1.10.2011

What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face

You know those spy thrillers where gorgeous dangerous people pull handfuls of passports out of an obscure bank deposit box in Europe? They have loads of aliases: people from different countries with different names and birthdays. Sydney Bristol. Jason Borne.

It shows you how powerful they are (or how much powerful help they’ve had) because names are important. Our names connect us to taxes, bank accounts, medical insurance, speeding tickets, credit scores, degrees, citizenship, and families. A person who has legal documentation for separate names has different identities according to the state.

As far as I can tell, this is what’s in a name:
Close my bank account and open a new one. Switch direct deposit from work and withdrawal from loans. Get new cards and checks. Change my name at the SS office (pay money). Go to the Department of Licensing. Stand in line. Provide proof of change in residency from Colorado to Washington. Pay Money. Apply for a new passport. Pay money. Wait. Change the title, insurance, and plates on my car. Get used to hearing "Carvers".

And I was hoping to avoid all this. I had thought that maybe Amy Brown would have done something great enough that the world could not spare her. That those names wouldn't disappear so easily.

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