wow. people are a-mazing.

yay! to working with college students! :)I work with an "Ahmed." Every other terrorist is named Ahmed, so all in all, Omar isn't that bad. Though I can only imagine how annoying people can be about it!

Omar, Scenario 3 reminds me of some of my adventures as a Jew in my small city of Bellingham, in Northwest Washington State.Guy at a bar: You're Jewish?Me: Yeah.Guy at a bar: Jewish? That's a religion, right?Me: Yeah, that's right.Guy at a bar: But you're a Christian, right?Solidarity, my misunderstood brutha.(p.s., I work in the admissions office at Western Washington University.)

One of the very first things people do when they meet me is mispronounce my name. Sometimes, it makes me yearn for the days when violently slapping people in the face in public won't be frowned upon.---X

I've known two Omars. They were both bald. So you are bald in my imagination as well.As for names, I have one of the most common names on earth, first and last. So my dilemma is a little different. When I introduce myself, people say "That should be easy to remember, I have a [brother, uncle, son, friend, boyfriend, student, mechanic, AV guy, pharmacist, lawyer, dentist, financial advisor, computer analyst, forklift driver, ventriloquist, hampster, goldfish, or chiropractor] named Mike."Not sure why that makes it easy to remember...

Wow. I have 3 cousins named Mike. Imagine that.All of the Omars I have known were Puerto Rican or Dominican, so you had a rather attractive latino flair in my imagination. Now I just feel let down, really. Guess I'll have to take harrassing other people of unknown nationality.

Isn't "attractive latino" redundant?hehe

Looking at me, I don't think there would be any reason to believe I'd be of any other nationality. You can't generally tell someone's religion by looking at them (unless someone is wearing some religious garb, which I don't do). So I give people the benefit of the doubt who think I might be a Muslim based on the name, and, I guess, being a black guy. (?) But scenarios 1 and 3, there's no excuse. glo - The extent of my latin flair is my ability to say "estoy cansado." Hopefully this does not change your opinion of me.viking - From 8 years ago until February, I was bald! jon - My boss does the same thing, with regards to that Nomar thing. And no, I'd prefer to not have me remind you of a woman beating drug addict (who can't even run that well anymore). Except Daryl Strawberry. He fits that description, but I wouldn't mind if you associated me with him.x - I too yearn for those days... Those two old ladies at the polling place would have gotten one slap each.(DAMMIT! I just said I didn't want to be associated with a woman-beater!)howard - Judaism is misunderstood on the east coast too. I once heard a guy ask someone "Why do Jewish people call christmas 'hanukkah'?"

Note to self - create new blog, pretend to be latino.

all the omars i've known have been latino, too. but you are so cool you've all but erased the memory of them from my mind. i was picturing you bald, too, because of a comment you made. how do you have your hair now? i did know pakistanis named Amar and Samar, but was really annoyed to find that they were going around telling people to call them Uhm-ARE and sum-ARE instead of ummer and summer, which is how their parents called them, and probably the correct pronunciation. people are idiots. especially at polling places.

Sweet! 3 for 3!

Well, you are the only Omar I 'know' so for me, the name will be associated with, um...curling, and the rolling head of Eartha Kitt [which you are going to do soon, I hope.]Also, like Jon and your boss, I pronounce it in my imagination like this: Oh-maaaaah!

Take notes here, folks. Want to become Omar's favorite reader/commenter? cadiz12: all the omars i've known have been latino, too. but you are so cool you've all but erased the memory of them from my mind. THAT'S how to do it.

Oh, and who's the liar who said they got 100% on the music quiz? Nobody guesses that well.17 - Though curling "rocks" (a bad pun for all the curling fanatics out there), I'm not sure it's what I want to be known for. Eartha Kitt might be coming your way soon, as I got some bad news about my TV tonight.

You should come on down to Malaysia. You can't throw a stone here with hitting an Omar; the place is crawling with them.

I too hated my name as a kid. Got a lot of questions about my parent's mentatl state when they chose it and all. Now a days my name is beyond common and I can pick up tinkets everywhere. Despite that most people I meet do somewhat the same thing as the load people in your scenarios. As soon as they start talking to me the LOUDLY call me Amanda. I totally ignore them which causes them to get even louder and even pursue me calling me rude and sometimes not nice names because I'm ignoring them. It doesn't seem to phase them either when I tell them my name is Amber NOT Amanda. Usually by that time they're so angry they don't even appologise for getting my name wrong.

cadiz - About the hair, I've been growing it out with no goal in mind. Doing the same thing for so many years, I want something different. Right now it's just a four month old nappy fro. I kinda like it, actually. For now.

Not to be a Cadiz12 follower (now there's one I get accused of a lot, I'll tell you), but the long hair may restore my attractive Omar image, but I'm still going to pretend you're latino when I fan....well, let's just leave the rest of that sentence in my head, shall we?

there's nothing like a nice neat fro. you go on with your bad self. personally, i've had really long hair for many many years adn i'm really considering chopping off a big chunk of it. you guys might have to endure a whole lot of whining if i do and the results are fugly. just a warning.

cutting one's hair is liberating. I love to grow mine clear down my back and then hack it off with scissors....sometimes, I'm so crazy it scares me.

i always grow my hair out to chop it all off. i love my hair short. you gotta find a good stylist though. i'll take y'all to mine.omar, i was like 3 when half those songs came out. original metallica bassist? please...also: i did not think you were latino. you're too funny to be latino.actually, i'm just making that up. i think it's fair to say that there isn't a "funny race." or is there...?

Yo! Omar! I was just over at 'So Says the Mouse in My Hair' and I saw the smack you yapped about LA. The PEOPLE are the reason not to move to LA? You got some 'splainin' to do, man!

and your vole animation, it's amazing. but you need to enable profile pics on your comments so i can see it over here!

nadia's right. actually, my first crush's name was omar. back in kindergarten. Omar like Osama?? What?? just cause it starts with an O ppl....sigh, never mind. I get the religion flack a lot. Actual excerpt from actual job interview at Memory Lane. Memory Lane lady : So you're a Muslim. Does that mean you have to pray?Me : Yeah. 5 times a day.Memory Lane Lady : you HAVE to pray?Me : Yeah.Memory Lane Lady : But you're not wearing a hijab (head scarf).Me : Uh...*pondering how to explain* just because I don't wear a hijab has no relation to whether or not I have to pray. I still have to pray.Memory Lane Lady : You don't have to say you do you know. You can just say you don't have to.Me : But I do have to!!Memory Lane Lady : Hmmm...we'll be in touch. She wasn't in touch and to be honest, I wasn't waiting for the call. Laura is so right.

glo - Top three reasons I wouldn't want to live in LA. 1) earthquakes, 2) Governor Terminator, 3) out of work actors. Landslides are up there somewhere too. Oh, and drive-by shootings. I like to wear blue. Otherwise though, I'm there. jazz - The quiz was supposed to be hard. Nobody but a music trivia master should be able to score above 80%. And thanks for the profile images comment tip thing, I never even realized I didn't have them on. nadia - I would have liked that as a kid, but now I like that there are not a lot of Omars around. I am THE Omar in most people's lives. Besides, I don't want to get hit with any stones.amber - I knew a couple of Ambers growing up, it's not a bad name at all! Though I can imagine your frustration being called Amanda...syar - That situation is far worse than any of the three I mentioned!

The chopping off of the hair is very fun. Just did it myself two weeks ago. (Actually done by very good hairstylist.) And I love it. Have completely lost count on how many times I've grown my hair out only to chop it all off.

What, you mean you're *not* a djellaba-clad son of the desert?It is amazing though. Some people just can't stop themselves. Beloved and I both always get slapped with a variation of number 1. (...and I'll leave you guessing...)

Scroob is evil (I do so hate a riddle...) and Omar is too scared to pick up the fight.Wait, just remembered I was being nice to Omar today. Omar is very nice and always helpful. He knows how to make voles move. That's very important as it makes me laugh a lot.

scroob - Try as I might, I can't think of a single other person named Scroobious.

All of the Omars I've known have been complete slackers. Of course, you're the only Omar I've known.... on the other hand I'm a slacker. Guess that's why we got along.At least your name is easy to pronounce. I cannot tell you how many times I've gotten Brattlie mispronounced. If people don't pronounce it Brattle, it's Brat Lie or something like that. And written Bradley.Of course in five years at the Helpdesk I think there's only one customer that ever commented on my last name and he got it right, Norwegian and all.Was that Sal's parents in example 2?

I get you, Omar; individuality is key. As for the stones thing, send me a picture in advance. I'd be sure not aim for you.You think Syar's situation is bad enough as it were? My interview was right after hers, and the lady did the exact same thing. That she could be so bigoted with such consistency is a testament to her pigheadedness.