Disclaimer
Squeezed January 17, 2008I have a very common Okinawan last name. Everytime I introduce myself to someone, I sometimes get the question, “Oh, are you related to ______ Higa?” Personally, I’m only related to eight of the many people named Higa, and only three of them (my mom, my aunty, and one of my cousins) are alive today.
Given current events today, though, I feel compelled to state, for the record, now and for perpetuity:
I AM NOT NOW, NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN, RELATED TO ANYONE NAMED MATTHEW HIGA.
Period. Next question?
January 17th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
I don’t blame you for wanting to distance yourself from someone, but how sure can anyone be that any of us is unrelated to any others of us? Each generation that weds and has kids brings together two enormous family trees, which means that every time somebody gets married, more and more of us become related to each other. I’m kinda surprised we haven’t run out of surnames yet!
January 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Keith, No worries, just one look at the monster…I knew he wasn’t related to you!
Auntie Lynn
January 17th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
@Mitchell: True, and perhaps I might be tenth-cousins four-times-removed with anyone. However, when you SHARE a last name with someone, people might think you are closely related (like brother, first cousin, etc.), and reasonably so. I have a funny feeling that I may get more such questions once his name gets widely publicized…hence the disclaimer. (I have cousins on my dad’s side, but all from my aunties who married out and no longer bear the last name…)
January 28th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Wow. I stumbled into your blog, and was gonna tease you (I frequently get asked if I’m related to unknown people — don’t know why) but that news story is just horrific!
I’m in South Texas and we lost several kids here, recently, under various, horrible conditions — usually involving their parents.
I don’t know you, but I’m glad you’re not related to that person. I wouldn’t wish that relationship on anyone.
P.S. I arrived here via your post on the “Hawaii Chair”. I’d never heard of it, until today, and couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.
Now I’m off to YouTube to watch it in action. Can’t resist.
July 5th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Higa is still much more unique than my last name.
July 5th, 2012 at 10:02 pm
Higa is still much less common than my last name. The only good thing about having a common name that I can think of is people not being able to find info on Google as easily.