Mood Piece February 13 2018

The name said Lois. He immediately thought of the old superman movies; the campy ones with the bad flying effects from before CGI destroyed practical effects. How many Loises had there been in the world? Who had been the first, and why? Supposedly every name had meant something in the murky past, had signified something before becoming just generic designator. That felt appropriate. Today though a kid became Clarence because some other Clarence had died and the family was short one; or maybe because his mom had heard the name in a movie she liked 15 years ago and it had just stuck. No one was named Clarence because anyone knew what it meant anymore. Millions of people, billions perhaps, walking around with no idea what they were supposed to be. It would be funny if it weren't so true to life, he thought.