Who's the Real Chris Monroe?
June 01, 2005
Ever since I was about 7 years old, I've been aware of other people named Chris Monroe. And it's been a real hassle every now and then -- you know, like, creditors hounding me for deliquent payments on credit accounts I never had (and stuff like that). I guess my parents wanted me to have a common name. Well, anyway -- here are some of the Chris Monroe's I'm aware of:
1) Chris Monroe, the drummer and studio/session musician.
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2) Chris Monroe, the Secretary of UNLV's Association of Computing Machinery.
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3) Chris Monroe, the basketball player (2002 Colonials of Geo. Wash. Univ.)
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4) Chris Monroe, the traffic reporter for WSB radio.
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5) Chris Monroe, Director of Budget and Finance at Marquette University.
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6) Chris Monroe, Music Minister at Vinton Baptist Church in Virginia
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7) Chris Monroe, played by Cheryl Ladd on Charlie's Angels.
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8) Chris Monroe, aka Desert Pastor (that's me!)
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*credit to Dwight Friesen for inspiring the idea behind this post.
i have never had this problem -- mike vanderkwaak
Posted by: mike vanderkwaak | June 01, 2005 at 09:23 AM
Me neither :-)
Posted by: Pat Loughery | June 01, 2005 at 09:54 AM
I have this problem ALL THE TIME!!
I'm a session keyboardist in LA and have done very few christian projects. There is a session keyboardist in Nashville, also named michael lee, who does almost exclusively christian projects. I've gotten more than one call from people booking me on gigs and dates thinking they were getting him, and he's gotten more than a few calls from people in Nashville thinking I had moved back there.
Posted by: michael lee | June 01, 2005 at 10:11 AM
nice to meet you!
Posted by: maryellen | June 01, 2005 at 10:26 AM
Michael (and everyone else) - the funniest name-confusion story I've heard involved a friend at BIOLA University: Jim Hafer, who was flown down to a mega-chuch in Argentina for a speaking engagement. After he arrived, he discovered that they thought he was Jack Hayford (I know, I know, it's a bit of a stretch... but it actually happened).
Posted by: Chris | June 01, 2005 at 10:33 AM
And on a slightly similar vein (and I think we've had this conversation before!), I started using "Chris(tine)" on blogs, instead of my normal daily-life "Chris", because of confusion it caused on your blog when I used "Chris" - especially during a conversation of some sort on women in ministry, and one commenter didn't realize I was a woman... I still wonder sometimes whether I should just stick with "Chris" and let people wonder about whether it is a woman or a man commenting, but I don't like to be at all deceptive, either, and now I'm used to "Chris(tine)...
Posted by: Chris(tine) | June 01, 2005 at 02:58 PM
"I still wonder sometimes whether I should just stick with "Chris" and let people wonder about whether it is a woman or a man commenting"
Chris, I would just use 'Chris' instead of 'Chris(tine)'. Bloggers (and others) need to be sharp enough and wise enough to not assume too much when dialoging with folks online. I'm sure your experience has been like mine: many names we encounter out there could be female OR male -- and really, what does it matter. Our ideas are either good ones or they're not -- and it doesn't matter what the sex of the other person is.
Hey, if it will help you, I'll start using my last name here, alright?
blessings
Posted by: Chris Monroe | June 01, 2005 at 03:31 PM
Thanks for the support Chris! - but you don't have to start using your last name!! That's not what I meant, and I haven't been commenting here all that much recently, anyway... your post just reminded me of that old conversation, and how I started using "Chris(tine)". Now I use it all over the place and I'm used to it... Though thanks for the encouragement to not worry about whether it confuses people or not... How about if I do switch back Chris here, I'll use my last initial as well, to avoid confusion! You gotta keep things comfortable, be relaxed, in your own home blog!!! ;)
Posted by: Chris A. | June 01, 2005 at 03:38 PM
That is scary. I went to college, in NY, with a Chris Monroe. I used to get his student loan info, parking tickets, and all sorts of stuff. What a pain.
Posted by: Chris Monroe | November 29, 2005 at 11:41 AM
Hi Chris Monroe! Thanks for posting.
Yeah, I've experienced the same thing here on the west coast -- it all started in the 3rd grade when I started getting bills from the public library for late fees and missing book charges!
Posted by: Chris | November 29, 2005 at 05:12 PM