5/23/2010

By GARY DEMUTH

Salina Journal

Two years ago, when friends, relatives and total strangers started praising Vicki L. Price for her nearly 50 pound weight loss, she was dumbfounded.

Price, education director at Child Advocacy & Parenting Services, 153 S. Fifth, wouldn't reveal her exact weight but was adamant that a 50-pound weight loss would make her appear virtually anorexic.

"If I had really lost 50 pounds, would I still look like I do now?" Price, 58, said with a laugh. "Do people really look at me? My weight doesn't change all that much."

It didn't take long for Price to realize that all that weight had been shed by that other Vicki L. Price.

The other Vicki L. Price, 20 years younger and a manager at Dillard's at the Salina Central Mall, had lost 50 pounds during the fall of 2008 at a local Pound Plunge weight loss competition, hosted by the Salina YMCA.

After dozens of compliments on her impressive weight loss, the elder Vicki decided to stop correcting all the well-wishers.

"I took a cue from the other Vicki," she said. "I just started smiling and thanking people for the compliment."

Praise for Happy Bear

The younger Vicki had spent years being approached by strangers at Dillard's praising her parenting classes, family advice columns, community theater roles and costumed portrayal of Happy Bear, who teaches children the difference between proper and improper touching.

"People ask me parenting advice all the time," said the younger Vicki, 38. "They wonder how I can do all this -- work at Dillard's, do Happy Bear, hold parenting classes and work at CAPS."

The irony, younger Vicki said, is that she's much too shy to speak in public, much less host parenting classes and put on a bear suit to act for children.

"The other Vicki isn't scared of anything," younger Vicki said.

Sharing the same name can both be fun and irritating, depending on the name shared. There probably are hundreds of John Joneses and Jane Johnsons in the U.S., perhaps several in the same city. And while it might be flattering to share a name with a movie star like Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts or a rock star like Robert Plant or Steven Tyler, it might be disturbing to be named Charles Manson or Dennis Rader (to name two well-known serial killers).

And if the police, sheriff's office, FBI or Homeland Security is looking for a Fred Smith for terrorism or drug running, they just might accidently show up at the door of Fred Smith the pharmacist and Rotary member.

"We've had it happen more frequently than people think," said Saline County Sheriff Glen Kochanowski. "You never want to get the wrong guy, but sometimes you do."

Luckily, neither of the Vickies have been involved in criminal behavior.

"I'm so glad Vicki isn't a bank robber," elder Vicki said. "If she were a different person and did icky things, I don't think I'd like to share the name."

More than just names

The two Vickies have more in common than just their names. They both married young to their first serious boyfriends (elder Vicki's husband, Scott, is a Salina attorney and younger Vicki's husband Walter works at Exide), and they both have three children in the same birth order (Andrea, David and Megan for elder Vicki and Madison, Jackson and Isabella for younger Vicki).

And for years, the two have shared veterinarians and pharmacies, which has led to several mix-ups in bills and prescriptions during the last 17 years.

The two Vickies first became aware of each other when the vet bills for their cats got mixed up in 1993. But they didn't officially meet until 2000, when younger Vicki, then six months pregnant with her eldest daughter, Madison, received a frightening notice in the mail from the clinic that had done her blood work.

"They told me to call the clinic right away, and I panicked that something was wrong," younger Vicki said. "Then I realized they got the birth date wrong and I had gotten the other Vicki's mail."

High cholesterol

"(She) shows up at my door, holds up a paper and says 'We have high cholesterol,'¬ " elder Vicki said.

Several years later, elder Vicki's husband, Scott, stopped by the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions for his wife. When she opened the sack, out came a big bottle of prenatal pills.

"I said, 'Scott, did you look at what you picked up?' " she said. "He said no. I said, 'Well, Vicki must be pregnant again.' "

To help prevent further mix-ups, younger Vicki now just goes to the doctor or pharmacist and says, "I'm Vicki 1971."

Despite all the mix-ups, there has been a positive outcome for the two Vickies -- they've become good friends, something that might never have happened if they hadn't shared the same name.

"I look up to her because she does great things for the community," younger Vicki said. "I'm proud to share my name with her."

"I'm proud of her for how she's raised her kids," elder Vicki said. "I can see from her kids what a great mom she is."

Some arrests happen

The Vickies are fortunate not to share their name with a criminal or fugitive. Arresting an innocent citizen who happens to share the same name as a criminal suspect does happen, Kochanowski said, although more preventative steps are being taken.

"We encourage our people to do more background work before we make an arrest," he said. "There's always something there that will tell them apart."

If one John Smith is described as 6-foot, 3-inches and 400 pounds and officers end up confronting a John Smith that's 5-foot 6-inches and 140 pounds, "then something is very wrong," Kochanowski said.

"Officers have to work hard to make sure they have the right person," he said. "But sometimes a person has had to go to jail, and we've had to straighten it out there."

David and David

David Norlin and David Norlin haven't often been mistaken for each other, even though both men are close to the same age, have been college professors and share similar political views.

Salina's David Norlin, 65, is a retired English teacher who taught at Garden City and Cloud County community colleges. Lindsborg's David Norlin is a 62-year-associate professor of social work at Bethany College.

Both men share progressive liberal political views, but Lindsborg Norlin said Salina Norlin is much more involved in local politics and has expressed his opinions more publicly in columns for the Salina Journal.

"People have often told me they liked the article I wrote, even when the other David's picture was on the column," said Lindsborg Norlin. "He's so smart that I just took the compliment. We do share a lot of the same perspectives."

Physically, Lindsborg Norlin said he's rather rotund, while Salina Norlin is "slim and trim."

"He's a little taller than me and has a moustache, while I've had a beard since 1974," Lindsborg Norlin said.

Salina Norlin said he and his doppelganger met about 30 years ago, when they lived about 60 miles apart in Garden City and Dodge City.

"Now we're even closer in location and friendship," Salina Norlin said. "We're the only David Norlins we know in a four-state area unless another interloper moved in."

Salina Norlin said he and Lindsborg Norlin probably wouldn't have connected as strongly if they hadn't shared some of the same values. That said, Salina Norlin regrets that Lindsborg Norlin has had to put up with some of the strong reactions and criticisms Salina Norlin's liberal columns have produced.

"He's gotten some of my hate mail," Salina Norlin said.

But Lindsborg Norlin said he doesn't mind being called a "liberal academic egghead professor" every now and then.

"It's fun sharing a name when it's someone you admire," he said.

nReporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.

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