Of two minds about this one…
Kasia July 24th, 2008
On the one hand, “Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii” and “Number 16 Bus Shelter” are absolutely, positively, completely and utterly stupid names to saddle your child with. Part of me is cheering the New Zealand judge who made poor Talula etc. a ward of the court so he could mandate a name change. Especially since the poor girl was so (understandably) mortified that she never even told her closest friends what her legal name was.
On the other hand, part of me doesn’t like to see governments charging in and taking over. The state exists to serve the citizens, not vice versa; and while stepping in to change a grossly ludicrous name seems to be a reasonable measure, whenever anything like this happens I find myself wondering what the potential next step is. Call it the Yank in me.
But seriously, what I really want to know - who would even try to name their kid “Sex Fruit”?!??! What kind of drugs were involved in THAT?!?!?
The state steps in to do things like this when individuals (in this case, the girl’s parents) are too stupid or too wrapped up in their own ‘oh-so-fabuluous-and-interesting’ lives to do anything for anyone besides themselves. At that point the state says, “Ok - you don’t get to make important decisions anymore - go play with this bouncy ball”.
I’d call those names borderline child abuse.
Clam said: On the other hand, part of me doesn’t like to see governments charging in and taking over. The state exists to serve the citizens, not vice versa; and while stepping in to change a grossly ludicrous name seems to be a reasonable measure, whenever anything like this happens I find myself wondering what the potential next step is. Call it the Yank in me.
Say it with me, Clam: You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hand!
TBS
I LOVE the name Talula Hula! Can I change my name to that?
Sex fruit, not so much. Try playing hard to get with a name like that.
TBS
Canuck,
Well, Canadians spend all their money on beer and popcorn anyway, so y’all clearly can’t be trusted to make big decisions!
TBS
PS: How do I remember that kerfuffle, but cannot remember my lunch half the time?
Molon labe, no?