So, I'll share a snippet of conversation from our meet-up with Cliff's cousins last weekend.
As it happens, there was another Donna there, one everybody in the group has known a lot longer than they've known me; so of course it got a little confusing.
Evelyn said, "You're going to have to think of another name we can call you."
"No problem; just call me Mo. I'm used to answering to that."
She seemed flabbergasted. "That's going to take some getting used to," she said.
So I tried to explain to them how, back in the old chat room days on AOL, you went into a chat room with your "screen name", also the same as your AOL email address... minus the "@aol.com".
At that time my screen name was mo2773. The "mo" was for Missouri, and the numbers were part of my phone number. Hey, I was new to the Internet and was having a problem coming up with a screen name that wasn't taken. I had no idea I was going to be entering a chat room where "Mo" would be my name.
In the chat room, I got to know FM and JenFar and Bnana and Jet and Skiss and Qwkwit and Westbilt, and dozens of others with strange names. I used those names to communicate on the chat screen, and that's what I called them if I met them in person. And they called me "Mo".
Soon I was answering to that name as naturally as I answer to "Donna" (or "Sweet Pea", if it's Cliff talking to me).
Unfortunately, I think Cliff's cousins and their spouses could only think of Moe, the one associated with the three stooges; so nobody called me anything.
I think my explanation of how I got my nickname convinced them all that I was a bit touched in the head.
I guess you just had to be there in the chat room days to understand.
Nobody's called me Mo for a long, long time. I miss that.
I still think of you as Mosie sometimes!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing...I often think of you as Mosie instead of Donna.
ReplyDeleteFrom the"Old Days" :)
ReplyDeleteWe sit and we type,
And we stare at our screens;
We all have to wonder
What this possibly means.
With our mouse we roam,
Through the rooms in a maze;
Looking for something or someone,
As we sit in a daze.
We chat with each other;
We type all our woes;
Small groups we do form,
And gang up on our foes.
We wait for somebody
To type out our name;
We want recognition,
But it is always the same.
We give kisses and hugs,
And sometimes flirt;
In PMs (IMs) we chat deeply,
And reveal why we hurt.
We do form friendships -
Yet why, we don't know;
But some of these friendships
Will flourish and grow.
Why is it on screen,
We can be so bold?
Telling our secrets
That have never been told.
Why is it we share
The thoughts in our mind
With those we can't see,
As though we were blind?
The answer is simple;
It's as clear as a bell.
We all have our problems
And need someone to tell.
We can't tell real people,
But tell someone we must;
So we turn to the computer,
And to those we can trust.
Even though it is crazy,
The truth still remains:
They are Friends Without Faces,
With odd little names.
Indeed, Lefty; and it's the same with message boards, too. I know and trust a lot of my Internet friends better than I trust my neighbors and real-life acquaintances.
ReplyDeleteI worried about you when you were in the hospital, and right now I worry about Les. I know when Cliff had his open heart surgery, there were people I only knew on the Internet that cared about his outcome.
World Wide Web indeed: Very wide.
I always think of you as Mosie and I like that name.
ReplyDeleteI like Mo and Mosie (cute)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was first reading your blog, I was surprised to find you were Donna instead of Mosie.
ReplyDelete