated in southern California the librarian let me know in no uncertain terms that a library card was out of the question.
“You have outstanding fines and never return your books on time. No library card for you”, she exclaimed.
I was injured at my core. In a feeble voice I whimpered, “But I was a teacher. I always return my books on time.”
Not looking up, I could hear the sound of her rummaging through a card file. It turned out she had me confused with a Connie Green who lived several miles from my new home and who was not me.
