Consequently, wherever I can get away with not using my name, I do. In restaurants, I give "Jack" as my name to maitre'd's and cashiers. It isn't as if they're going to check my I.D. Whenever I play a game at challenge courts, I introduce myself to the opponent as "Jack". Similar reason. It's unlikely that I will meet him again.
Sometimes, this gets me into trouble. A frequent player at the racketball challenge courts got my name etched into memory and seeing me one day in a crowded bar, waved to me "Hi Jack!". On getting a queer look from the person I was with, I found myself explaining why I would intentionally "misrepresent" (not my word) myself.
Another time, my partner didn't show up at the tennis court and so, I accosted a fellow bouncing balls off the wall. He agreed to play and I introduced myself to him as, you guessed it, Jack. He said he was from North Carolina, a researcher into Native American artifacts and that he would be in Oklahoma all spring. Would I be interested in playing on weekday evenings? So, we started playing rather regularly and when he offered to take me on a guided tour of a nearby Native American reservation, I eagerly accepted.
Calling to leave a message about when we could leave, he heard the message on my answering machine and was properly mortified when I met him next. "And I was calling you Jack all the while," he murmured.
"My fault, entirely," I said sheepishly.
