Awkward naming
That awkward phase in life has begun. Not well publicized, it caught me off guard.
I don’t know how to address my friends.
Do I still use the nicknames/monikers/last names from undergrad for my friends from that era? Do I just use first names for everybody?
For some indeterminate reason, I have always referred to some friends by their first names, so those situations are at least unambiguous. Unfortunately, a large number of people remain in a problematic zone.
A similar problem is how I address myself, particularly in informal situations. Do I use just my first name? Do I use just my last name, which is how I was commonly identified in years past?
Among friends, neither issue is all that important. Still, I don’t want to appear out of touch, like a middle-aged person still using the slang from his adolescence.
You can call me Brian. At least that’s one down.
I still run the gambit from fiddy to halfcent, the only person who calls me Alex is my girlfriend. Heck my boss refers to me as young Jedi and I don’t even like Starwars.
calling someone wojo or snyder is entirely acceptable if your relationship hasn’t changed since with that person. introducing yourself to other people can be tricky – at work i go with the whole name…but out in public, just ted. i refer to some of my friends with last names or nicknames, which i don’t quite see as being immature or terribly informal. go with what you know. oh – and i don’t know how being more formal will make you appear “in touch” though…maybe i’m just that out of touch.
Depending on your decision, you may need to change your blog to jeff.com.
I agree with wojo. A few years ago everyone refered to me by surname, but everyone at work uses the given name. Wojo, Farmer is coming to Richmond in a few weeks…maybe you are visiting your brother the same weekend and we can all get together?
For me its simple: everyone I know from high school calls me Webb, everyone from college-on calls me Paul.
So Keacher, I’m guessing you’ll know where I stand on this one 🙂
I’ve kind of always been “Bob”, so I am kind of new to this. However, I would have to agree with Wojo on this one.
I’m with you bud, but my quandry is a bit bigger because I’ve got that Ph.D. after my name. To make it worse, my wife has an M.D. after hers. So, in certain circles if I go by Dr. Allen, people will assume I have medical training (that ain’t good because I don’t). But if I don’t go by Dr. Allen, then potential employers/references/collaborators may think I’m too lax, casual, or unprofessional. So, I go by Kyle in person; Dr. Allen on paper.
P.S. I know long time… I went and visited Steen last weekend and that encouraged me to relocate some blogs. Hope you are well.