It's not just me; Exhibit A

Still nothing from the HR director, so I've started gently taking things into my own hands. I'm adding little notes to outgoing emails acknowledging and very briefly explaining the name change where it feels appropriate and necessary ("same old me, just new and improved" seems to be a common turn of phrase), and I'm taking a similar tack with patrons in face to face encounters. If they seem puzzled, I give them just enough information to reassure them they're not crazy. Since I've started wearing a little makeup (I hadn't planned to, and I'm not good at it, but it makes a big difference), there have been a good handful of patrons that I can see are internally processing some dissonance, and a couple that have outright asked questions, and it just feels better to own the truth without apology.

But that's not what this song is about...

This song is about the professor who came in, said hello to me as my old name, then stopped, stood dumbstruck for a few seconds, and apologized for mistaking me for someone she knew. I ended up having to explain to her, twice, that I was indeed the person she thought I was, version 2.0, before she finally got it. She was flustered and embarrassed, and I did my best to put her at ease over it; I think I did an okay job. My colleague, who witnessed the exchange, was a bit gobsmacked, and truthfully, so was I. Subtle changes add up to something bigger, I guess. I'm still a little aglow over it.