Jessica - my given name
Jess - called by my family and close pre-Navy friends
Jessy - called by the McNary/Reed family
Larry - the name given to me when I was in the Navy and the one I feel the closest to,
Larbear - endearing nickname of my nickname called to me by some of the derby girls,
Lar-Dawg - same as above but by more people
L-Dawg - mostly called to my by Shiloh
L-to-the-A - mostly called to me by Sam
Uncle Larry - radio DJ name
Old Skool Beatdown - roller derby identity
Old Skool - shortened form of Old Skool Beatdown and used in my knitting forums
OSB - shortened form of Old Skool Beatdown and what the Rose City girls call me
and Inman - called to me by the 22 people and it's my family name.
With all of these monikers, you can probably understand why I hesitate after someone asks what my name is. Which one do I give to them? How well am I going to know them? Which one of my social circles do I think they belong in? How do I explain to them why I chose for them to call me by that name?
I think that's one of the many reasons I'm finding it hard to make friends here. I'm constantly meeting new people, and it's hard for me to figure out (quickly I might add) the answers to the questions previously stated. If I think that I'm not going to know them that long, I've determined that I'll give them my given name (which I hate) because it's readily accepted and much less confusion. Plus, I don't have to explain the Larry story another thousandth time. But if I feel that I'm going to know them a little longer, what should I do?
Also, if we do end up getting to know each other, I can imagine their confusion when they log into my social networking sites and see that other people are calling me by 17 other names. It's like, who is this person? It sometimes feels as though I have multiple personalities! Don't get me wrong, I love my names; I love it when people call me Larbear or OSB et al (not Jessy! Don't you dare cuz I wont answer). It's just that first meeting with new people that is so internally awkward. That's the perfect word! Right after an individual inquires as to what my identity is, I have 13 alias' fighting to make their way linguistically through my lips which takes a few heartbeats longer than it takes the average person who is comfortable with their identity. And that's weird. That makes me look even crazier. I understand this anomaly. I don't see it changing either; in fact, I see it getting worse. By the time I die - which will be 60 or so years from now - with the rate I'm going, I'm going to have 39 variations of my name. I'm gonna need a pretty large headstone.
No comments:
Post a Comment