"Who Are You?"

Because of Mr. Brandon’s faulty memory there are a number of students on the bus that have names neither they nor their parents ever intended for them.  Instead of saying, “Hey you,” when I need a riders attention I often just call out a name loud enough that they look and then I add, “That’s right _________ I mean you.”  Even when I call them by what I believe to be their correct name I’m usually wrong.  After two years of talking to one little girl, believing I was using her real name, not a fictional Mr. Brandon name, she politely said, “You do know that’s not my name don’t you?”  I’ve called one little girl Francine so long that her mother said she now calls her Francine at home.  There is one young lady that has given me a challenge.  I will often call a child by the name of the character that appears on the t-shirt of jacket that they are wearing.  The first time I meet the young lady she was wearing a jacket with an animated character on the front.  I was sure I knew the character so I said, “How you doing Dave?”  She quickly and adamantly said, “His name is Kevin.” She wore the same jacket a number of days and so I referred to her and she answered to, Kevin.  Then she changed to a shirt with a different character and I was informed her name was Lightning.  Then she was Batman. I tried to hold true to the changing name according to attire.  Not sure what she was wearing when one afternoon she stood up in the seat and shouted, “Mr. Brandon, guess what.  I’m King of the World.”  Several of us said, “Don’t you mean Queen of the World?” “NO! King of the World!” was her reply.  By the way she said it we all knew better than to argue with her.