Why I don't use my first name

So today I am going to explain some things that I get asked many many many….MANY times throughout my life. I’m not really mad, because I understand your misunderstanding. But today dear reader, I will explain to you why things are the way they are.

First and foremost, I do not go by my first name. My first name is Andrew. The only time this ever comes up is when my name is called out in class, or I wear a name tag made by someone else. The usual question I receive from lost friends is, ”Ben, my goodness I didn’t know your name was Andrew. Why do you go by Ben?” I will say this again without irony, I go by Ben because that IS my name. I didn’t just come up with it when I was three. I didn’t say “Sorry parents, I am not feeling Andrew, I feel more like a Ben, and I’d be quite happy if you’d call me as such. I have been called Ben for as long as I can remember.

I was just as concerned as everyone else was when I went to 1^st grade one day and I couldn’t find my desk. The teacher had craftily put everyone’s first and last name on all of our desks and it was a game to find it. My teacher ended up bringing me over to a desk that in large Black letters had said Andrew Laing. I thought whoever this Andrew kid was would be mad that I had stolen his seat and was worried all day for the moment when he would appear. When I got home I told my mom everything that had happened and she gave me this explanation. “Ben, your first name is Andrew, because your father is Andrew as well. We call you Ben because we didn’t want to confuse you.” But this isn’t the whole story. 

I’m 19 now. And I still go by Ben. I am called Ben because I have a cousin Andrew, a Cousin Drew, my father is called Andy, and my Grandmother is know as Ann. So every use of the use of Andrew is sprawled out through my family, and because I haven’t decided to be called Rew for fear of being confused with the Winnie-The-Pooh character, Ben I will remain.