Dewey - Jim - Dewey -- Name Changes with Time

The following quote was taken from a PS to a post I published in September 2009. Occasionally, I recall some neat stuff that's happened in my life and enjoy sharing it here on "Thots from the BToS".

JD

"September 14, 1959. That is the date that as a recent high school graduate I went to work for NSA at Ft. Meade as a trainee computer operator. Today is the 50 year anniversary of the only real job I ever had. I worked there until January 2004; 44+ years, when I retired. Here's a short story of one of my more vivid recollections of beginning work there.

At birth I was given the name James Dewey; James from my father and Dewey from my uncle John's middle name. My dad was called Jim or some called him Big Jim as he was a pretty good size fella back in those days at 6' 1" and around 210 lbs. They didn't want to call me Jim or Little Jim, so I was 'Dewey'.
When I was a kid I would see these three little ducks, named Huey, Dewey and Louie that were in Donald Duck cartoons. I never warmed to the idea that I had the same name as a cartoon duck. It irritated me quite a bit, but I couldn't do a thing about it. When I was in 11th grade I made an attempt to change to James. I started by signing a test paper in US History class as James rather than Dewey. The teacher, a member of the 'Odd Fellows' stood in front of the class handing out papers and read off the name on my paper, then asked, "Who is this James fella?" Needless to say I was intimidated and embarrassed, and that was the end of my name change while still in high school.

The first day I met my supervisor at NSA. He was holding my personnel information in his hand and after scanning the name he said, "I see your name is James, what do they call you, Jim?" I shook his hand before he could say anything else and said, "Yes sir, they certainly do!" Needless to say, that's the day I became Jim, not Dewey, just Jim. That was a wonderful day for me.

So basically I led a double life. At the super secret agency here in central Maryland, I was Jim while folks outside knew me as Dewey. Since retiring 5 years ago, and with the specter of those damn ducks no longer relevant, I've gone back to the name Dewey for most folks I know. I use the moniker JD for most folks that knew me from work. As you may have noted, I use JD for this blog; BToS JD (JD from the Big Town of Savage).

Things usually work themselves out if you give 'em time. :-)"