Who is Jennifer Wade?

August 2005 - WARNING! They are out there. Maybe you know about them, maybe you don't. Maybe they know about you, maybe they don't. But, they are out there. They're using your good name, and they're getting away with it.

I'm not talking about identity theft (BTW, does anyone have a shredder I can borrow?). I'm talking about people who, through no fault of your own, have the same name as you. Fortunately, there is a way for you to find out just who these people are. It's called GOOGLE and it's free. For example, in just a matter of seconds, GOOGLING revealed that there are several women living under the name "Jennifer Wade." A few of them also use my same middle initial.

The most normal of the lot seems to be Jennifer D. Wade. You know, the one who handles investor relations for a multi-national company. Yeah, her. She seems like she's doing OK.

Then there's Jennifer D. Wade. She also comes across, on the Internet, at least, as another fine, upstanding citizen. She and her husband, Alex, recently bought a house in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. The price? $145,000. But, please don't confuse her with Jennifer D. Wade, who earned several scholarships while studying at the University of Kansas. No doubt, these scholarships were the result of Jennifer making the honor roll in the spring of 2002.

It would seem that the middle initial "D" is a requirement for normalcy. Because take away the "D", and the list of Jennifer Wades out there gets a little dubious.

At the top of the list is Jennifer Wade, a fitness expert. She was born in Detroit and studied ballet in New York. But, her website is written in German. Ja, she can whip you into shape! Jennifer does have some competition in this department from none other than Jennifer Wade. She teaches step aerobics in West Hartford, Connecticut. And, let's not forget Jennifer Wade. She lives in Canada. My guess is that she doesn't have a lot of time to exercise. She's too busy fighting for human rights. As she writes, "What could be more unjust than innocent people being imprisoned for their ideals. I feel the important work is done right around the kitchen table, writing letters." Hmmm. I wonder what the pay's like.

My favorite, though, has to be Jennifer Wade. She has her own Web site and updates her blog every so often. She's very busy going to graduate school in San Francisco and living in sin with Iggy, her tattoo artist boyfriend. She also went to junior high school with Uma Thurman and it appears that there are still some lingering jealousy issues there.

I wonder how she'd feel if she knew about a Mensan named Jennifer Wade, who went to Juniata College and who writes columns for the monthly newsletter. Maybe she does know. All she's gotta do is GOOGLE!