What’s in a Nickname?

A nickname can say a lot about how others see you. I remember certain younger brothers announcing my visit to see their sister with “Elaine the Pain’s here.” While growing up, I was so often at that neighbor's house, I guess I was sometimes a bit of a pain. Later on, I worked at St. Joseph’s Hall, a terrible place for children, in Brooklyn. “Penny Lane” by the Beatles was popular. Several of the kids gave me that trendy monicker. Back then, I was only 20 years old,and I don’t remember them adding a “Miss” to Penny Lane. I felt rather cool being associated with the Beatles.

Adding a “y” to a name is endearing. I remember my mother, once in a while, called me Elainey. Nowadays, my grown son, James, (who has never been a Jim or Jimmy) becomes Jamesey when I want to get across that he’s still my little boy.

I guess my preoccupation with my jack-of-all-trades, master of none preoccupation with harmonica, poetry, and a few other diversions fit my latest nickname, given to me in a preschool where I was officially Miss Elaine, but sometimes referred to, by a few co-workers,as Miss-Elaine-eous. I think they called me that more for the natural progression of syllables, rather than for any deep analysis of my interests.