What would happen if everyone had the same surname?

The Galileo program encompasses elements of Maths, English and Science in a format that is tactile and challenges students’ higher level thinking skills in engaging and enjoyable ways using a range of games including chess as well as public speaking and competitions.

Each year, our talented Galileo students showcase their talents in a writing competition. Here we publish another of the fantastic winners from 2024. This witty piece is by Ridhaan Bhatia in the Year 5 category to the topic “What would happen if everyone had the same surname?”

“Imagine you are in a hospital, and you are waiting for your turn. They call your name, “Mr/Mrs Bob, please come up.”

Then, everyone will stand up and it will simply be a big bunch of chaos and havoc.

Today, I am exploring the topic, “What would happen if everyone had the same surname.”

First of all, for teachers, life would be living hell. If someone calls someone specific on the speaker, to say the office, all of the teachers would rush to the office, only to be later informed that they only need this, or that person. They would just waste almost every teacher in the school’s time.

Secondly, if everyone had the same surname, a lot of confusion would arrive at political courts. Criminals guilty of a crime would be called in by their pronoun and their last name (normally). After that, if the judge does rule someone as guilty, everyone would be sent to prison.

Finally, if you are at your job or workplace, coworkers and higher ranks are addressed by surnames. If someone wants to be in a job, they have to fill out an interview form and use their last name. There would be absolutely no point in organising these because they would all be the same and there would be no chance of finding a specific file.

To conclude this, nothing like this would ever happen. If you know someone who has a different last name than you, then you have already discovered that this cannot happen. Even if this did happen, we could call people by their first names. So, this concludes my text of “What would happen if everyone had the same surname?”