For the past couple of years my day has started by deleting 10 or 12 emails from public relations people from the Columbus, Ohio area. Why am I getting these emails? Because I am confused for a Duane St. Clair who is a writer for one of the local Columbus, Ohio newspapers. If you think that opting out of correspondence from these people would end these emails you would be wrong. I have tried this route but the emails only seem to multiply. Sometimes I know more about what is happening in Columbus than I do about Columbia. Are PR people too lazy to do a little research and find out that I am not the person they think I am?
Of course like most people I have Googled my name and searched WhitePages.com to see how many other Duane St. Clairs there are in the US. Who would have ever thought that I could find at least 7 other Duane St. Clairs in the US. In addition to the one in Columbus there is an OB/GYN in Idaho who is involved with Planned Parenthood and has been targeted by anti-abortion advocates. I guess it wouldn't be safe for me to move to Idaho anytime soon.
I once sent letters to the 7 other Duane St. Clairs with the addresses I found in WhitePages.com just to say "hi" and comment on how unique it was to share the same name. I asked each to write back and let me know a little about them. That must have scared them off because no one wrote back. I still thought it might be neat to meet someone with whom I shared a name just to compare notes on the name. Maybe I will bump into them some day.
P.S.
One other commonality that I have always wanted to find is someone who was born the same day as I was. I have come close once with a guy who I met and was born the day before me. I know they are out there and I just have to keep searching.
I have a sort of "pen pal" in Barcelona, Spain who has the same name as I do. Our gmail addresses are almost identical and I occasionally get her emails. Since I speak enough Spanish to understand and respond to the emails, I forward them to her. In the process we've exchanged information about our respective lives. If I ever get to Barcelona, or she comes here, it will be like getting together with an old friend.
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