In Which We Become Two Famous Men

/ johnlmalone

We hadn’t seen each other since Covid began and had forgotten each other’s names.

It was at the gym and the pulsating music upstairs during a class made hearing difficult.

Martin, he said.

Pardon?

Martin as in Martin Luther King.

Ah. I’m John.

Pardon?.

John as in John the Baptist.

Ahh, he said.

We shook hands and had a brief chat over the music.

Henceforth when we saw each other, especially after a long time, I’d remember him as Martin Luther King and he’d remember me as the preacher who baptised sinners in the river Jordan.

*which famous person first comes to mind when you say your first name?

19 thoughts on “In Which We Become Two Famous Men”

  1. I’m happy to rely on my own good self, as the ‘famous’ person. I’m quite famous, campared to the vast majority of people. Well, in my own small region I am, anyway, and if people have never heard of me in my own ‘spot’, do I want to know them? Nah, not really …
    Haha!

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  2. a well-thought out response, Carolyn. I should have added Martin is of African descent so the King reference fits regarding skin colour but I have a feeling that I look nothing like John the Baptist 🙂 for that matter, does anyone?

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  4. My father had named me after P.B. Shelley, the famous English poet who wrote numerous romantic poetry. Unfortunately, he never told me about him until it was too late. I thought he had named me after the Hindi word ‘shaily’ which stands for ‘a school or art’ or ‘style of art’. So, in class 10, I ‘fixed the spelling mistake’ while filling board exam forms. My father found out when he saw the result card.
    So, it would have been too much of a hassle to get it changed. He let the name stay.
    I’m glad since I have my own ‘style’ and am nothing like ‘Shelley’ anyway! 😁😁😁

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  7. I am Ed, from my middle name – I am John Edward; but my dad went by John, so the family called me Eddie, then when I got a bit older (twelve!) I insisted on being called Ed. I get the “Mr. Ed” reference A LOT, so I have learned to make the sound of a horse chortling and saying, “Aw, Wilbur!” 😀

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