Identifying People By Their Nicks

Last weekend while attending Virgin Boy's Victorian setting wedding dinner, I saw so many familiar faces.

I had come to know these people from the IRC days during my college year in 1997. Back then, IRC was a hobby, a trend, an obsession. If you weren't in the IRC, you weren't IN. But if it wasn't for IRC, I wouldn't be able to meet so many people. In fact, if it wasn't for #taylors, I wouldn't have had the privilege to forge so many friendships that are still lasting till this very day (Virgin Boy included).

Almost 10 years since then, there we were at the wedding dinner, recognizing each other, remembering that somehow somewhere he/she was just so familiar, maaaaaaaaaaaybe from IRC. Almost like a mini gathering. And so we said Hi but we just could not place names with their faces.

A : Hey, do you remember me?
B : Hi! Errr.. I don't quite remember your name. (looking sheepishly)
A : I'm A.
B : Errrrr.... (help!!)
A : My nick was so-and-so.
B : Oooohhhhh!!! Now I remember you!!! How are you??

Just when I was wishing and hoping that no one would remember my embarassing nick, this guy whom I knew through #taylors too (but I just did not say Hi coz I thought he wouldn't remember me) spotted me and said aloud across the tables, "Eh... You are BP right???" And he turned to the person sitting beside him, "She's BP, right???" I almost wanted to die there and then. I so wanted to rip the nickname label off myself, burn it to pieces and give myself a new nickname. The problem is, it can never happen. Our nicknames were our identities in the virtual world donkey years ago. They were indeed a part of ourselves. No matter how much we want to change that, another 10 years down the road, we'd still remember each other by the nicknames.

It's the same here on the blogging world. Readers will remember me as Patchee. Bloggers who turned into friends would probably remember me as that too. But I guess I'm fine with that. At least I'm not embarassed with this nick. Tee hee hee..