Juliet may be a rose if Romeo decides to call her one. That’s fine for her. But for me, I like to have things properly named and labeled. It makes life easier to know which specific type of woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. Especially when there’s over 100 different kinds.
With that said, my father’s business has been named “Bruce L. Mansfield, P.C.” for a long time. I’m sure it was convenient since checks could just be made to him in name. Yet, on my birthday, (but not “for” my birthday) we changed the name of the business to “Mansfield & Mansfield, P.C.” which implies I have an important part to play now! This is great. It might not be a pay raise, per se, but it does give me that extra bit of incentive to make sure it’s not just the family name being dragged through the mud when I do work. I’m my name specifically, and I can’t get away from it!
Usually this is cause for celebration, but we’ll do a ribbon cutting, cake and punch at a later date. And we’ll change the web site and bank accounts at a later date too. But for now, it’s work as usual – just with a much more prestigious looking letterhead I don’t have to explain, “Yes, we’re related.”
Because regardless of whether we’re related, my name is on the door and paper like his is!
The Father Mapple 