Identity Crisis

The move to simplify my life online led to a few hours of identity crisis Monday as I began to find ways to consolidate the various chat and emails into common identity. I frequently chat with friends from around the world on AIM, Yahoo IM, and MSN messenger, so I feel compelled to have a name on each medium. I don’t really need email in each of those media, but you have to have one to get the chat identity. In some cases they come as a package deal.

So, who am I?

I wanted a name that merged both private and professional lives.

My childhood nickname is Rusty and that name has continued with me through various parts of my life even when I have moved on professionally with my “real” name, Roy.

Of course, plain Rusty and Roy were taken. It was much easier to get the name you wanted back in the 1990’s when all this internet stuff was just getting started.

As I began to play on the various sites, I began to play with variations on a theme.

Then I remembered a comment that had been applied to me multiple times. “Pocket” was used as an adjective before a noun to describe me. The term refers to my small physical stature - “I could put you in my pocket and take you home.” My friend B called me Pocket Hercules because I was always the one carrying the kitchen table down and up the stairs when he moved (which was frequently for a while). Another friend E called me a Pocket Queer.

I decided to embrace it.

So my online identity is now “pocketrusty”. Add me to your instant messenger and keep in touch!