That's Not My Name Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Years ago when I worked for Madison at Fred Segal I made a new client named Christina Wagner.
Christina had just moved to Los Angeles from NYC and was beyond fabulous. She had incredible taste and was a true "fashionista". We hit it off with our first interaction and she quickly became one of my clients. Christina came in often and we always had plenty to talk about. We were both new to LA and both were passionate about fashion and really all things fab. I would call Christina when new product arrived as I didn't want her to miss out on any must have items and we typically only ordered a size-run. She trusted my taste level and was extremely loyal. Every time she came in I would go home and tell my roommates about my fabulous client Christina Wagner. She was rad. In fact, every time I said her name I would always add "she's so rad". So much so that my buddy Nick started to refer to her as "Christina Wagner She's So Rad". She really was though. With every visit to the store we became better friends. I knew about her life in New York, her years spent living and working in London, her rad husband Paul, her dogs, etcetera. One day she came in on one of my days off and asked the girls if Liam was working? Liam? The girls obviously knew she was referring to me (we only had 4 employees total and I was the only guy) and played along. "Liam's off today, but we'll be sure to tell him you stopped by." My co-workers also thought Christina Wagner was rad and didn't have the heart to correct her. At this point we had been interacting for over 6 months so it seemed weird to everyone that she didn't know my name. Myself included. I didn't know how to correct her and assumed she would eventually catch on. Negative. One night my roommates and I threw a party at our Brentwood apartment and I invited Christina. She was my friend. She graciously accepted and showed up with her friend Shelley. Upon arriving she introduced her friend to me and of course introduced me as Liam. This had gone on long enough. I had to correct her. I told her I had a confession to make. My name is actually not Liam. She seemed confused. My name is Liomir. She didn't understand. I explained that somewhere in our relationship/friendship she must have assumed my name was Liam and by the time my co-workers and I caught on, it seemed strange to correct her. I told her I thought she would eventually figure it out and didn't want to embarrass her. Quite frankly, I was surprised she hadn't since every time I left her a message, I would start by saying "Hey Christina it's Liomir". How did she miss this? Laughter soon followed.
Turns out every time I left a message, she thought I was saying "Hey Christina, it's Liam here." As if I would be that cheesy. We obviously had a good laugh and she immediately updated my contact info from Liam to Liomir on her phone. We remained friends for several years, however eventually lost touch.
Last week I created a Fabulous People Instagram account (@fabulouspeople1) and yesterday invited her to follow me. She accepted. I literally just sent her a DM with my contact info. I'm so excited to catch up with Christina Wagner who I'm sure, no doubt, is still "so rad".
Liomir