The "What's In A Name" Story

It was an ordinary day. I had just returned from getting my taxes done. Some people hate to do their taxes, but I really enjoy visiting with Jim to see if I was a financial success this year. Jim used to teach office practices, business law and desktop publishing at Conestoga Valley High School, but retired a few years ago. He still continues to do tax returns and has quite a few Amish farmers as his clients. Has a spot for a buggy in front of his office. I enjoy talking to Jim about his hobby of car restoration. He has a beautiful 1957 Oldsmobile and used it last summer for the local opening of the Movie "Taking Woodstock" which is a comedy-drama about the Woodstock festival in 1969. Jim drove one of the main actors, Jonathan Groff, to the show in his Olds. Jonathan is a friend of Jim and graduated from CV where Jim taught. Now, I also have a good financial advisor by the name of Alan. Alan graduated one year before I did from MTHS and has been an advisor since graduating from college with numerous degrees. They all hang on his wall in his office. Pretty impressive. Has his own Wealth Management company and has been very successful. He also dresses the part. Saw him at Costco and even his jeans had creases in them. He handles all my finances. I must tell you that the two people that I trust the most with my finances are Jim and Alan. Jim's last name is Dum and Alan's last name is Loss. So much for names giving away their true worth. So what's in a name? I read the newspaper all the time and am amazed at the nicknames of people arrested. Last week they arrested Michael Tyrone Stewart from Columbia for murder. His nickname........"Mike Murder." You know he has to be guilty. When I read the newspaper, I always check out who died. The older I get, the more names I recognize. The nicknames of some of the people in the obituaries, though, are pretty funny. Lots of Skippys, Homers and Buddys. Even saw a "Gooks" and a "Cootie" last night. Our friend Sue got her nickname of Just Sue from our travel agent. Karen, the agent, had booked Sue on a flight using the name Susan. Not the name on her passport so she wouldn't be allowed on the plane with us. I called and told Karen it was just Sue, not Susan. From then on Karen always says, Just Sue. We all call her that now. Nicknames sometimes give away the person's attributes. "Big Daddy" was the nickname of a 320 lb. lineman who played for our high school football team. Need any further explanation. I'm sure you have an image of "Boobette" who walked the topless beaches of a Caribean island we visited, her two attributes not jiggling an inch as she walked. Now, Carol picked that name, not me!! We had nicknames for our kids. Derek was known as Dirk and sometimes "Lefty", because of his baseball prowess and I called Brynn, "Brynner" and still do. Called our youngest Tad. His name is Paul Thadeus, but I had a student in class by the name of Tad and really like it so.....close enough to Thadeus I thought. Tad's brother and sister called him, and still do, Bowls because of one of his haircuts that he had when he was very young. Throughout my childhood I was sometimes known as Woodsie, but now, as you may have guessed by my blog address, my daughter has decreed me to be LDub. But, one of the neatest stories about nicknames comes from my childhood friend, Leon S. Leon was always picked on by almost everyone during his junior high and senior high school years. I'm not sure why, but people picked on him. Made his life a living hell. "Bugsy" didn't have eyes that stuck out or any other features that would justify his nickname. He was just the fall guy for every one's jokes. Poor "Bugsy" suffered throughout his school years. Recently I saw him at our 45th High School Reunion and we talked. He has had a great life post "Bugsy" and has a beautiful wife. I think he took everyone by surprise when someone questioned him about what he was now doing, and he told all of us that he carries the title "Regional Director of Department of Homeland Security - US Customs for the State of Kentucky." Way to go Leon!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.