My Famous Name

            I do not know what my name means. When I was born, my name was Gabriel, but my father changed my name with my older brother, who was five years old. In Brazil, legislation allows the fathers to register the child in the first fifteen days of birth without the presence of the mother, provided that witnesses are present, which was not difficult for my father, since he was the owner of a bar at that time. The change of my name was a big surprise to my mother and, at the same time, a great shock. My mother refused to accept the fact that my father simply modified my name without her knowledge and kept calling me Gabriel for the first three months of birth, but time beat her. She could not do anything about it, since my father was protected by Brazilian law.

            In fact, my father chose that name for me because my name is a big joke among people playing soccer player, in Brazil, and he realized that this joke would transfer into my life. My father's father was correct. I continue to listen to the famous phrase that the soccer narrator said to the most famous goalkeeper of the Brazilian soccer team in his moments of glory on the pitch: “vai que é sua Taffarel”. That means “Go! the ball is yours, Taffarel”, in English. This is why my name is Taffarel. Everyone who knows about football and knows about this joke wants to play with me, including here in the USA.

            Although this situation of having to listen to the same joke every moment of my life can be boring, I like my name. I am an open person and I make this arrangement a pleasant way, so I use this joke to make new friends. The funny part of my name is the pronunciation, and especially with people from other cultures who want to pronounce my name. Another funny thing about my name is how to spell it correctly. Many people spell it incorrectly. It is not easy to pronounce my name in my native language. Can you imagine for other people of different cultures? When people get embarrassed by my name, I try to explain my story in a fun way to make them smile and then we can make it as if it were a great joke, so we can start a new friendship.

            In conclusion, having a weird name can often put people in embarrassing situations. On the other hand, when we learn to deal with unpleasant situations with good humor and in a funny way, we can use this in our favor to make happy people, since they will smile together with you, and at the same time we will make new friendships. In addition, having a different name can help someone become an uninhibited person, which can also help in a good network for a possible job or business proposal. Just be yourself and be happy.