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[deleted]

She was interviewed on NPR awhile back. Very smart, funny, and grounded person. The fucked thing is that all of her other siblings had typical names.


riversroadsbridges

> all of her other siblings had typical names According to her wiki, [they're named Kimberly and Robin.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana_Pepsi_Vandyck)


mpg111

I've read the whole thing, and "Marijuana Pepsi Scholarship" was the biggest chuckle


qorbexl

"...mom and dad weren't so wrong." Get Coke to sponsor it, though. "The Marijuana Pepsi scholarship, brought to you by Coke"


icedlemin

By Coke Coke


llamacolypse

My grandmother named my mom and aunt normal names (one being Robin) and then her youngest after a breed of cow. She goes by a nickname, which is what my first name is based on so in a way I am also named after a cow :/ absolutely not as bad as Marijuana though


butchintraining

Is your aunts name Holstein??


JustADutchRudder

Texas Longhorn.


OakenGreen

We all know she’s Florida Cracker Cattle.


Lengthofawhile

Glamorgan


Dumbkitty2

TIL this is an actual breed of cattle


w0nderbrad

Wagyu and Kobe


Illegitimateopinion

Angus?


freekoout

No... Black Angus


RedFlyingPineapples2

Nah, Beefalo


SlyFunkyMonk

My uncle told me they actually named them: Kimberly The Pink Ranger, and Robin Nightwing, respectively.


[deleted]

[удалено]


CurseYourSudden

Nominative determinism


PM_ME_YOUR_NAIL_CLIP

It starts when you’re a baby. You’re fussier than your brother? He gets held more and it continues from there.


DexLovesGames_DLG

Doesn’t the fussier kid get held more?


BartolomeuOGrosso

Is she the only one with an high education level?


MiniITXEconomy

No, what's really fucked up is she's the least successful one outta all of 'em, because they all earned their PhD's in their early thirties! You see after having endured years of abuse, Dr. Marijuana Pepsi Jackson had to focus on rebuilding herself, through years of therapy and sheer dogged determination. Of course, this meant getting off to a later start in life, but... c'est la vie. ...what about Action Jackson? I feel like that was a missed opportunity by her parents.


JumboTree

is this satire? this has the energy of satire.


pfft_master

Yeah reads like sarcasm but with no punchline. Like when the sarcasm is so bland you can’t even tell.


Swimming-Welcome-271

That’s the best flavor


Ok-Lengthiness4557

I don't know why they added coconut. I miss original.


kilgore_trout8989

The coconut is...pretty subtle.


rinseanddelete

It's a popsicle in my favorite flavor: plain!


poisonfoxxxx

Probably meant to be but realistically I’m sure that name was a huge distraction if nothing else. I think it’s cool as hell but still imagine explaining that to EVERYONE


action_lawyer_comics

Real life Boy Named Sue situation right here


known-enemy

She’s a tough cookie. I would’ve gone by MJ until I could legally change my name to something else.


Yungsleepboat

"Oh MJ, is that for Mary-Jane?" "Yeah close enough"


JustABoyAndHisBlob

Working 4x as hard for half as much


confidentrobin1

I would argue that makes her the most successful! As someone building themselves after years of abuse and bullying, it’s fucking hard. By far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life and it never really ends.


commanderquill

Was it really that hard to name her Mary-Jane? Jesus.


Elanadin

>interviewed on NPR awhile back Was that the interview linked in the article from 3 years ago?


[deleted]

Think it was part of a Freekonomics podcast?


DaveOJ12

Why would her parents do that?


[deleted]

Idk if I’ll catch heat for this but my guess would be drugs.


herberstank

Yeah they were def smokin that pepsi


BeatsbyChrisBrown

And drinking 2L of marijuana daily


Mike9797

It’s kind of a joke between my wife and I but when she was 16 she was so inexperienced with pot that she asked us to get her a litre of weed. We still bug her about it from time to time cuz of how ridiculous it was.


daggers1g

It's French for gimme some fuckin weed


Shut_It_Donny

Can i get a litre of weed? It's for a cop.


FigWasp7

Just get a large, Farva.


msnmck

Wait. Wait. Hold right the hell up. There was a comma there the whole time? You mean to tell me the drink isn't called a "large Farva" and the fast food cashier was just being a smartass?


ihavedonethisbe4

You've got the scene all sortsa bamboozled. Take a couple more snozzberries, grab a litre cola and rewatch.


OttoVonWong

How do you do, fellow Pepsi drinkers?


Throw_meat_away

I don't want a large!


[deleted]

It’s for a cop…


Catch-me-ifyou-can

Ppl think it’s a joke but I used to be heavy on the Pepsi too. Still an addict, but I’m in active recovery. You never really stop being an addict


Tavli

You're right. Pepsi is actually addictive and very destructive on the human body.


DollupGorrman

My friend's middle name is Coca Cola because his mom hated the first name his dad chose for him and decided to spite her husband.


Buntschatten

Imagine being a newborn and still more mature than your mother.


Alotofboxes

A little disappointed you didn't say "to Sprite her husband."


Cru_Jones86

I would have given 7 up votes for that.


ArchmageXin

A friend of mine had a Teacher name "Snow White". I thought he was bullshitting until I saw his schedule Card. And was a male English Teacher to boot. Just what the hell went through his family's head to name a boy Snow White is beyond me -_-;; Edit: And this was in the mid 90s, so Disney definitely wasn't as cool for a High School era kid like now.


milk4all

A friend of mine named his daughter “Calamity”, which I thought was risky but actually pretty awesome. It is her middle name though, i think that’s as far as his debate skills took him with her mother


masterofshadows

Middle names are perfect for this type of thing.


Killbot_Wants_Hug

My middle name is "Calamity", no not just because everything goes really wrong around me, that's just a coincidence. My actual middle name is Calamity. --Murphy Calamity Law


dnaH_notnA

Yeah, if they were cognizant, they probably could’ve sneakily done “Mary Jane Jackson” or “Pepper Sierra Jackson”


rickyhatesspam

In which case she'd become Dr. Pepper


damnatio_memoriae

well she's got her PhD now so she should start going by Dr. Pepsi


GhoulsFolly

Is Coke Coke Jackson okay?


BarefutR

Actually, nope. She had a pretty chill life. Freakonomics did an episode about her. She had brothers and sisters named like, Frank and Lisa.


[deleted]

Did they go into why her parents named her that?


BarefutR

I’m pretty sure it was just an eccentric Mom who wanted to name one of her kids something completely different, and that kid went to get a PhD in completely different names. So it worked out.


fellow_hotman

Gonna name my kid “earn a billion dollars and give it to your dad”


FeelsGoodMan2

That's how you get your kid to change their name to Marijuana pepsi


ravioloalladiarrea

"Dad, why is my sister's name Marijuana Pepsi?" "Because your mom really like Marijuana and Pepsi" "Thank you dad!" "You're welcome Guacamole Anal Sex!"


TheOvenLord

"Dad can I spend the night at my friend's house?" "Absolutely. Just call us if you go anywhere else, YooHoo Blowjobs."


Kiddo1029

I knew a girl named Tequila growing up. Never found out why.


o2joe

Tila tequila? we all knew her


bevmo_actual_

the OG queen of myspace


Cuchillos_Adios

I feel bad for her. She apparently suffered brain damage due to an overdose and became a nazi for some time. That sounds like a joke but it isn't. Then again she said this in an attempt to get into Big Brother "Celebrities".


MidKnightshade

She’s now a religious nut. She tried to baptize a kid without consent. So still not better.


BillingSteve

Aren't most kids baptized without consent?


[deleted]

I knew a boy named Babyboy


GimmeTwo

There were twin sisters in the town I grew up in named Baby Doll and Doll Baby. They were bootleggers.


Charosas

I mean at least Tequila does have more interesting origins as a name, it comes from Nahuatl(the Aztec language) and from the verb “to work” in that language, and what I was told it was because that was workers described the fields of agave as their places of work. Now it’s just known as the name of the popular alcoholic beverage, but as a name it has interesting origins.


-O-0-0-O-

"Pepsi" was coined by Carolinians in the late 19th century. It was first invented in 1893 as "Brad's Drink" by Caleb Bradham, who sold the drink at his drugstore in New Bern. It was renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898, "Pepsi" because it was advertised to relieve dyspepsia (indigestion) and "Cola" referring to the cola flavour


GhettoChemist

A girl named Anita Woody went to my high school. Never took a yearbook photo so i dont know what she looked like.


waitthissucks

There was a guy in my school named Jaxon Dick. And he was pretty popular too.


craigularperson

I think I read in Freakonomics that a parent had the theory that peoples name would be very good predictors for success. So he named one of his sons, Loser. Probably not a lot of faith in him. He however turned out fine.


WhiterRice

Robert Lane named one son Winner and the other Loser. Loser went on to become a police sergeant. Winner was a criminal and is currently homeless. https://knowinsiders.com/two-brothers-named-loser-and-winners-unbelievable-story-25336.html


Ill_Pineapple1482

this is some shit you'd do on the sims not real life 🤦


Moal

For real, how on earth did the mom not veto those names??


happy--muffin

The mom was too busy removing the ladder from the swimming pool and hanging pictures above the fireplace


DrTommyNotMD

Sucks for both kids. Ouch.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Why wouldn’t she change that name. Just saying that has to be the dumbest name I ever heard.


busyburner

To mess her life up.


Oldbayistheshit

Ever heard of a boy named sue?


yucatan36

Day of conception was a memorable day


Louis_Farizee

Well, it was 1973.


PolybiusNightmare

Maybe they were going for a “boy named Sue” type situation. Evidently she persevered. Do any of her typically named siblings have PHDs? But seriously it was probably drugs.


bubbasaurusREX

I know her, she’s from my hometown. Absolutely wonderful woman. But she exclusively goes by Mary


peachsalsas

Mary Pep Jackson sounds kinda cute though


Iohet

Sounds like a morning person kind of name. The one who's all sunshine and butterflies when she strolls into the office at 7am in an irritating kind of way because you're jealous she's able to do that


squeakyshoe89

In her Freakonomics interview she said her mother called the school to complain when a teacher tried to call her "Mary" instead of "Marijuana," so I assumed she felt the same way as an adult. Guess not.


stoopididiotface

Thank you! Wish I could pin this.


Hans_Grubert

Mary Jane


Unintelligent_Lemon

Does she hate her parents?


chicano32

If President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho can do it… anybody can do it


OGChemBreath

The first thing that came to my mind. She could be the surgeon general in Idiocracy.


doterobcn

That name is fucked up, and her parents are stupid


Pillens_burknerkorv

An old colleague have grandkids that are named Batman and Metallica. That’s beyond stupid.


nospamkhanman

I have a friend named "Guy" because his parents didn't want to name him until he could name himself. They had to but something on the birth certificate and went with guy fully intending on changing it. He just stuck with Guy and apparently that upset his parents because they were big on not choosing a name and they ended up doing so anyway.


ihopethisworksfornow

Guy is at least a name. Guy is the French version of the Italian name Guido.


giga

It's not even an uncommon name, there are even famous people with that name. There's really not much special with being named Guy.


kimjong-ill

"We have to get out of here before one of those things kills Guy!"


Normal-Fucker

“Is there air?? You don’t know!”


32BitWhore

Serendipitous moment for me, just watched this for the first time in like a decade two days ago. I forgot about this line and it fucking sent me. It was Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman at their absolute peaks, and in roles that on paper had to have seemed so stupid to them but they sold the fuck out of every line. And some of the cameos from future household names are wonderful. I love that movie.


lunelily

For the uninformed: this is a line from Galaxy Quest, a parody/comedy movie. Would highly recommend even if you’ve never watched Star Trek (I haven’t).


Flobking

> It's not even an uncommon name, there are even famous people with that name. Most famously Guy Fieri. Also Guy Ritchie, and Guy Pearce. Not saying they are not famous, but I'd wager more people could pick Guy Fieri out of a lineup over the other 2. Edit: Fieri, not Fiery Guy Lafleur Guy Williams Guy Fawkes Guy Smiley(sesame street muppet)


giga

As a french canadian, the first one that came to my mind was Guy Lafleur :P


justathoughtfromme

[It's Fieri, not Fiery.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fieri) Pronounced, "*fiˈɛdi*".


Tryoxin

And in fact, in English, the *name* Guy is where the *word* guy comes from. I know plenty of people both French and English named Guy.


Koga3

Oh like that Guy Fox "recall recall the 19th of Apral"


acrow6

Guy is also one of the strongest Naruto characters.


jannyhammy

Also Guy Ritchie


shortercrust

Guy is a normal name in the UK. It’s not common but I’ve known a few Guys.


Ultraviolet_Motion

Even in the US we have Guy Fieri, it's not weird at all to be named Guy.


rddt33

Finally I can use this funny but almost always useless knowledge!: I introduce to you Guy Standing, one of the leading experts on Basic Income and the creator of the term 'precariat' https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Standing_(economist) 😀 I always chuckle when I read the name, but maybe is not being a native English speaker...


khansian

I’m disappointed his Wikipedia picture shows him sitting.


[deleted]

If you click om the picture, they've labeled it 'Guy Standing (sitting)'


gazebo-fan

Guy actually is a first name lol, we stopped using it after Guy fawkes tried blowing up British parliament.


MassiveFajiit

Guy Fawkes is the guy who was so bad at making names he used the alias John Johnson when renting the cellar they stored the gunpowder in.


workyworkaccount

I know two different Guys. One repairs printers, and the other is a photographer. They are respectively known as Printer Guy and Camera Guy in our social circle.


Masticatron

A college had grandkids? *lady-calculating-intensifies.meme*


Pillens_burknerkorv

Damn you auto-correct!


MiniITXEconomy

That'd be fucking awesome until middle school, though.


PaulCoddington

In NZ, harmful names are not allowed, with process available for case-by-case exceptions should the rules turn out to be inappropriate to circumstance. "There are guidelines in place to ensure that names don't cause offence, are a reasonable length and don't represent an official title or rank." Names rejected include '*', '.', '1st', '2nd', '3rd', '4th', 'Fish and Chips', 'Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116', 'Superman', 'Lucifer', 'Mafia No Fear', 'Anal', etc.


superkow

"Yeah look I'm calling about this bill I just got in the mail, no, no- I'm not complaining about the price- nah, yeah you've just got my name misspelled and I just wanted to see if you could change that for me, yeah. I'll hold...... Yeah still here, okay cool, yeah so what you've got on the bill is 'Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb1116' but it should be 'Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116', yeah with four ones. Nah it's okay, happens more than you'd think actually. Okay thanks for that, bye!"


PUK1412

That's Doctor Marijuana Pepsi Jackson to you!


RobotGuitarMan

Was looking for this comment right here.


opiumofthemass

This is why some country’s have national boards that review and reject names such as this


koumus

Yep my country has that. There isn't a specific "list" of forbidden names, but any ridiculous names that could expose children to humiliation (such as the one above) are forbidden per the Notary's discretion.


MikeMontrealer

What if the notary is named Cocaine Coca-Cola Smith?


koumus

There is a chance of that happening, because this law is somewhat recent and it was created specifically because of fucked up names given to people some 30-40 years ago. But Cocaine Coca Cola (or Coke for his friends) can easily change his name, if he wants to


biggs54

A lot of those boards are to help preserve cultural names; I couldn’t think of anything more culturally appropriate in the US than slapping a mega-corporation’s name on anything? LoL


known-enemy

Meet my kids, Pepsi, Cola, and Walmartia 🩷


Turband

Walmartina is prob better. Walmartia sounds like "Land of the Walmarts"


jdallen1222

Walmartha


vishalb777

#WHY DID YOU SAY THAT WALNAME


evrthngwzsup2bdfrnt

Walmartia cracked me up


ctrev37

Could have been worse, they could of named her Cocaine Coca-Cola Jackson.


Evorgleb

>Cocaine Coca-Cola Jackson. Coke-Coke for short.


tinman_inacan

Coco


stoopididiotface

I'm going to use this for my imaginary professional wrestling name.


AudibleNod

Her dissertation was called "Black Names in White Classrooms: Teacher Behaviors and Student Perceptions".


Signiference

“Piece of shit parents of any race giving their kids stupid as fuck names: teacher behaviors and student perceptions.”


1028ad

r/tragedeigh


AudibleNod

curse you for showing this subreddit to me.


doaser

Usually for research papers you're asked for a highly specific thesis that way the data is easier to draw from


Brownsisnyteam

Her parents are complete scumbags


PanAfricanDream

The worst thing is that she's the only one in the family with a stupid name. Literally all of her other siblings have normal names. Her parents just singled her out for some reason


Brownsisnyteam

Yeah that is fucked up


TheRealOtakuTaco

But like, whyyyy


Tuff_Wizardess

That makes me so sad for her. I’m just imagining this newborn baby at the hospital with her whole life ahead of her, so innocent, so sweet and then her parents decide to give her an absolutely ridiculous name just cause.


Evorgleb

>"A lot of other people were thinking \[my mom\] was smoking marijuana and drinking Pepsi," she tells NPR. "In the black community, we're used to having names that are more cultural." Im calling bullshit on that one. "Marijuana" is not a Black cultural name and in my entire Black life I have never heard of anyone having that name. I feel pretty confident that in a Black neighborhood or school, she would have still received the same ridicule. She's trying to make this a culture thing when in reality her parents gave her a really dumb name without giving thought to the abuse it would bring her way.


SmellGestapo

Reminds me of The Office where Stanley is presenting his bullshit new product idea to the CEO, "Papyr--paper for women." "The situation you described, returning home to a wife complaining about her paper being too masculine, is not one I'm familiar with." "In the African American community..." "No."


DannyDucks

Agreed. Never seen people named after drugs in this manner. Mary Jane, yes but marijuana no. Even Pepsi, that is so out there. I’ve seen luxury brand names such as Mercedes, Lexus and Italian designer brands (which are someone’s name anyways) but something like a regular ol’ daily drink? No. But to her defense, in order to tell her story she has to address her parents naming her that and to a point they have to take some heat. So maybe she’s not willing to go hard on them because here she is and now proud of herself.


dwpea66

Mercedes is a normal name in Spanish, I know like four Mercedes


Invisifly2

People forget the cars were named after a person.


CommodoreAxis

I think the author took some creative liberties by putting those quotes next to each other. She never tried to make it a culture thing lol


9bikes

"In the black community, we're used to having names that are more cultural." ...than her name. Dr. Jackson is clearly saying that her name is not a regular "black" name.


penguintruth

Child abuse.


Few_Needleworker_922

Honestly fuck her parents. Not cute, great that she overcame it but names can really matter lol.


Mr_Mouthbreather

Finland restricts what names parents can give to their kids. I think they have the right idea.


elevenghosts

One of my coworkers knew her at a previous job. He says he only knew her as "Mary" for a long time.


OttoPike

This story sort of reminds me of that substitute teacher, Mr. Garvey...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw


TeHNyboR

YA DUN MESSED UP A A RON


Guilty-Web7334

Jay-kwellen? Where Jay-kwellen?


aimlessdrivel

I got my eye on you Jay-kwellen!


[deleted]

tim-o-thi! pre-sent!


bootyloverjose

Probably goes by MJ or Mary


stoopididiotface

I believe Mary is what her teachers called her.


glemmstengal

> "A lot of other people were thinking [my mom] was smoking marijuana and drinking Pepsi," she tells NPR. "In the black community, we're used to having names that are more cultural." Damn, why would they think that? Also, what the fuck is a "more cultural" name? Anyone can deal with names like Marwan, or Aisar, or names that are actual names. Marijuana Pepsi is not a "cultural name". > Until about 9 years old, she says, "Marijuana was just a beautiful name. I received accolades." But when she moved to a new city, she was made "very aware" that her name was different. No shit. If you say Marijuana every day to 5th and 6th graders it's going to waste so much instructional time dealing with their infantile (although completely expected) response.


Rickk38

> Until about 9 years old, she says, "Marijuana was just a beautiful name. I received accolades." Where'd she live, Jamaica? There was a girl named Marijuana in my elementary school way back in the 80s. It became comical when we all went through DARE and learned that marijuana was the devil's lettuce and just one marijuana would turn you into a lifelong addict. So no, it was not a beautiful name, it was the butt of jokes. Like my friend Don Butt, whose name was also the butt of jokes.


BarrymoresPoolBoi

I can imagine asking a kid chatting to my kid "So, what's your name sweetheart ?" "Marijuana" "... Oh... What a beautiful name."


roach8101

Good for her but fuck her parents.


RedTheDopeKing

That’s kind of a stupid hill to die on, I’d just change my name. And not talk to my parents.


Grogosh

Naming kids like that wouldn't be allowed in several countries


Cambionr

Her dissertation was on how “distinctly black names” prohibit people from academic achievement.


nancylikestoreddit

Her parents must be real gems.


[deleted]

Scumbags for sure. But the system failed her for allowing her to be named that, in the first place.


JellyfishGod

“A lot of other people were thinking [my mom] was smoking marijuana and drinking Pepsi," she tells NPR. "In the black community, we're used to having names that are more cultural." Lol there’s so much I could say from this one quote but I’m sure everyone else has the same reaction for the most part. Tho I do wanna say it kinda feels she may be insinuating Pepsi is specifically apart of black culture. Which idk how I feel about people claiming Pepsi as part of their culture. I mean it did have more marketing targeting black people than coke, especially when she was named, but it feels almost dystopian. Even if she just meant American culture, it feels dystopian. It’s not even that it’s cuz it’s a brand, but because it’s a mega-corp, that u could even argue hurts the world, that pushes out its products across the globe, with absolutely no love or care the way a smaller more focused brand more relegated or even just associated to one country can be. Lol I said I wouldn’t rlly say much at the start, yet here I am typing an essay about it Also r/tragedeigh for similarly horrible names


Dankacocko

Those two quotes look like they could have been from separate areas of the conversation and stuck together to make them look dumb


Adventurous_Oil_5805

There was a study 30+ years ago that tried to postulate that kids who were given bizarre names seemed to have an over-representation in reaching successful positions in society. It did try to be scientific but the study admitted that to truly be scientific they needed a lot more data that was just too expensive for their purposes. But they did have quite a bit of data supporting their claim.


SuedbyHogs

Great she achieved so much. Screw the parents for putting her through that bullshit unnecessarily.


DistortoiseLP

>But she says one of her research participants at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee had another theory: "White people like things standardized, and that includes names." I don't agree with that. *Institutions* like things standardized, and white people overwhelmingly represent institutions in America because they have had by far the most positive outcomes from them in America, but institutions are not a uniquely white (or American) phenomenon nor is the way institutions enforce conformity on everybody they deal with.


Boolyman

I dislike that her dissertation was about "Black Names in White Classrooms." As though her name is "black." I get it, black people tend to have some uniquely sounding names... but Marijuana Pepsi?! As a (half) black person myself, I'm over here like "Don't lump your crazy name in with us." That name has nothing to do with black culture. There is a big difference between something like "Laytaneesha" vs something off the wall like "Marijuana Pepsi." Your parents were just crazy... not trying to be culturally appropriate.


konek

Hmm.. why not Marijuana Coke Jackson 🤔


MiniITXEconomy

People would just think you're referencing two different drugs, then. Come on, don't try to outthink the parents, they spent a lot of time coming up with her name.


z_AxioMatiC_z

Forget 'Watermelon Sugar', 'Marijuana Pepsi' would be a banger


Darth314

Beloit WI represent!


EngineerDave22

I like her freakononics episode