,

It practically gallops!

Third Person Point of View

“What do you call your son at home?” asked one of the attendees at Monday’s JavaTweetUp at jAVERDE Coffee Company. “Frank Jr.,” was my reply. I mentioned that my mother, however, prefers to call him IV, as in the Roman numeral for four.

The other Twitter users mentioned that it was similar to Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen, who is known as IV. My mother’s point of reference is an old-time public relations executive named Ivy Lee. After leaving his job with Nelson Rockefeller, my father went to work for the firm of T.J. Ross & Associates, which was previously known as Ivy Lee and T.J. Ross.

So why do I call my son Frank Jr. instead of Frank the fourth? It goes back to something my father told me and I never questioned. He said that only royalty continues to enumerate their descendants after the deaths of the elders. In other words, once his father died, my father became Frank Sr. When I was born the following year, I was Frank Jr. When my father died, I became Frank Sr. When my son was born seven years later , he was Frank Jr.

I went through a phase in high school when I used the suffix III on things like my library card and the first gasoline credit card I had. Although most sources seem to say that my son and I can call ourselves whatever we want, Miss Manners tends to agree with what my dad taught me.

June 29, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment