Here, But Also There

An interesting question surfaces when considering this name-writing phenomenon: a person can mark their name anywhere, but can that writing still be attributed to them in the future?

For instance, if I wrote 'Sabrina was here' on a desk in my freshman year of high school, would I be able to come back to that same table years later and recognize that the writing refers to me if I did not remember writing it? Given that I have written my name in plenty other crevices in that span of time, how can I attribute all of them back to myself despite not recognizing them as indications of my own presence? Does my name on the desk—now removed from myself as I feel no attachment to it—still serve as a marker for my 9th grade self? Or has writing my name everywhere throughout my life lessened the impact of possibly encountering one of my scattered names in the future? Unless someone else can identify that name on the desk with myself, the name on the desk simply remains a name on the desk; the person behind the name is removed contextually until something or someone else renews the writings' significance.

Alternatively, I will say that sometimes these names we write down do specifically function as attachments, such as the paired couple names previously discussed. Personally though, I know that I won't forget certain instances of my own name-writing because they were placed on purpose. I once wrote my name on the ceiling of my second college dorm room, and when that building was torn down I was quite upset that my name would no longer be in place for me to possibly see in the future. Writing a name purposefully differs then, as it becomes a tool for not only identification, but also ownership, just as I attempted to write my ownership of my dorm room on the ceiling.

Using our names as indicators of item ownership can be problematic, simply because many of the things written on are public or privately owned items (i.e. sidewalks, buildings). Even my old calculator, inscribed with "Paulette says hi" from a high school friend, could be mistaken as her calculator instead of mine because her name is on it. What does this also say about legality? Writing your name on a sidewalk doesn't make the sidewalk yours, and it's actually illegal. Multiple people have been tried in court for vandalizing public sidewalks. But should this be a punishable action? No harm is done by writing your name on a sidewalk, and it's such a common instance of everyday writing that it rarely attracts attention. It has become a cultural practice rather than an act aiming to vandalize property, and that idea reflects the presumed motivation for writing your name down anyway—marking your presence to be remembered in culture.

Ultimately, name-writing works to affix us not only to a particular time or place, but also to an object, a person, or an idea. Marking our presence as we work our way through the world allows us to leave traces of ourselves in the areas we visited, permanently associating ourselves with the structures we choose to write on. Although the arguments of ownership, legality, and attribution remain as conflicting results of name-writing, the practice itself continues to live on as both an expression of being and a prevalent example of the importance everyday writing.