Willful blindness

What’s wrong with this picture?

To: Stuart Herring <stuart.herring@xxxxxx.xx>
Subject: Some Stuff.

Hi Stewart,

Some random stuff...

Regards,
A Moron

or even better – this!

To: Stuart Herring <stuart.herring@xxxxxx.xx>
Subject: Re: Some Stuff

Hi Stewart,

Yes I'm still a moron and I refuse to accept that you know how to spell your
name better than I do.
The fact that your email address is spelt with a "u" didn't tip me off, and
neither will the fact that you sign your name with a "u".

Regards,
Willfully Blind Moron.

> ------ Original Message -------
> From: Stuart Herring <stuart.herring@xxxxxx.xx>
> To: A Moron
> Subject: Re: Some Stuff
>
> Hi Moron,
>
> Did it occur to you that if you have to spell my name with a "u" for your
> email to reach me,  that maybe you should spell it with a "u" when you
> address me too?
>
> Regards,
> Stuart.

OK, so maybe that conversation never actually took place, but it may as well have.
It constantly amazes me how many people at work will type my name correctly to enter my email address, but will then spell it wrong when addressing me.
Even that wouldn’t bother me so much, if it weren’t for the fact that they stubbornly refuse to correct their mistake, even after a long email exchange, in which, I’ve signed every one of my replies with “Stuart”. I can almost see them at the other end with their fingers in their ears going “LALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU”.

The particularly mystifying thing about this, is why people think that my name would be “Stewart” in the first place. “Stuart” is by far the most common spelling of the name as a first name. If you were going to pick a spelling to stubbornly use in the face of all evidence, then “Stuart” should be the one you would pick.

It seems like a fairly petty thing to be bothered about, but it does bother me. My name is Stuart, and it is no more “Stewart” than it is “Bob”, and if you can’t be bothered addressing someone with their correct name (or at least a name you know they don’t mind being addressed by), then don’t bother addressing them at all.

Speaking of names…apparently I have a namesake in Newcastle, England.
I checked my mail a couple of days ago, only to see an email from “Stuart Herring” with the subject “I’m Stuart Herring too”.
That was kind of amusing in itself, but on top of that, it seems that he’s a musician too. He’d been googling his (my) name just to see what came up (as everyone does at some point), and of course found me – (probably via the Cumulo-Nimbus site actually, as before this post the name “Stuart Herring” never actually appears on this site, despite being the domain name.). On discovering that I was also a musician, he figured he’d say hi, and jokingly put forth the suggestion that maybe all Stuart Herrings are musically inclined.
I don’t know if they are, but it’d be kind of nice to think so.