i love her so much

When typing up the instructions, the pharmacist or technician was probably using shorthand in the computer, which automatically translates into text a patient can understand. The shorthand for this would have originally been ‘2 pfs po q4h prn hs’, where ‘prn’ stands for ‘as needed’. And there was a typo, so ‘prn’ became ‘pr’, which stands for ‘per rectum’ (aka rectally). I’ve done this myself on accident with ‘diabetes’ (DIAB) and ‘diarrhea’ (DIA), as well as prn and pr. 

Fair enough, though he worded it oddly. I forced a laugh and told him how to pronounce my name. Twice. And after the second time, he disregarded me. Told me he was just going to call me Fred. Now, I have a weird relationship with my name. I love it, I really do. But there’s this sense of apologetic-guilt attached to it. Sorry it’s so long, sorry you can’t pronounce it etc. That onus is hardly on me, but life’s funny like that. 

In this moment though? I didn’t even get to feel apologetic-guilty. I didn’t get to feel anything. I was too busy being accommodating. Because from the moment he forced a nickname on me, I had to endure 5 min or so of the customer and my assistant manager joking at my expense. 

Back and forth they went. “I’m not being politically incorrect!” “You’re so bad.” “She wants me to call her Fred!” And so on. POC being forced to endure being the butt of white humour is nothing new, lest we be seen as easily offended. But that moment was still so surreal. I was the subject but I felt so distant from the topic at hand. These people were joking about my name. 

I was made to endure my great-grandmother and country of origin being mocked for 5+ min.

After the fact I’m not ashamed to admit I cried. I really would’ve liked to tell the manager, “You know, I hope that guy does learn my name. Because I was named after my great-grandmother, and she was named after a national hero.” But I cried instead. Because how do you remind someone not to mock your name? Why should I even be put in a situation that uncomfortable and odd in the first place? 

And when I shall die, take him and cut him up in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will fall in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.

RE-UPLOADED BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL HAD A TYPO

What Your Favorite Avatar Ship Says About You (Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra)

Transcription below the cut