Today I was at a government office. There as a missionary in front of me in line. A very agitated worker in a very loud voice told him.

"This will now be the third time we do this form. Do not sign this as Elder Blah! It is not your name!"

Elder Blah apparently signed Elder Blah because she told him to go to the end of the line and stop wasting other peoples time.

When I first began working for Social Security, back in the early 1970s, we had a difficult time getting some of the married women to sign the forms with "Susan Smith" rather than "Mrs. Thomas Smith."

"But this is how I sign EVERYTHING!" they would protest. We had to explain, "The 'Mrs.' part is a title. It is not a name. You have to sign your name exactly as it is shown on your other legal documents."

We would have them pull out their drivers' licenses, and some of them were absolutely dumbfounded to see "Susan Smith" on the license.

Apparently, being "Mrs." was more important than having a real name. . .

My aunts and grandmothers signed that way.

This is not unique to Mormonism. It was very common across all America in past generations.

Yes, it used to be on credit cards as well -- "Mrs. Thomas Smith." Women had a terrible time getting credit in their own names after their husbands died. I remember my mom kept her married name on her credit cards for years after my dad's death for just this reason.

His passive aggressive training appears to be paying off.

He is just trying to avoid tracting...

I ran into a missionary in the Sacred Grove many years ago, whose last name was Elder. So he was Elder Elder. LOL

Edit: Oh, I forgot! His companion was also Elder Elder.

Elder Elder and his companion Elder Elder. LOL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2017 09:11PM by Greyfort.

Hi. My name's Larry. This is my brother Daryl. This is my other brother Daryl.

There was a Brazilian guy in my Italian class at BYU whose first name was actually Elder.

It ain't "Brother" either.

Well I guess I'll just have to believe you Greyfort.

You wouldn't make up a story like that.....would you?

Shummy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well I guess I'll just have to believe you
> Greyfort.
>
> You wouldn't make up a story like that.....would
> you?


Absolutely not. It was so funny that I still remember it years later. They actually didn't appreciate us finding it so funny.

The TBM friend that I was with at the time dumped me when I left the Church, but up until then, she would bring it up frequently too. "Remember that time when we met ...?"

Too funny.

They probably wouldn't see the absurdity of an Elder Young either.

Probably not. I don't know if it annoyed them, or if they just didn't get why it was funny. But we were laughing and they were not amused. Maybe they just heard it too much. LOL