My nickname

The Writer: It happens sometimes. Friends come in and out of our lives, like busboys in a restaurant.

– Stand by Me (1986)

If you know about me, then you would have heard my nickname: “Bug”. I took a liking to my nickname. It was short for one thing and it gave me an identity. Taking into consideration my real name, my nickname sounded way cooler. There were times when people did not even know my real name, just my nickname. I was introduced by my nickname! However, I consider the story behind my nickname a lame one (I guess all nicknames have a lame story behind them, at least for the nicknamed person).

The year was 2000/01. It was the last year of school for us. One evening, I was with two of my friends at a road crossing. As we waited to cross the road, two of our friends, loafing about on the other side spotted the trio of us. Referring to the three of us, one said to another casually and rather humorously, “Doesn’t that look like one bug and two mosquitoes?”. The logic was that the three of us were so small and I looked only slightly bigger than the other two. That made me the bug and the other two became mosquitoes. Lame right? (sigh). It was attempted humor. But there was a keen observation here, although its importance is insignificant. I am blessed (or cursed, depending  on the viewpoint) with a small bone structure. My two other friends at that point were even smaller. And that became the basis for my nickname! Needless to say, the inane story got carried around and my inner circle of friends started calling me Bug. My two other friends from the trio were lucky enough not to be stuck with “mosquito” as their nicknames. So there you have it, the silly story on how I got re-christened as Bug.

Unfortunately as life has gone on, I lost both my friends; the two mosquitoes. Both lost their lives in road accidents. Both were gone before the age of 30. My nickname is now a reminder of how fleeting life can be. It’s a reminder of all the friends that were once close and have now grown up. As Bruce Springsteen would sing “Those glory days…”.

What about you? Do you have a lame, amusing or interesting nickname. And what of the story behind it? I would like to hear about it in the comments.