Pet and Nicknames at Work
A discussion about pet and nicknames happened on a discussion list of solo librarians recently. It’s giving me the opportunity to write a blog post I’ve been toying with for a while. The discussion began when someone asked about the appropriateness of a coworker using a rather generic nickname for her instead of her given name. Several people suggested she consider whether he uses the term with other people and, if so, how. They noted they work in environments where many people use nicknames for everyone (”buddy,” “pal,” “dear,” etc.). This conversation shifted a bit into the importance of communicating to others how we prefer to be called.
j is my preferred nickname, which is why I use it on this blog. I don’t know why, but I’ve never liked being called most of the shortened forms of Jessica. Some people think I’m snooty because I don’t like to be called by the typical nicknames. I don’t like the fact that people just assume they can call me by a shortened form because they know other Jessicas who go by the common nicknames. If one Jessica likes it, we all must, right?
I felt much better about what some people think is a mean personality quirk when several others with commonly truncated names responded to an e-mail I wrote about the situation I’m in because I’ve never been very aggressive about telling people what I don’t like to be called. Some of them also expressed annoyance at people calling them by nicknames common for their names and were supportive about my preferences for what I’m called. I encouraged the woman to speak up about her preferences instead of waiting a long time to do it like I have done.
A redhead wrote about how when she’s called “Red,” she’ll call the person by his/her hair color to emphasize her dislike of that nickname. She said so far she’s refrained from calling people “Baldie” or “Bad Hair Piece.” (No, it was not the Redhead.)
