A few weeks ago I was considering how I wanted to present and market my name online. I’ve always gone by “Jeff” in place of the longer “Jeffrey”, and never really cared to include my middle initial. But, a quick Google search showed that I had some competition - apparently there are a number of us Jeff Sargents out there. Not that many, I suppose, but it made me consider branding Jeffrey Sargent, or Jeff + middle initial + Sargent, etc. to lessen the competition.
As I was considering this, I received a rather interesting email from a lady in the northeast that we’ll call Barbara. Now, Barbara was not happy with Jeff Sargent. It seems that Jeff, having entered a relationship with Barbara years ago under presumably happy terms, was now severing that relationship quite less delicately that poor Barbara would prefer. Barbara sought to explain her injured feelings to Jeff Sargent in very. direct. words.
I thought the first email was spam. Actually, I thought it was rather clever, targetted spam, because Barbara has emailed Jeff Sargents at 3-4 domains besides mine, and in an effort to track down the correct Jeff Sargent, I visited those domains. When I received the 2nd, and then the 3rd emails (all caps, and still very direct), it was confirmed that this was no spammer, but instead, yes, a very spurned lover.
I emailed Barbara back, let her know that I wasn’t the Jeff Sargent she was looking for but that I was unhappy that one of my namesake was complicating things for her, and wished happiness to her and eternal papercuts to him, the nefarious Jeff Sargent. She emailed back, rather embarassed, but much more pleasant sounding than in her emails featuring rather. direct. words.
My little online interaction with Barbara sealed the deal for me - I’m sticking with Jeff Sargent. I’m used to it, I like it, and, well, so far it’s made for some fun online.
Del.icio.us
digg
FURL
reddit
Technorati
Ma.gnolia
Stumble Upon
Bloglines