When my teenage son, David, read me his A.P. English assignment this afternoon -I asked him if I could share it with you. As you can tell, he said it was okay.
A junior in high school, he doesn’t enjoy writing all that much, but when a topic is this close to his heart, he rises to the occasion.
I’ve grown up with one minor difficulty. It does not concern my height, weight, or hair texture. It is my name – David Joseph Kraft.
Now, don’t get me wrong, David is awesome and Joseph is superb. It’s my last name that’s the real problem.
When I looked up the meaning of my name I came up with these results: David means beloved, Joseph means prince… and Kraft means Mac n cheese. I am the Beloved prince of Mac n cheese. Not so awesome.
I can survive with the meaning of my name, if I never had to share it. Yet,inevitably I’m asked for my name on a daily basis. Since I do it so often I have come up with a foolproof routine:
Hello, my name is David, David Kraft with a K.
You would not believe how many times people still spell it with a ‘C’. Then I’ll get the comment, “Like the Mac n Cheese?!?” “Yes it is, how original.” They ignore my sarcasm and respond with, “Oh sweet that is so awesome.”
They ask the next question, “Are you related?”
“Well, if I was related do you think I would be buying this .99 cent cheeseburger from you?”
I mean really, I know I’m not supposed to hold a grudge but there’s this one kid…
Every day in the hall he purposely catches my eye and goes “Hey Mac n Cheese!” He who shall not be named really chaps my hide. It might have been funny the first or maybe even second time, but after 2 years it really starts to get old.
Then I get the nick names. They include Krafty, Kraftubee and my favorite Kraftibulator! I personally do not mind these nicknames because I have a sense of humor. But, I sure feel bad for my little sister. She is going to have a rough time.
I guess all in all, Kraft is a cool last name after you get past all of the misspellings, annoyingly repetitive people, and the crazy nick names.
Thanks a lot Dad.
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