Friday, October 11, 2013

I suppose "Cinnamon Girl" jokes will be out of the question

Okay, so, the Kia's been sh*tting the bed on me lately.  It's been acting more like a ten-year-old car than a five-year-old car, and frankly,  I'm getting tired of it.  Just this morning, the check engine light came on.  Again.  Motherf*cker.

So I'm thinking I'll trade it in.  I've spent the last few days snooping around on line and checking out my options.  I still owe a couple of grand on the Kia, and I hate to trade in when I'm in the hole, but frankly, I think this car would end up in the junkyard before I ever paid it off, so I'm thinking cut my losses, while the thing still has some Blue Book value.

ANYhow.  I LOVE car shopping on line, because the pressure's off, and you can make some rational choices.  And it turns out, the same dealership I bought the Kia from has some cars I'm interested in.  No, I don't hold it against them from selling me the Kia; I bought a cheap car and that's what I got.  And yes, I did ask if the salesperson who sold me the Kia is still around; the dude treated me fairly and I'd use him again, but it turns out he got bumped up the food chain in the organization and is no longer on the floor.

So!  I've got several choices to start with, car-wise, and I'm in a good position to bargain.  I'm  ready to start with test-drives.

With Cinnamon.

I set up an appointment for Saturday, and the salesperson assigned to my cranky butt that day is Cinnamon.

I ... you know?  Am I just old?  I almost emailed and asked to be given someone else, because I cannot take seriously someone named Cinnamon, and I cannot trust someone named Cinnamon to negotiate this process without someone else above her pulling her strings, and I think she probably won't  know anything about engine sizes and the advisability (or not) of  traction control, and I cannot believe that she'll be working for the organization very long anyway, because let's face it, her true career is either stripper or Hooters employee, because with a name like Cinnamon?

She's obviously not too damn smart.

Does that make me an a**hole?  Yes it does.  Is that how I feel?  Yes it is. 

And I don't really know how to elevate myself to a higher plane where a name like Diamond or Starr or Cinnamon doesn't automatically call to mind "dipsh*t".   And it's not just women's names, either; I would be equally disinclined to take seriously a man named ... I don't know ... "Starship".  Or "Canoe".  I CAN'T HELP IT.

Anybody want  to help me out, here?  I KNOW it's not rational.  How can I get past this?






7 comments:

~~Silk said...

Not so very long ago, the reaction would have been "A female!? What does a female know about cars!? How can I deal with a girl!? Wadda they doing, fobbing me off on the boss' secretary?"

No matter that she's 40 years old and grew up in the business. "Girls don't belong in the car business!"

So, today, being a post-feminism-enlightened and independent and capable woman yourself, you would have no negative reaction had you heard a name like "Christine", because you have no general prejudice against females --- only against certain female names. Female names not chosen, I might point out, but assigned at birth by cutesy-poo parents, possibly under the early influence of hippie commune-living grandparents.

One also has to wonder if you have some underlying animosity against strippers, which shows up in your choice of cat names and reactions to other women based not on their worth, but on their name.

My best friend in my 20s was named Ruby. My favorite entertainer is named Dolly. Neither of them were/are the least bit dippy.

Names are nothing. Just a stuck-on tag, having nothing whatsoever to do with what's in the package.

So, has Aunt Silk embarrassed you enough to think about it? Get to the bottom of your prejudice?

(And sheesh, after all this, I hope to High Heaven this Cinnamon is knowledgeable and professional or I'll sound like an idiot.)

Domestic Kate said...

Keep in mind that if it's her birth name, it's her parents who were a little off-kilter, not her. If it's a nickname that she chooses to use, well, then there could be a great story behind it having nothing to do with stripper poles.

As for boy names, they don't seem to have an equivalent, do they? There isn't a boy version of "Star." However, my soon-to-be father-in-law's nickname is in fact Canoe (Canoa in Spanish) and my fiance sometimes goes by that name too. Does it make you feel better?

Bottom line--you don't have to like the name, but she still deserves a chance.

~~Silk said...

I'll admit I do have some difficulty taking seriously a 50-year-old businessman who calls himself "Charlie", or "Bobby", or "Cubby".

rockygrace said...

~~Silk, I really don't think I have any underlying animosity against strippers. I mean, I wouldn't want to BE one, (like THAT'S gonna happen) but then again, they can make damn good money ... better money than I.

I think I do have a real animosity against "cutesy" names. Cinnamon's parents may have given her the name, but she doesn't have to go by it.

And if Cinnamon googles herself and somehow finds this post, I'm gonna be in BIG trouble tomorrow.

Of course I will give her a chance. It's just, well, my expectations are lowered.

and Kate, now I'm curious - why "Canoe"?

My nickname as a kid was "Bowl Bean", and as a teen was "Quizno", so I know how nicknames can go.

Domestic Kate said...

Canoe is a mystery! My fiance goes by it because his dad went by it--like father like son. In Mexico, it's pretty common for people (mostly men but sometimes women) to not go by their birth name and use a nickname instead.

Becs said...

There's a guy where I work named Lenin Gomez. But like you, I instantly thought of clear heels and a pole when you said her name is Cinnamon.

rockygrace said...

Kate, now I'm gonna wonder how someone got nicknamed Canoe.

And Becs, there's a big difference between Lenin and Lennon. I always wonder how many odd names come about because people can't spell.