I've noticed something about myself recently. Let me tell you a story. It's called "I like 'k' better than 'K.'" It goes like this:
I really like the lowercase version of the first letter of my name better than I like the capital version. Don't you think it looks cooler? Here they are side by side for comparison:
k K
Maybe it's a reflection of my desire to be a part of the crowd rather than standing out too much. Maybe it's reminiscent of my younger years, when writing in either ALL CAPS, Small Caps, or no caps was a manifestation of creativity in handwriting. Or maybe it's just the asymmetry that is so appealing to me. Whatever it is, it creates kind of a funny dilemma. See, since I just think the lowercase looks so much nicer, I enjoy typing it that way, especially when signing my name at the end of emails. It usually looks something like this:
--katelyn
(And, for comparison's sake again)
--Katelyn
I just like it. I think it looks nice and polished. I think it's how the top right stem of the "k" is the same height as the "a." Whatever.
Here's the problem, though. It's called "I am a college graduate now and I kinda sorta have a real person job." I often find myself wondering if it sends a weird message about me when I sign my emails with a lowercase k. I use great (if not perfect) capitalization and punctuation within the body of my emails; I just can't not do it anymore. I sometimes try, but my guilty conscience gets the best of me and I inevitably edit it before I send it. It's the signing, though, that puts me in a fit.
Now, with personal emails, it's no big deal. I sign those with all lowercase all the time. It's like saying to someone, "I can be myself around you. I don't feel the need to be perfect. I trust you not to judge me for not capitalizing my name." But for work emails, I always face this dilemma: do I follow my heart and stay true to my true preferences, or do I grit my teeth and follow the conventions that I am so dogged to keep 99.9 percent of the time anyway? It's not that I worry too much that my coworkers will think I'm stupid, but rather that it might send a message of carelessness when, in fact, I lowercase with all the care in the world. Lowercasing my name has become part of who I am.
The real difficulty comes when I have crossed the lowercasing line once, even if by accident. I did this a couple of days ago when I signed a work email (nothing too crazy, just a quick check-in with one of my supervisors) with all lowercase letters. Like I said, it's part of who I am and I think it looks good. I don't think I even realized I had done it until she replied and I saw my original email signed by "--katelyn." The next time I email her, what am I going to do?! If I capitalize my "k" after that incident, I'll feel like a sell-out. Like, "Oh, I was going to follow my heart and be myself but then I got scared of what you might think." Plus, in my mind (I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who thinks this), it would emphasize the fact that my name was lowercase the first time, thus suggesting that the signature on the original email was a careless or lazy mistake on my part.
However, if I keep it lowercase, it's like I'm reassuring the recipient that I know what I'm doing when I write my lowercase "k." I do it on purpose, and she does not need to doubt my competence. Or maybe it will just make her doubt it even more, as that would make multiple emails in which I didn't capitalize my own name.
I know this is all very silly and I probably sound like I'm being overly dramatic about this. (I mean, really, is there anybody out there over the age of 16 who has ever had a thought process this ridiculous?) But this is real life for me, folks. I face this every time I write an email. Having written about it in detail, though, I'm feeling like I should just lowercase my name all the time, except for in my handwritten signatures (because I really like my capital cursive "k") and in really important things like job application emails, etc. But once I've been hired or maybe just shared this post and/or my rationalizations for non-capitalization of my name, they can expect a valiant effort if not near-perfection in everything I do except writing K at the beginning of my name.
The end.
Love,
katelyn
As long as it's normal intra-office email, I say use the lowercase signature. (Your signature is allowed to be whatever you want.) But when you mean business, when you are sending a formal email to a supervisor or a client, then use your capital K.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, I sign all my emails to parents as Miss Gause but will sign them as Katie to my colleagues, including my supervisors. A parent, who I would also consider a friend, once thought I was upset with her because I addressed her by Mrs. [last name] and signed it Miss Gause. She hadn't realized that I did that with all my formal communication until then. Like I said, when you mean business, use your capital K. And if you really want to demonstrate your seriousness, throw in your last name.
Or you could get all sorts of pretentious and create a signature that will end every email automatically. Use a fancy font for your name, throw in your title (rework your title to make you/your job sound more important), embellish it with the company logo (or design your own logo), and even change the color of your signature for real appeal. Then you don't have to stress with how you sign it. You'll know that every email ends with your established dominance.
(By the way, I noticed that your Google account display name is a capital K. You have already demonstrated that you conform to the ideologies of our grammar society. I don't know if you'll able to sign your lowercase k in good conscience.)
Good luck!