Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Girl with 2 Last Names

Recently I've taken up triathlons as a hobby. While said activities are much more than a hobby as you have to be in excellent shape to compete in one, I still like to refer to them as a hobby, an after work activity if you will. Thus far I've done 3 races with a few more in the works. At the first triathlon, which took place very early on a Sunday morning after a full day of wake boarding, I faired well and placed third in my age group. I was elated and quite surprised, thinking this hobby is going well so far - much better than scrap booking. 
As they announced my name during the awards, they got the first name right then bungled the last names, they said one, then another with an "um - uh" in between. As I arrived at the center of the group to receive my medal, the announcer asked what my last name was. I replied, "its Macha Hebert". He said, "you have two last names?" I said, "yes I have two last names." He then announced into the microphone my full name and finished by saying, "this girl has two last names." There was a lot of commotion in the crowd, some cheered, some leered and many just laughed. I walked out of the center of attention as quickly as possible. 
So about a month goes by and its the morning of my second race. I'm very nervous as there is an open-water swim involved as well as the pressure to finish in good standings. I walk up to the registration table and tell the lady my name and she looks up, smiles and says, "I remember you from the previous race. You're the girl with two last names." 
And thus in the small triathlon circuit of South Louisiana, I became "The Girl With Two Last Names."  
If only super human powers came with such a moniker.

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