Six! Seven! It All Sounds the Same to Me April 27, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Asia, Memory Lane , 9commentsI know a girl named Seven. As in the number seven. She was my dress assistant when I worked as a fit model in Taiwan. She was so sweet and lovely, and spoke basic English pretty well with her soft low voice.
One day, after my skin felt like it would fall off my body if one more piece of fabric touched it, (she had helped me slide in and out of over 100 dresses that day) I asked her why her name was Seven.
Did you know that Asians who work primarily with Americans give themselves American names? Yeah, they just pick out a name that sounds nice to them, and name themselves.
This is why she is named, Seven.
Because some ill-informed Asian told her that the number Seven was a popular name.
I kept calling her Six (on accident) when she was so nice to take me to the world’s stinkiest night market to help me find make-up brushes. I yelled, “SIX!” several times above the loud hum of the crowded market to get her attention, and only after her non-response did I realize that the numbers six and seven don’t sound the same.
(Seven is on the left in the green shirt. She is the the only Asian in the photo which might give her away too. . .)
Moral of the story:
Don’t name your kid after a number.
