#20 - What's in a name?

"You're not allowed to give yourself a nickname. This holds true in life as well as in poker." -Richard Roeper

Ah, nicknames. Those gifts given that can either be a blessing or a curse. For instance, during a temporary substituting stint I had a kid in class who was lovingly dubbed "Binky" by his friends. Here's the story: He came in one day saying that he would now be referred to as "Nuke" (we all know we can't choose our nicknames). The problem was that he proceeded to write it on the board and spelled it "Nuk" (which apparently is the name of a pacifier). Hence, the nickname.

I myself have only had one for the majority of my life and that has been "D. Reed." Original, right? Some brief ones that made an appearance during high school: "Marshall" because I had bleach blond hair and was dating a girl named Kim. "Coach" given to me by a few of my black friends because I always brought them to practice (think about it: one white guy driving a car with 4/5 black kids sitting in it...kinda looks like a basketball team, right?). Somehow, around the time of college, a friend of mine starting calling me "The White Devil." Not sure where he even came up with that one, but he's the only one that refers to me as such. For the most part, it's been "D. Reed" and always "D. Reed." So much so, that everyone from brief stint at Otterbein College may not have even know my first name or at least never used it.

Aside from my nicknames, I wanted to convey the immense number of nicknames I have given out over the years. It's just something I do. Here's a short list:

Megan (my fiance) - Curlhead
Megan (my sister) - Ria (one of our cousins couldn't say her full name "Megan Reed" when she
was younger, so it came out as "Megan-a-Ria." It stuck. Also, my sister
had the unfortunate name of Porkchop, simply because her brother was a goofy idiot.
Bethey - Freckles
Katie R. - K. Rob the jewelry store, tell 'em make me a grill
Judith - J.Ho
Grace - Prez Keplinger
Lacey - Grace/Buzz
Eric - E.coli
Phil - Fat Milk
Anokh - Brown Cow
Ashley G. - Twinks
Ashley Rill - The Rilla in Manilla
Randi - Trips
Emily Whipple - Redi-Whip
Kaitlyn Hoobler - Hooberific