Okay, so you know how some people call you by your first name, others by your last (Mr. So and So), and still others by a nickname or tagname? My visit to New York included an interesting conversation with my mom about this subject. It never even crossed my mind that different people would feel differenly about this, as its not something you really ever think about. 

Basically, she was talking about her father and how his doctor refers to him using the name Ed. His name is Edmond, and he has gone by his middle name Jim basically all his life. He never told the doctor to call him Edmond, let alone Ed. My moms problem was that the doctor even had the gall to call him by his first name at all, as opposed to Mr. McQuown. She believed that it was rude of the doctor to just assume it was okay to refer to her father by his first name, without him first granting the doctor permission. She figured the doctor would call him Mr. McQuown, and he would say “You can call me Jim.”

Now, the whole time she was telling me the story, I was thinking how rude it was of the doctor to assume she could give him a nickname. I saw nothing wrong with her
assuming she could call him by his first name. I thought the right thing to do would be to call him Edmond, and he would say “Please call me Jim.”

I talked to some people at work about this, and its interesting how the younger group is perfectly fine with anyone calling them by their first name. Its not something they expect when they are called Mr. and Mrs. Whatever, but they think its nice. Sometimes it makes them uncomfortable. The older people at work stand more on where my mom was coming from. They expect to be called Mr. or Mrs. Whomever by just about everyone. 

On a different note, I am starting a website called Gear Live. It is a technology site aimed at the yuppies of the world, also touching on other subjects that this crowd is interested in. I am excited about this new venture, and hopefully it becomes a nice success. Look for it soon at gearlive.com.