what's wrong with the world is, people call people "al" before they're invited to. (never end a sentence with a preposition.)
my uncle's name is allan and everyone calls him allan. because that's his name. rocket science.
no one calls him al. or, more correctly, no one should call him al. unless he says it's ok.
but good manners and respect and consideration for the other person are in short supply these days. that's why you see people starting to eat before the people with them get their food. that's rude. whether your name is al or joe or billy bob thornton, that's rude.
(by the way......i love the affection which the people from appalachia have for using two first names - like billy bob. or jimmy earl. i wonder if anybody has the name joey al. i bet somebody does. and i bet the somebody who does doesn't want folks calling him "al.")
but, back to what i was saying........
it's not ok to chop off a person's name - regardless of how friendly or good your intention may be - unless the person gives you the green light. i had a good friend who violated that once.
my friend, who was a teenager, upon meeting my uncle allan for the very first time said, "pleased to meet you, al." my uncle allan was very gracious about it and let it go. i was ticked about it but i also let it go because to make a scene about somebody chopping off somebody else's name is worse than chopping it off. but i was ticked that my friend thought he could be so familiar, so soon.
a few weeks ago, rudy talked to my parents, for the very first time, on the phone - briefly and unexpectedly. i was on my cell with them and on impulse (me? on impulse? please.).........and me, on impulse, threw the phone to rudy and said, here, say hi to my parents. (my parents, on their end, were likewise abruptly shoved into a conversation with a complete stranger whom they had never met. albeit a complete stranger whom they had never met whom their daughter was quite fond of. never end a sentence with a prepostion.)
so, i throw the phone to rudy and rudy (who happened to be driving at the time so yeah......balancing act)......rudy, who is almost 60-years old, said, "hello, mr. and mrs. rankin......"
i loved rudy for that. it was classy. it was respectful. and when i spoke to my parents about it later, they said the same thing - "we had a very good impression of him, nancy - just in the few quick minutes we spoke with him. he seemed so nice. and so polite."
so, yeah, rudy.
you can call 'em al.
