It is possible to confuse people simply by overplaying the commonest of things. My friend Tim Smith often did this using his surname, a most ordinary and well-known name to be sure. When giving his name for the purposes of checking in for an appointment or a sleeping room, he would offer his name: “I’m Tim Smith.” And then, after he watched them either look for his name or begin to write it down, he would quickly spell out his last name. “That’s S-M-I-T-H.”
Invariably,
the person just given his name would stop dead. “Wait? What? Could you please spell for me again?”
This pleased Tim to no end, of course. Playing cool, Timmy would slowly
spell-out his name a second time. I must admit, I also enjoyed this show once I
figured out the game.
—Mitchell Hegman
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