WHO IS THIS " LACLOS"; WHY IS HE IN THE ATTIC?
Welcome.; This site is a bit messy I'm afraid. I'm still finding my way around. On my Blog site I'm slowly working through HTML so here I'm making full use of Geocities ease of use. So please explore and feel free to offer me constructive criticism if you like. To turn the page just click onward.
Why do my sites have the name "Laclos"; when that's not my name? Once upon a time I used to have a pen name. It wasn't used for anything creepy or illegal. I just used it when I wanted anonymity, as when writing to my local paper, or for my short stories (that were always rejected). There was also the fact that I was sick of people asking where I was ( Brighton if your interested.) Also I was starting to get suspicious, as all my friends with degrees were getting job interviews and I wasn't.
Why "Laclos" at all? Well I was at the job centre and the lady dealing with my case looked at me pitifully. It had been almost a year and I was still without aproper job. She was anoyed that my persistent job failure was bucking her neat bell curve. I hadn't even got an interview despite all her phone calls and my filling out forms and answering job ads.
It was then that she suggested that I (a) erase the fact that I was mildly dyslexic from my CV (b) describe myself as a university graduate and not just include it at the bottom of my education list (c) mention that MENSA isn't a mental health charity and...
(d) note that I can speak and write english
"You have a queer sounding foreign name. She said. "They might think your an immigrant and decide not to bother with y ou."
The official said that it wasn't fair but that was the way of the world.
Despite my CV being polished and my taking some job aptitude test (social work or government) I still found only manual unskilled labour. Thus was born Samuel E. P. Laclos. I knew that there were bigots out there, some in positions of authority. Yet I didn't really want to believe what the woman had said. So as an experiment, just for a couple of months, I sent off applications in the name Laclos. Sadly there was a marked improvement. People wanted to interview me and seemed surprised, over the phone, that I had experienced difficulties before. Actually ONE firm offered me on the strength of my CV despite previously rejecting the REAL CV at the same time!!!!! My damn pride stopped me from keeping quiet and so I gave them a piece of my mind... no doubt further cementing their blatant racism. Perhaps I should have taken it further.
On the prompting of a friend, I went as LACLOS to an interview. The job didn't appeal to me but I was still steamed at the fact that a mere name could decide my fate. They were a little surprised when I turned up. The first question was "where" I cane from. I answered that my family (a lie) actually came from the Loire Valley; she said she liked their sweet and sour prawns.
After a while I started using "laclos" on all email and snail mail purposes. It just seemed easier. Also when making a reservation or filling out a form I started to Westernise my name, almost unconsciously.
I killed of Laclos when a Bengali take-out driver loudly castigated me for using it. If they mispronounce it or make fun of it, you should stand up to them. You think they'd put up with us making fun of them? He was right of course. So Laclos was dispatched and little old me went back to my default setting. Although I have made enquiries... you CAN change your name by deed poll to include Sir or Lord.
But though Laclos died and he just wont go away as his spirit lives on in the chaos of Cyberspace as it's my old email address. |
