In real life!
Or at least my bank thinks so. Or something.
As I related this weekend, I am newly converted to capitalism, at least as far as my "musical" efforts are concerned. After years of giving away my songs online, I took the advice of friends and strangers (Hi again, Fiddlegirl!) and put the latest one up for sale on the interwebs.
Today, I got my first check for download sales. Hey! Almost fifty bucks! I'm rich!
(Well, a couple of food banks are, but that's a different story.)
So I go to the bank, whistling, "We're in the money," and skip up to the counter.
Only to find out that the stage name I've been using for 30 years, under which I've held an account at the very same bank in years past, is not acceptable, as the check has been made out to my birth name (just a different first name, same last).
I'm told that, if I want to deposit the check, I have to go to City Hall, pay an annual fee for an occupational license (license to occupy myself, I suppose), then come back to the bank, pay a $100 fee and open a commercial account.
I've already instructed the download sites to make the checks out to my "real" name (which hardly anyone in the world knows by now), but wonder how to deal with this if it comes up again.
Should I go through the rigamarole of occupational license/commercial account? Should I legally change my name to what I've come to see (and most of the world--including my bank, in years past) as my real name?
Please pardon the personal whining. I'm having an existential crisis.