The move has been....rough....to say the least. (Soul crushing?) But in this instance, I have absolutely zero interest in talking about it, so here instead is a (mildly) amusing story that has nothing to do with the joke/shitshow that is my life.
Back in grad school, we had the pleasure of collaborating alongside a lady who was by no means famous, but working steadily in the film industry - on films we'd heard of! She was very cool, fun and we learned a lot from her.
But the strange thing was....she had no last name.
At first we thought she was just not telling us, being silly. Everyone has a last name, we insisted. She said she had, but not anymore. She had legally changed her name to have no last name. I'm sure documents of any importance were just a bitch now, but obviously it mattered enough to her to go through with the change. Now she was just one name...and showed us her various forms of ID to prove it.
Instead of quieting us down, it only fanned the flames of curiosity. WHAT HAD HER LAST NAME BEEN? What could be so terrible that she would forsake having any last name just to be free of the burden?? The guesses ran wild (and largely puerile)...
"McFarts"
"Buttinsky"
"Cocksackie"
And so on and so forth. You get the idea.
Then one of our usually outspoken classmates -who had been unusually quiet - piped up.
"There's only one thing it can be."
We waited eagerly. He enjoyed the suspense. Theatre people. You know.
"Don't you see? What's the one last name in the world that everyone recognizes and reviles?"
"McFarts" (I insisted)
"No. Guys." said the outspoken one. "Her last name was obviously Hitler."
And the room fell silent. Our mouths fell open.
"Oh my God."
And we left it at that. Thought it was never confirmed, from then on we just thought of her as Miss Hitler. Awesome, easygoing, fun Miss Hitler.
