My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen
I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to go out for dinner a couple of nights a week. Sometimes we just walk to the local restaurant and take our chances on a table. On other nights we need to book to be sure we are going to get in. On a Friday night, we have to book a week in advance to get in to our favourite place.
If I want to book online, I have to go through a painful process of putting in my details. It's not painful because of the amount of information they want but because of one particular question they ask me, which makes me mad every time. They want to know what my title is. That, in itself, is not a problem but the fact that I can only pick between Mr, Mrs, Ms and Doctor annoys me every time. I'm "Miss" and I'm proud of it. How difficult would it be to add in another option. What harm would it do. I can't imagine that they have that many Doctors booking tables compared to the number of single women, yet we don't justify our own title, unless we want to go with Ms, which always makes me feel like I'm supposed to be uncomfortable about my status.
There is a restaurant I used to frequent often, that gave me the option of "other" and if I ticked that box, I could put in what I wanted. On occasions, just for fun, I used to describe myself as "Lord", but they never rolled out the red carpet or played a fanfare when I arrived, so I'm guessing that no one actually reads it. At my regular Friday night restaurant, I do sometimes tick the "doctor" box, as a protest, but this will backfire on me if someone suddenly needs medical attention.
Whilst it doesn't seem to matter in restaurants, it most certainly does matter in law. In litigation, for example, it is extremely important to have the identity of the parties absolutely correct. Obtaining a judgement against a wrongly named party can be a huge waste of time and effort. It is not uncommon, for example, for father and son to have the same first and last name, so identifying middle names to differentiate between the two can be extremely valuable.
If you need a solicitor who reads all the details and understands the importance of getting it right, drop me a line at stephanie@kleymansolicitors.com and we'll go for a coffee, so long as I get to book the table.
Kleyman & Co Solicitors, the full service law firm, suitable for Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Doctor, Lord and Other.