What's in a (wrong) name?

An HR officer in the company addressed me by the wrong name. She called me "Raquel". It's not that I have a problem with the name nor that I particulary dislike it. It's just that... well, it's not mine.

In that moment after she asked me how I was -- or more appropriately, how Raquel was -- I had one of those moments of self-assessment wherein I weigh the best course of action in an awkward situation.

First up,there was a possibility that I have misheard her. Some people call me "Cel" although the syllable is not found anywhere in my considerably long three-part given name. The more accurate variation would be "Cil", which is a subset of "Cecilia". And of course there are "Ces" and "Cilia" -- oh, the snickers I got as a kid during science class when the discussion included the cilium.

Anyway, I dismissed that since most officemates call me "Cecil", as indicated in the issued nameplate posted on my cubicle. In fact, nobody knows anybody else's name apart from what that nameplate and the LDAP defined.

If she did mistakenly address me, I could just pretend I misheard her say my name incorrectly. By virtue of double negation (and sensible sentence structure): I will just pretend I heard my name correctly. I could easily pull that off. My roommate and I spend a good chunk of our conversations asking to repeat what the other said. Not really for fun, it usually just has something to do with mornings.

And of course, there is the mature option of politely correcting her. I am, after all, an adult and should be well-equipped to ably navigate through social situations with grace and courtesy, circumventing any possible awkwardness.

I'd be polite, appear respectfully amused while I point out the error. She'd laugh, maybe a quick apology or a quick excuse that she misspoke. She'd proceed to tell me that of course she knew my name. After all, she was the one who conducted my qualifying personality interview which I was half an hour late for. Maybe she'd bring that up. Ask me how I was getting along. And I'd say that I was doing well, and thank her for asking. Yes, yes. This could work.

And so I smile at her and say, "I'm ok naman po, thank you."

Good job, Raquel.