nicknames...

the other day it occurred to me that i have had many nicknames in my lifetime. i dont think i offered a single one as a nickname yet they had a way of sticking. fortunately, most of them were terms of endearment.

when i was little, my uncle used to call me chooch. when i got older, it eventually stopped. when he had his daughter, she started calling her chooch. to be honest, i was disappointed because i thought it was something special he and i shared, however i guess he felt he could call anyone chooch.

chooch was not the only nickname i had when i was little. my mother had several for me, such as chip, critter, and scotter. then of course, there were all the typical names a mother calls her offspring. scotter is obvious- a derivation of scott. apparently, chip is short for christopher. ive only known one other person to be called chip, and weve since grown apart and he is in fact on another continent as far as i last heard. on a side note, i am so happy he has reached a satisfying place in life. critter, on the other hand, may be my fault. when i was little, i was unable to say christopher, which is my first name. all i could manage to say was critter, which my family just loved as i would tell strangers everywhere, "hi, my name is critter scott cherry, gran'son." christopher wouldve never even been an issue except for some reason, my grandparents insisted on calling my christopher. scott was my mother's choice.

along came the elementary school years and with it came a slew of other nicknames. most of these names were names that rhymed with my name, such as scotty potty, hot larry (which was actually my 5th grade music teacher's fault and upon instant realization that i didnt like it, the name stuck with my peers well into highschool- a name i still dont care for, but obviously no longer eats away at me.), and the time my classmates confused me for christopher columbus when my preschool teacher was trying to teach us about the reason for columbus day.

i didnt get many more nicknames until i was attending my second college. the guys in the art wing used to call me techno man because i always had headphones on playing electronic dance music (edm). the guys i used the hang out and hack with on the other side of campus knew me as sweat angel. one day, after a heavy session of hacking i lay down on the cool cement while everyone was taking a breather. when a friend helped me up, there was a sweat mark on the concrete where my body had been and he dubbed me sweat angel. the mark reminded him of a snow angel. not only was i not offended but i thought it was rather funny and the name stuck while i was still there.

the funny thing is none if my nicknames have every jumped from one circle of friends to another. when i worked for a tobacco shop, one guy used to call me lucky, as in lucky charms because i wore a green jacket. a store manager knew me as "the gnome" because of my beard. my best friend in the store i started in called me scott dawg. he even printed it out on a labeler and stuck it to my coffee/tea mug. since then, the mug has broken, but i have kept the label out of sentiment.

i would say, however, that most ppl are usually inclined to call me scotty/scottie. even my grandfather started calling me scotty during my college years. my grand mother still insists on calling me christopher for some reason, however i havent talked to her in ages so thats a moot point. these days it doesnt really matter was ppl call me. ive outgrown the need for validation from others.