Passage 11
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Though your parents probably meant to have your name
last a lifetime, remember that when they picked it they'd hardly met you, and
the hopes and dreams they cared for when they chose it may not match
yours. If your name no longer seems to fit you, don't lose heart.
Film stars change their names, and with some determination, you can, too.
If you wish to pick up a new name, you don't need to
make the change official. Under common law, all that is necessary is to
start using the name of your choice. Remember, though, that you must use
it everywhere---even with your mother---for it to become your legal name.
Getting friends and fellow workers to call you Leach
instead of Lola may be harder than any paperwork involved, but you'll probably
meet official resistance, too. Be sure that no law prevents you from
using the name you have chosen, unless you use it for the purpose of
cheating. If the gas company tells you that you cannot get your bill
under a new name, they are wrong. You don't have to show them any sort
of court document. You have a right to be called by whatever name you
choose.
By this time, you've probably realized that changing
your name is more difficult than replacing your furniture of changing your
hair color, though the effect can be unusually encouraging. Don't care
too much if you have to keep reminding others of your change of a new
name---keep on, and your friends and lover will accept your new name.
Good luck!