[April 19, 2022] I like to tell the story about my first duty assignment in the Army. Two of us new arrivals were paired up and sent to a small military base in West Germany, located just outside a rural town – Siegelsbach. There were some rough Soldiers who were stationed there. Upon joining the unit, my friend was given a terrible nickname.
The base was tiny but essential. It housed nuclear weapons. Those assigned had a tough, tedious job and failure to secure those nukes was unacceptable (we would not want a nuclear warhead to go missing). The Soldiers were rough, and their morale was constantly under assault because their job was one of the least desirable you could have.
Upon arrival, Jerome and I were given nicknames. Mine was “Satt” – a no-brainer since it was a play on my last name. Jerome was given the name “Dipstick” because he was a mechanic and his uniform was dirty. Our problem was that Jerome wasn’t too happy about the nickname. That was a mistake. He should have taken it with a smile and good humor. In addition, “Dipstick” was irritable and a complainer; he whined when given a task in one of those high, irritating voices. Soon, Soldiers began pulling tricks on Jerome. One joke was to put a condom in his webgear and then call attention to it publically. Jerome reacted poorly; he couldn’t take the joke. Everyone laughed, but this only made him more irritable and miserable.
The Soldiers were testing Jerome. Can you take a joke? Can you take a bit of dirty humor? Can you at least be a little funny yourself? Soldiers wanted to know if Jerome could pass the test to be part of their team and be useful. Could he take it and dish it out too? A month later, Jerome was sent to our Brigade’s headquarters, never to return. These Soldiers had been testing him to see if he could take the pressure; they might need to depend upon him if the base was ever attacked by a terrorist (which was a real threat). You don’t want someone on a military base who cannot take the stress.
I had several nicknames in the Army. Most were okay; a few were dirty but funny (so I won’t repeat them here). But there is a camaraderie around those nicknames. There is also a test surrounding these names to see what you’re made of. Are you a wimp? Can you handle the purposeful irritation and return it in kind? If you can, you can be part of the group. Maybe we can rely on you. The issue was not that Jerome could take some random joking insults, but he could not laugh at himself. If Dipstick had just laughed about the nickname and taken it as a badge of honor, that would have been its end. All he had to do was take some ribbing with good grace, not suck up to the officers, do his job, and not have others do it for him.
The job of guarding nuclear weapons is boring, occasionally dangerous, and always difficult. What made these jobs tolerable was a tremendous amount of camaraderie surrounding them. As I worked my way up in military rank, the same level of camaraderie was not there. It’s fun to be part of a team that is doing dangerous, dirty things and having an outrageously entertaining, cruel, and nasty time while you are doing it.
You can develop a thick skin around these nicknames, and dirty tricks played on you. You can tell others about them and laugh a little with the jokesters. If you do, the jokes won’t get too vicious and mean because they don’t have to. Can we poke fun at you? Yes, please do. By being part of the joke and not the butt of the joke, others will help you keep your feet on the ground. Arm yourself with a sense of humor. That’s a good thing to arm yourself with.
Can you develop a thick skin? Yes, we all can. Do you need extensive, broad-based experiences to have a thick skin? It helps, but no, you don’t. The solution is to be humble and optimistic, smile, have a sense of humor, and look people in the eye. That is how to deal with failure, rejections, and insults that come with being a human. You can face it. Stand up, hold your shoulders back, speak the truth, and reject resentment.
Your decisions in life will always be questioned, second-guessed, insulted, and often on a grand scale. Act with grace. Never lose sight of the fact that there is a downside to reacting badly and that if you can overcome your arrogance, you will be more likable. You will have a thick skin and more enjoy your life.
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Please read my new book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).
Very good article and I enjoyed it. My nickname in college was “stud boy.” It was a play on words. I was a nerd. When they called me stud boy, everyone got a big laugh because I was the opposite.
I found this article a bit odd in its own way. I know that Gen. Satterfield is writing about adults, so don’t assume he is writing about kids. that is another issue entirely. But if you do take this argument to kids, at least admit that this is the start of kids learning to toughen up and not be weak. Weakness will get your butt kicked by the bullies.
My nickname in grade school was “dingleberry.” How I got that name was from sometimes telling poor jokes and got a laugh or two but most of my friends thought I was a nut. Thus the name. Finally outlived the name. Sometimes kids use terrible nicknames to hurt other kids. Beware of that. If you are an adult, suck it up.
Even adults can be hurt by terrible nicknames but I agree, grow a tough skin (as Gen. Satterfield suggests) and learn to take it with some humility and humor. You will survive it better.
Kids can be cruel with their nicknames/ slurs and are not 5he same as with adults who should learn to take it.
Nicknames are usually cute endearments we give to our best pals or cherished loved ones. But sometimes, history attributes way creepier nicknames to loathsome figures from the past. These are called epithets, which is a word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality, like Ivan the Terrible. Remember you can always have a worse nickname. Go with it. Wear it. Hit back with better humor.
You got that right, McStompie. Just another reason I like this website by Gen. Satterfield. Sometimes humor, sometimes serious, always to the point.
Yep. 😀
Good article on nicknames. Highly recommended.
“What’s in a nickname?”
https://jasonfalls.com/whats-in-a-nickname/
I was reminded of the one time when some acquaintances gave me a nickname, which they used only in secret and never to my face. That’s not the best kind of nickname – mostly terrible and insulting without use.
Without question, several people I’ve known over the years have derogatory nicknames for me. It comes with the territory when one of the few things that makes you giddy is making everyone around you just a little uncomfortable.
Difficult, boring jobs need humor to make them more bearable. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Don’t ya just love this website?
I sure do. Long time reader. Been a great fan along with my family. 👍
A nickname, it has always seemed to me, is a way of embracing, by word, another person’s character. Nicknames are bestowed on people who are like mascots to their friends, individuals whom others rely on to be just the way they are. Go figure!!!! ✔
That’s a nickname in a nutshell. Rarely are we given “great” nicknames that would make others jealous. Nicknames are often with a bite to them. Dipstick – not original – meets the criteria of nasty, funny, and a test of his character.
… if only nicknames were wonderful all the time. Yeah, get over it. Move on.
I always wanted a nickname, a moniker to set me apart and give voice to the familiar fondness that everyone who knows me feels towards my special character—you know, that way I have, that unmistakable something about me.
My nickname in High School was “Babs.” I hated it. The more I said I hated it, the more people called me babs. Go figure. If I’d ignored it, I would have been much better off.
Hi Babs, my nickname was Puss (they said I had a sour face on most of the time). Now, I think ‘puss’ outranks your Babs. Thoughts?
Good names. If I wrote mine here, Gen. Satterfield might censor it (just kidding, he doesn’t censor posts). But note that these are designed to entertain, insult, and to test your character. Stand up and embrace the nickname, like I did each time I got a new one. Then it goes away or just wear it as a badge of honor.
Good point Frank. Don’t ignore it, embrace it.
Some are nasty with no good intentions.
Hi Babs! 😊😊😊😊😊