Confidence is a preferance

[cdave]

or why I call myself Dave.

When I was a really little kid days were long and sunny, except when it snowed in winter. And I was a confident little David. I made friends easily, and generally was hyperactive and surreal the whole time.

Then as I went through school I became less open with those that didn't know me. I'd be a loud as ever with my mates, but quiet if I didn't know anyone there.

I'd been going to youth theatre classes for years, and when I was 16 I made a concious decision to as boisterous and surreal there with anyone, as I would be with close friends. I can't remember my exact thoughts, but it was something along the lines of "since everyone is here to be dramatic, it should be a safe space to be outgoing in". And I introduced myself as Dave.

When it came to A-levels, I'd taken maths early, and none of the local colleges were on the same exam board, so a whole bunch of the brightest kids stayed on at the IVth form. The way my school worked meant I'd only been in classes with about 50% of the kids before, but had had run ins with a fair few of them. I must have known about 75% of the sixth form from day one. So this was also somewhere safe to be odd in public.

By the time I started Uni I'd been being Dave rather than David long enough that this was a not so much a habit as a way of life.

Comments

[sarahdotcom.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I've always hated Sarah and I kind of wish I'd called myself Elizabeth (my middle name) or variants thereof (Lizzie, Liz, Beth etc). But it feels a bit late now.

[cdave]

Did I point you to the Sarah party before?

It's certainly easier to pick a new nickname when you meet a new bunch of people or start a new job or something. Of course you can then end up with the situation a friend has of having about 4 nicknames in current use :)

Anyway Sarah's a cool name.

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid I had a friend called Sarah. One day she told me she liked how I pronounced her name. I was about 6 and had known her as long as I could remember, but I always thought her name was Starer.

I was also mortified around the same age when I started writing at school to find that the words were "puddle" and "muddled up", not "puggle" and "muggled up" and NOBODY HAD TOLD ME EARLIER.