Jr III

The name has been changed to protect the:

   a) innocent
   b) guilty
   c) stupid
   d) inappropriate
   e) rebeillious
   f) all of the above

Actually, I don't know the correct answer, but I lean towards f. What I am about to write is no joke. Really, it's not. Last night on social media, I ran upon the profile of a man whose claimed to be ______ ______ Jr III. For discussions sake, I'll change the name to Jim Bob Smith Jr III. My question, which I posted on Facebook and received some responses to, was how is this possible? How can one be a Jr III? And isn't there supposed to be some punctuation in there somewhere? This has tossed a whole box of monkey wrenches into my brain, and I am not sure I can even do English anymore. I'm seriously confused, partly amused, and totally baffled. Help me out here. Please.

If I have the normal order correct, it would go something like this:

Jim Bob
Jim Bob, Jr.
Jim Bob, III

Now I'm lost. Where do we start putting Jr and numbers together? Maybe it went

Jr
Jr I
Jr II
Jr III

I can see a flaw in that one, however, and more likely it was

Jr
Jr II
Jr III

Or maybe there is a limit to the numbers and then you add the second digit and start over with Jr and the numbers. But when do you go double digit? Personally, I have never known anyone over III, but in my study of literature, I think I remember someone named Henry VIII. I remember no one named IX, or do I? Maybe there was a Pope or two who was a IX or even a X.

On Facebook, one of my wise and learned former professors, Dr. William Hays, suggested that Jr III is possible if he was his own father. What!?!?! I'll be honest, I can't figure that one out. Another responsive reader, Seth Wheatley III (who should know something about numbers and names), offered that "names don't have to make sense." He's certainly on to something there. I once had a student whose first name started with five straight consonants. I know, you don't believe it. Neither did I until I attempted to correct her. But that's another blog post altogether. 

To make a short story long, I give up on this one. If you can figure it out, please let me know. And if the real Jr III reads this, please don't be angry with me. I'm not making fun of your name. I'm just trying to wrap my head around how that one happened, and I did not have the nerve to ask you directly.

Good day sweet readers. May the Lord bless you richly while you investigate the mystery of Jr III. And pray for me. Pretty often I think that I'm just not smart enough to live in this world.