A year ago when Sepi and I were new to each other, she told me she already had a friend named Chris so I couldn’t be Chris to her. This other Chris was a woman so she was actually Christine, but no one called her by that name.
After a little discussion, it was determined that Christopher was a good name and I would have to be referred to that way. It was a little weird because I have always gone by Chris as well.
Sepi stuck to it. She calls me Christopher all the time, not just when we’re around Chris or talking about her. She does it in a loving way which is nice. I suspect most people who have nicknames think, as I did, that the only time they hear their original names is when they were younger and their mother was mad at them.
Now I’ve noticed recently that I have been introducing myself to people as Christopher not Chris. I like the sound of it! It’s a bit clunky for all the time use, though. Actually, I like that Sepi is still about the only one to use it regularly. Even the other Chris calls me Chris most of the time. We get a chuckle out of it. If someone were to call ‘Christopher’ across a room I was in, my first reaction would be to expect my mother to be that person and that I had done something wrong.
I guess I’ve been good lately, because Mom’s been calling me Chris.
Chris, what a beautiful way to end your comments. Enjoyed reading it and LOL!
Very honestly, the way we were raised, we called people by their full name. We did not truncate, or change a name, like the way we do here. For example, changing Richard to Dick, Robert to Bob, Charles to Chuck, William to Bill, Elizabeth to Bette, etc.
In addition, calling people by their full name, was our way of showing respect. It was the sign of respect, particularly if they were an older person.
When I was a new student in America, I thought Americans were so cool to call their professors by their first name or their truncated names. To me it showed closeness, familiarity, and seeing their teachers as buddies! I liked it so much, that when I became an aunt, I did not even want to be called by the “aunt” label. To me the label aunt reflected remoteness and not closeness at all. I wanted to be called by my first name not as an aunty. I was more interested in closeness and bonding than in using labels or full names as signs of respect.
Now, almost 50 years later, I have noticed that my perspective again has changed. I now prefer to call people by their full names and I even add labels such as mr., miss, aunt, etc. I feel the people who are in my life are close to me and we are all bonded. Showing my respect to them is taking more of the center importance, as if I am telling them that they matter to me and I value them. Calling them by their full names reflect my respect, appreciation, and my love for them being in my life. For me, my love and their value increases in each passing day of this fast moving life, whether I see them regularly or not, or refer to them by their short or long names! I love knowing everyone I know!
Now, I want to spend more time being with people I love and cherish, see them more often, talk, dine, travel, laugh and share experiences with them. I am more interested in really knowing them and for them to know me. It saddens me to know that I have family members and friends that I really do not know or they do not know me and what we are all about! Hope we can change it all and focus on what we are all about by setting aside differences and our foolish prides before it is too late. Life is so short! Let us show we care, no matter how we refer to each other!
As for me, I love you Christopher. Chris, Mr Wood, etc.
Sepi, Sepideh