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one name per face
Oct. 22nd, 2009 10:50 amIt is cracking me up that I am learning, through Facebook, the real names of people I have known for years. Faire folk tend to take faire names, and I am old and easily confused and can only manage to remember one name per face... if THAT. Thank goodness Facebook has photos.
When I was a sophomore in high school, I had a nickname given to me by a friend. It stuck for YEARS. I didn't mind it at the time, but after awhile it just became ridiculous. I successfully shook it off when I was about 21. In the past few years at Bristol, it has come up a couple of times. There's a good chunk of the Rennie population that was also involved with Rocky Horror -- and almost NO ONE at RHPS knew my real name. I try not to squirm when the nickname comes up now; there's nothing WRONG with the name, and it's not other people's fault that it stuck so hard. It's just that after 20-some years of not hearing it, it sounds wrong to me. (The reason I do not have a faire name is because I would completely forget to answer to it.)
On the subject of nicknames, I used to hate being called Jules, but I have adjusted, since it seems to just be the default nick for my name. There are a very few people who call me Jewel - my Mom and my high-school sweetheart both did, and my siblings do on occasion. Beth does, sometimes, but when she realizes she is, she will slide an "s" onto the end. I have often said that I hate when people call me Jewel, but I have noticed that it's more that I hate when people ASSUME they can call me Jewel. When it is people who have known me for years and years, it sort of slides past my notice.
I will almost always address people by the names they themselves give me, or however they were introduced. Thus, if you've been introduced as, say, Steven, I will likely NOT call you Steve. James from Water Street Bridge is an exception, and I can't even tell you why. He was introduced as James, but I nearly automatically started calling him Jimmy. I'm conscious of it when I do it, and I try not to (and he has not registered a complaint, so I don't even know if he cares.)
If I call you by a name you'd prefer not to be called, please tell me, OK?
When I was a sophomore in high school, I had a nickname given to me by a friend. It stuck for YEARS. I didn't mind it at the time, but after awhile it just became ridiculous. I successfully shook it off when I was about 21. In the past few years at Bristol, it has come up a couple of times. There's a good chunk of the Rennie population that was also involved with Rocky Horror -- and almost NO ONE at RHPS knew my real name. I try not to squirm when the nickname comes up now; there's nothing WRONG with the name, and it's not other people's fault that it stuck so hard. It's just that after 20-some years of not hearing it, it sounds wrong to me. (The reason I do not have a faire name is because I would completely forget to answer to it.)
On the subject of nicknames, I used to hate being called Jules, but I have adjusted, since it seems to just be the default nick for my name. There are a very few people who call me Jewel - my Mom and my high-school sweetheart both did, and my siblings do on occasion. Beth does, sometimes, but when she realizes she is, she will slide an "s" onto the end. I have often said that I hate when people call me Jewel, but I have noticed that it's more that I hate when people ASSUME they can call me Jewel. When it is people who have known me for years and years, it sort of slides past my notice.
I will almost always address people by the names they themselves give me, or however they were introduced. Thus, if you've been introduced as, say, Steven, I will likely NOT call you Steve. James from Water Street Bridge is an exception, and I can't even tell you why. He was introduced as James, but I nearly automatically started calling him Jimmy. I'm conscious of it when I do it, and I try not to (and he has not registered a complaint, so I don't even know if he cares.)
If I call you by a name you'd prefer not to be called, please tell me, OK?
