(I am about thirteen, and I have just gotten my braces off. With this, they have given me a retainer which makes me speak with a lisp until I get used to it. Unfortunately, I have an S name, so this makes even saying my own name difficult. My mom wants to talk to her sister on the phone, but she has her hands full, so she has me call first. My uncle has a very dry sense of humor and thus is not very personable to talk to. I’m okay talking with him now, but at the time I’d rather just get to my aunt. This is before caller ID is in most homes.)
Uncle: “Hello?”
Me: “Hi, it’s Stephanie. Is [Aunt] there?”
Uncle: “Who is this?”
Me: “Stephanie.”
Uncle: “We don’t know any Destiny. Sorry, you have the wrong phone number.” *hangs up*
Me: “Uh…”
Mom: “What happened?”
Me: “It was [Uncle]. He said he didn’t know a Destiny and I had the wrong phone number.”
Mom: “Try again. I’m almost finished.”
(On the phone:)
Uncle: “Hello?”
Me: “Hi, it’s Stephanie. Can I talk to [Aunt]?”
Uncle: “Who is it?”
Me: “Stephanie.”
Uncle: “Destiny?”
Me: “No, Stephanie!”
Uncle: “I told you, we don’t know any Destiny. You have the wrong number.” *hangs up*
Me: “He keeps hanging up on me!”
Mom: “What? Why?”
Me: “I don’t know! He keeps calling me Destiny!”
Mom: “Try again. Try to speak more clearly.”
(On the phone:)
Uncle: “Hello?”
Me: “Hello, this is Stephanie. Is–”
Uncle: “I TOLD YOU WE DON’T KNOW ANY DESTINY! STOP CALLING US!” *hangs up*
(I started crying. My mom finished what she was doing and called. Her sister picked up this time. She apologized for my uncle. She was wondering why he was angry on the phone, but my mom and aunt laughed about the situation for a while. Eventually, I found the humor in it, and now they sometimes call me Destiny.)
