I was talking to my friend in Pennsylvania earlier today. We were reminiscing about our childhood. It reminded me that a few days ago, Dr. Keith Ablow, who has a segment on FOX News about "Normal or Nuts" stated emphatically that anyone who frequently uses nicknames is nuts.
If I could speak to Dr. Ablow, I would remind him there are two sides to every coin and each side is as valuable as the other.
What brought the whole thing to mind is my dad. When he came home from work in the evening, kids of all sizes used to stand on the street corner, waiting to play his game. He had the habit of giving them names that weren't theirs. He'd usually begin with "Hi, Pete, Hi, George," and go from there. Pete and George weren't particularly popular names in their generation. They loved it. As I said, they'd stand on the street corner, waiting for him to come home and greet them with an unusual name as he drove past them.
They began to respond in the same way, calling him crazy names and waving happily as he drove by. It was their game. Dad often said he couldn't remember their names and that's why he did it. He wasn't trying to put them down or make himself feel superior. He simply couldn't remember all their names. Who can blame him? I once counted 69 kids under the age of 21 on that 3 block long street!
It is true the person Dr. Ablow was discussing even used nicknames for people in authority. That is a bit extreme, I'll admit. But, in my family, nicknames or terms of endearment are to express affection and even
respect for someone's position of authority. Dr. Ablow, may I remind you there are 2 sides to every coin?
No comments:
Post a Comment