His name was my name, too... eek for coincidence!

In Gr. 8, there was a guy with the same first and last names as me. That was very unsettling. I actually learned about this in Gr. 7, as we were each given a newspaper from one of the local junior high schools to read. (it was during one of those "Choose Your Next School" days) My classmate Annette had gotten further into the paper than I had, and called out: "Hey, why is your name in the paper?" Of course, I shot back: "What do you mean?" She told me to look on the honor roll page.. yep, there it was. Didn't really give it much thought until the first day of Gr. 8.

There was indeed someone with the exact same name in Gr. 9.. kinda shocked me that it was a guy. (I knew of males with my first name, but didn't think people named their sons that anymore) Yes, we got mixed up. I got called to the office once in Gr. 8 because the guy had skipped French class, and the teacher (Mrs. Tijman) wasn't too happy about it. The funny / ironic thing about this one was that I had Mrs. Tijman the next two years running for French / Spanish classes.

There was also the time that our report cards got switched.. he had better grades than I did, so it was easy to see that it was a mix-up. Unfortunately, some people thought it was absolutely hilarious. I remember E.J. Navarro saying this to me on the way home from school once: "Hey, you two are a match made in heaven! You have the same name, right?!" I decidedly did not think so.. heck, the two of us never even talked much (if at all) during the time we were at the same school.

When it came time for senior high, I thought I'd be free of him. (Gr. 10 was a welcome respite, in that I was the only one with my name in the school) There was a list by the counsellors' office that gave the three local senior highs, and which one the Gr. 10's were switching to for Gr. 11 and 12. I'd looked at the list in Gr. 9, and decided that I was safe in McNair Secondary, as Mr. Same Name had evidently switched to Richmond High. When I got to Gr. 11, I found that it wasn't true. At least we weren't in the same homeroom, nor were our lockers remotely close to each other. (no mix-ups that I can remember at this place, either)

He was on the junior high basketball team, and I remember one assembly we had to congratulate the sports teams on their seasons. My friend Errol Hui was sitting next to me, and he certainly gave me a strange look when "our" name was announced!

So there you have the story.