Bring on the Night

A few days ago I read Honkie Town Redux’s entry about how he came to be called Spike. Pretty funny, how a short incident can set a mark you for life. You just have to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and you have yourself a haunting nickname. Actually it was pretty much the same that happened to me.

By my friends I am known by either “Joe Cool / Joe” or the less flattering “Turtle“. I have grown to like both in time, but when I got them, I weren’t so sure.

Turtle was gained in 1991 when I started trading school (HH).

The reason was as slim as can be, but all guys in the class needed a nickname. Therefore I was baptised “Turtle”. At the time I had been studying Tae-Kwon-Do for 4 years and as you may know, Tae-Kwon-Do is a martial art. Martial arts are what Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles practice. You do the math?

Could be worse though. One classmate were labelled “Tykkie” (Can be translate to “Fattie”), while another one was given the good nick “H.I.V.” due to his need to bang anything with a pulse and not use any protection whatsoever.

The year before that I went trading school 1990, I was attending basic trading school (EFG), I earned Joe Cool and eventually just “Joe“. I kind of like it now, even though I didn’t dig it back then. The good ones you can’t choose for yourself. As with most nicks you really don’t have to do much to get a nick, and the same went for Joe Cool.

At the time, no one would accuse me for being a fashion victim. I was living at home with my parents and only had money for the most basic things (like beer and partying). Stylish clothing weren’t an issue to me. Therefore I happily accepted most of the clothes that I got for Christmas and birthdays with no frowning.

One day my mother gave me a pair of shoes she bought at the local shoe shop. I liked them since they looked like Converse, which was the style of the season here in Denmark. They were bound to make me one of the guys. But not in the way I thought. They had one minor flaw: they weren’t real Converse and just cheap rip-offs. Furthermore they had a label on the side with Snoopy as his alter ego “Joe Cool”. To finish them off they had white laces with “Joe Cool” written on. Can you see where this is going?

I am pretty sure I still have the shoes somewhere, if C hasn’t trashed them when I weren’t around. The last being most likely now that I think about it.

Getting a public nickname can be the ultimate compliment even though you may not like it at the time. That’s sort of an acknowledgement from your friends and acquaintances. On the other hand, getting one that you never learn of yourself, can be the direct opposite. I bet I’ve had a few of those too.

Tags: Humour, name