After reading several of the
high school themed nodes here it seems pretty obvious that many
noders harbored a great deal of
hatred toward this tragic period of life. Before I sunk into a general
apathy toward my fellow
classmates in the last two years I was there I had earned my share of
nicknames. Some of the more offending ones that spring to mind:
- Shakes: As a kid I had been plagued by a small muscle problem in my hands- causing them to tremble slightly when held out in front of me. One day, in the cafeteria, I was crammed into a small table with several people I didn't like very much. Someone asked me to hand them a napkin so I obliged and, while holding out the napkin, my hand began to shake uncontrollably. Nervousness ensued, making the trembling grow in magnitude until the entire table was laughing at my little handicap. Thus the name was created.
- Silence: For my entire life whenever I was made fun of I responded with the comfortable sound of silence. Not because I wasn't angry, but because I was always too scared to say anything. This name was given to me by the same group in the story above. One of my offending classmates, in a vain attempt to grant me some self esteem (?), asked me why I never talked back when harassed. Of course, this was said in a highly condescending tone of voice, causing me to retreat back into my little shell. Another nickname was born.
- Obssession: This name stemmed from an incident in my freshman year. Feeling brave, I had decided that high school would be different from my previous years of education and I would be, if not popular, at least respected. After several months I experienced the first crush of my high school career. With immense bravado I asked her out and was quickly rejected. For some reason I then decided to write her a note apologizing for any awkwardness and expressing the hope that we would remain "friends". This was taken to be extremely odd and, by the end of the day, word was out that I was hopelessly obsessed. People are so willing to believe lies!
- "Rubbish": Not actually given to me during high school, this name has followed me around for years. When my family moved to our current residence I attempted to make friends with the other kids on my block. It didn't take them long to turn against me, however, and I was dubbed "Rubbish Rob". Being the little pushover that I was I would laugh at this and attempt to make light of it. One day I asked someone why they had decided to call me this and they simply responded that "garbage" was too good for me. Yay.
This all happened some time ago. People don't bother me anymore, and I am able to look back on these times and laugh. I'm also not as weak as I used to be. Either that or names have just stopped having any effect on me.