Kamugunga.

 Kamugunga.


    Say it again? Huh? How do you say it? Is that right? Did I say it right? Wow. Woah. All these are responses to the last name Kamugunga. Kamugunga. A monster of a last name. Nine letters. A name with sounds that aren't common in the English language, and combinations of letters that definitely aren't heard often. It's a name that gets second glances. Every time a name is on a sheet, whether it's for a soccer camp, a team list, or a class attendance, the pace of the reader slows. The worst is when it's people I will see again. Kumagunga? Wrong, but close enough. So more than likely I will let it slide, in hopes that it doesn't come up again. There I would be wrong again. Some people I have known for years, still mispronounce my last name, but they are oblivious. Because I have never corrected them. I understand mispronouncing things, because it can be hard to say new words, and understand new combinations, but misspelling really gets on my nerves. I find it a way of disrespect in some sense. There are so many ways for one to figure out the spelling of my name. It's not hard to find out. It's not a secret, it's public information. When I receive a text with my last name misspelled I wonder, is it laziness, ignorance, or disrespect. Maybe it's a mix of the three. A name represents who you are, and not spelling it right is not representing it correctly. Because that is a last name that represents many. 

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