What's in a Name?

What's in a name? As parents, we took pride in carefully selecting names for each of our children. We didn't want common names, nor common spellings, and we didn't want names that could be rhymed with obscene or vulgar behavior.

My parents chose my name with the same amount of care, but for some reason, "David" is just not a bus driver's name. That being aside, Golden Gate has sixteen Daves or Davids. I wanted a uniqueness, a masculine and catchy moniker by which all would come to know and hopefully love me.

When I was a kid, my dad's best friend was Howie. It wasn't really Howie, it was Howard, but Howie sounded better somehow and I liked it, but I wasn't a Howie. Another of dad's friends was Mac and he drove a semi-tractor trailer. He was a big burly guy who smoked cigars and his name fit him, but I wasn't a Mac. Gus was another name. Dad car-pooled to work with a man named Gus and let's just say I'm not a Gus.

And so after some thought, in deference to my parent's choice of names, I took the initials of my first and middle name and became "DJ." Now that's a bus driver's name! It sets me apart; there are no other DJs in the district. And, in this new era of green, DJ is a great name, if not for anything else, it takes less ink to write it!