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THERE'S GOLD IN THOSE NAMES - Part 1

In general, we are interested in names to the extent that we are interested in their owners. If a man means anything at all to us, we usually remember his name. Here is an imaginary incident, one in which you might well figure, which will illus­trate how naturally this law of interest works.

Suppose, while you are standing in a hotel lobby with a friend, a man comes along, and your friend introduces you. You glance at the newcomer casually, pay no attention to his name, continue your conversation. The stranger has meant nothing to you; you haven't even bothered to retain his name for an instant.

However, the next time you are in that hotel lobby, your new acquaintance approaches you with the air of an old friend and asks you to lend him ten dollars.

Are you as indifferent as you were the first time you met this fellow? Hardly. You look him over carefully, studying his features with mounting interest. Finally you say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Er . . . I don't think I got your name."

"Wheeler," he says, "Bob Wheeler."

"Wheeler," you repeat slowly. "Wheeler. I suppose you spell it the usual way—W-h-e-e-1-e-r."

"That's right. Bob Wheeler."

"Well, Mr. Wheeler," you say, as you reluctantly draw ten dollars from your wallet, "I hope we meet again some time— soon."

And as months go by, and you don't hear from Mr. Bob Wheeler, you think of him often. It's no effort at all to remem­ber his name, and as for his face, you'd recognize that if you saw it fifteen years from now in Indo-China!

His name means something to you now. It means money.

In the same way, every person you meet may mean something to you. Today's casual acquaintance may lead you to tomorrow's friend, business associate, customer, employer, husband, or wife.

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