What's in a Name?

So, what's in a name?

My use of the name "Bilbo" goes back to the 80's, shortly after graduating from college. (I may have even used it before then, but this is when it really stuck.) A friend of mine was running a BBS on a C64 (any one remember those?), with a dial-up modem. Most BBS's at that time required you to use your real name, but on this system, everyone had taken on some pseudonym or another. The guy running it was Drool Rockworm. Another regular participant was "Lore Rastifarious". Another, one of the real grouches of the group, called himself "Lord Bah". Those were great times of lively discussions, from Religion to Politics to Technology. The funny thing was, though we strongly disagreed with each other, we always respected each other's opinion and thoughts. Arguments got pretty hot, but never descended into name calling or personal attacks.

In all that, I tried to maintain the persona of the unflappable one. I could argue without getting upset. I always saw Bilbo as being polite, even when his guests were a bit of a pain, and he never lost his wonder at the great world around him.

Since "Drool" and I worked together at Automation Gages (in Rochester), I started calling him Drool there, and he started calling me Bilbo, or Mr. Baggins. Ever since then, the name has stuck. That was close to 20 years ago, and Drool and I are still great friends (and still have some animated arguments about religion), and whenever we speak together, it's still Drool and Mr. Baggins...