The disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov is a technology implementation story in a big way, so I’ve basically been under water at work ever since Oct 1. Since it’s a huge story that encompasses many of our beats, it means that I’m working more closely with the Washington desk, which is where my fellow Asian NPR reporter, Ailsa Chang works.
Ever since Ailsa started covering Capitol Hill, my co-workers began complimenting me for HER great reporting. Whoops. Part of the problem is our names — Ailsa is pronounced “EL-sa” and Elise, well, has the same sounds. The other issue is likely that we’re the two Chinese-American gals who cover sometimes overlapping topics.
here at @nprnews, people always congratulate @elisewho whenever Ailsa Chang does a good story. "Nice piece today!"
— Gene Demby (@GeeDee215) August 7, 2013
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Matty created a poster for my desk as a guide. And yesterday when we were both on the Hill we took a pic together to help people out on social media:
Fellow Asian reporter Ailsa Chang & I get confused for one another a lot. Today both of us are on the Hill. Ruh roh pic.twitter.com/MhZ9GdvP1Y
— Elise Hu (@elisewho) November 13, 2013
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But after all my public service announcing, I came back from the Hill only to get an email from an admin guy saying “You have an interoffice mail on Beth’s desk.” I rushed over to Beth’s desk, since I love getting mail, only to find it was addressed to Ailsa, not me.
/facepalm.