Thursday, February 01, 2007
Will the real David Alexander...?
That's how many people in the USA are named "David Alexander." Then there's another 68 who are listed as "Dave Alexander."
I know what all of you -- alright, both of you -- would like to ask: "Do you prefer 'Dave' or 'David'?" Before I moved here to DC in 1980, I was generally known as "Dave." After moving here, I was "David." Back in Ohio, especially among the family, I'm still "Dave." But not here.
There are at least four guys with my name in the DC metropolitan area of whom I am aware. One is (or was the last time I checked) a career official with the White House Office of Management and Budget. Another lives elsewhere in Arlington. (The same guy? Beats me.) The last guy is a Jewish attorney with the Environmental Protection Agency (or at least he was the last time I checked), originally from Brooklyn. I met him when my cousin from Kansas came to town in '81 and tried to look me up. She got this guy instead. He didn't know who she was, so she figured I was putting her on. How she could confuse our accents is beyond me.
But the fun didn't stop there. Back then, there was a folk music radio show on Sunday nights, with a call-in contest and a grand prize of two tickets to the Birchmere. It so happened that both David Alexanders were listening that night -- myself, and the EPA guy -- both called the program, and both had the right answer. It took the station a few minutes of putting one or the other on hold to figure out that it was two different guys. But I had already met him by then. Great guy. Even helped my cousin move into her place at the West End. In fact, they may have dated for awhile, I'm not sure.
Neither am I sure of any degree of success in forming a David Alexander Society, something I've considered if I ever wanted an excuse to rent office space on K Street.
But I was sure of one thing, and that was the answer to the trivia question.
Q: At the 1959 Newport Folk Festival, a young singer named Joan Baez made her debut, appearing instead of the scheduled performer. Who was that other performer?
A: Bob Gibson.
(All numbers estimated based upon statistical and demographic data from US Census Bureau. For entertainment purposes only. You got a problem with that?)
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2 comments:
Something smells with this.
It said there were zero people with my name. There's even zero people with my last name even though I have a wife, 6 kids, a father, grandmother, etc
Yes, I have to wonder . . . my husband has any number of cousins throughout the USA, but the last name doesn't come up at all.
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