Hospital receptionist, Rachel, allows her distant coworker, Laura, to call her "Amelia" for over a year after failing to correct her early on, now finding it too awkward to fix when Laura moves to her department: 'I didn't have the heart to tell her'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Sep 10, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Being a 'face person' has its pros and cons. On the bright side, you're the kind of person who could recognize someone in a crowded room ten years from now just by the shape of their nose or the exact shade of their chocolate-brown eyes, and immediately think, "I know this person!" But the downside? You rarely remember names, and sometimes, during a full-blown brain-glitch moment, you end up giving someone a completely wrong one… and before you know it, you've created a whole new identity for them that couldn't be more inaccurate. I am that person. Which is why this story is so relatable…and equally awkward.

In this case, a medical receptionist happens to resemble a former employee, and it was always a light-hearted joke that they looked like twins. Enter a nurse from another department, who genuinely believed the receptionist was that former employee and started calling her by the name "Amelia." The real name? Not Amelia. But since they didn't work closely at the time, the receptionist let it slide. It was just a quick, awkward goodbye here and there. No big deal—until the nurse transferred to her department and now sees her every day. And suddenly, she's become a regular at the desk, still referring to her as "Amelia". At this point, it might be a little too late to correct her.

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  • I keep thinking about how I’d handle it if I were the receptionist. Honestly, the sooner you correct someone, the more embarrassment you save them in the long run. Because I can already see this situation spiraling: they become inseparable at work, eventually hit bestie status outside of work, and then one day the nurse has a baby girl and decides to name her after her dear friend, Amelia… except her name’s actually Rachel. Now that’s gonna be a tough one to explain.

  • 01
    "Last year, Laura changed her schedule, and now I see her nearly every day"
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    AITA for not telling a co-worker that she has mistaken me for someone else for years

    I work at a medical facility and there are a lot of nurses and nurse aids who work the various shifts on a sometimes ad hoc
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    basis, and there's also a lot of turnover - so there are a lot of faces to get to know. Three years ago, my colleague Amelia who
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    worked the same position as me on a different shift (front desk admin) left to go back to school. Amelia and I shared many of the
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    same characteristics, and multiple people remarked that we looked like we could have been sisters. Anyway, after Amelia left Laura,
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    who is one of our nursing aids, started calling me by Amelia's name, mostly just as a goodbye as she was leaving, so I just
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    waved and didn't bother to correct her. Besides, we mostly worked different shifts so I didn't see Laura that often. But then last
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    year Laura changed her schedule and now I see her nearly every day. The first day we shared a shift together she seemed so
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  • 09
    excited to see me that I didn't have the heart to tell her that I wasn't Amelia, especially since | hadn't corrected her before.
    via gwynhefar
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    And so it has continued. Laura still works my same shift. She still comes up to my desk to chat. Or give me a hug, because she's a hugger. And she still calls me Amelia and I never correct her. AITA?
    via gwynhefar
  • 11
    GreekAmericanDom YTA Conflict avoidance is a losing life strategy. Eventually Laura is going to find out you are not Amelia. Guess how hurt she is going to be when that happens.
    via GreekAmericanDom
  • 12
    Pristine Direction79 Bring her a cupcake when you tell her.
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    A nurse's badge
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 14
    2good2btru Just be honest with her say "I felt weird correcting you" not a big deal. I imagine you wear a badge though, she could've checked there I guess. You could even laugh about it too
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  • 15
    Julia Toughs The longer this goes on the worse the reveal will be, You didn't do anything wrong, but you probably want to gently set the record straight sooner rather than later. so you are not an AH.
    via JuliaToughs
  • 16
    Deep-Okra1461 YTA I think you are a weird person. Letting it slide ONE time, well okay no harm done. But you are actively keeping the impersonation going. Why?
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  • 17
    Fluffy-Discussion326 NTA Change your name to Amelia so she never finds out ;)
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  • 18
    dull_bananas Maybe you can say "Why do you call me Amelia"?
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  • 19
    MtnNerd YTA she's probably someone who has difficulty with faces. You say yourself that you have a lot of similar characteristics to the person she's confusing you with. The longer you let it go on the more humiliation it will bring to her.
    via MtnNerd
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    Adorable-Writing3617 No, sounds like fun actually.
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  • 21
    Traditional-Swan-130 You didn't lie. You just... didn't stop the lie from growing legs and learning to dance. Honestly impressive. NTA but good luck when she tries to tag you on Facebook
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  • 22
    ivorleaf Nicely, YTA. I can totally understand letting it slide if it was a one time thing out of awkwardness, but you've let it continue. I know it's embarrassing to correct her after this has happened so many times, but she'll be even more
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    embarrassed when she eventually finds out your actual name from someone else. Tell her your real name, tell her you felt bad about correcting her cause it had gone on for a while, and hopefully you can both laugh it off and move on.
    via ivoeleaf

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Tags

mistaken identity similar mistaken department nurse coworkers Awkward characteristics Office tension personal workplace wrong name too late corrections traits
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