Friday, April 11, 2014

Just, Veronica; Just Veronica


When I was fifteen I went to get my working papers from the high school. I was happy to be able to make money doing something other than baby-sitting.

I applied at the local pharmacy, to be a cashier. I walked in, strangely feeling different than any of the other times I’d gone in. It wasn't my first time going alone or anything. It was my first time going because of me; for me. I walked by the cards, toiletries, tub chairs, aspirin bottles, zig-zagging from the entrance by the street, to the pharmacy counter, in the back of the building. I smelled the smells of medicine, paper and plastic, as I zigged. I smelled the fragrance counter and the elder ladies’ choices for that day, as I zagged.

I walked up to the counter. I waited. I watched. I waited some more.

Mr. Levy was popping his head up and down, counting, murmuring, swaying back and forth. On the phone and off he went. He looked at me; saw me. He almost smiled under his thick black mustache. He then came around the back counter, to the front counter.

He asked me my name. I said, “Veronica”. He asked if I have a nick name or something I like to be called. I replied, “Veronica; just, Veronica”. He questioned, “Just, Veronica”? “Just Veronica”, I said once more.
“Okay, Just Veronica, I’m Ed Levy, you start on Saturday”, he definitely smiled.

Every time someone asks me if I have a nick name I remember this day. I did have a nick name; Ronnie. I was called this when I was a little kid. I was a tomboy. I started calling myself Veronica to new people I met since I was eleven. It was still having difficulty sticking. I've gone into the pharmacy from time to time and when Mr. Levy wasn't in I’d leave a message that Just Veronica stopped, to say hello.


Do you have a nick name? Does this question bring up a significant memory as to when your full name became important, to you?

9 comments:

  1. I would especially tell my full name with people I didn't know well or who I didn't care about too much.
    And so much with you on the writer's block! :) http://peeekaaabooo.blogspot.com/

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  2. Like you I was known by a nickname as a child, when I started school I insisted on my full name and then as a teenager and adult I've gone by both long name and a different nickname. You can kind of work out when people first met me by what they call me.

    Stopping by from the A to Z Challenge. :-)

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  3. that's just peachy, just veronica! very cute story. i haven't had many nicknames. can't really shorten mine, except to T =)
    happy L day!

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  4. Just Veronica, nice to meet you! It's funny because my daughter and I were talking about her nicknames this morning. She's six and has a ton of nicknames. I think nicknames are fun. TamaraDarestoWrite.blogspot.com

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  5. Such a nice story. I never really had a nickname that stuck in any pervasive way. My aunt and grandparents used to call me Bobby Lee--I'm glad no one else latched on to that one, but it sounded kind of nice coming from them. In high school a few guys used to call me "Juggler" but maybe they weren't sure of my real name.

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote
    An A to Z Co-host blog

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  6. I like to call people with their real names nicknames for me are not cool.
    .I am blogging at The Other Side

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  7. Beautiful post, Veronica. I don't have a nickname, but I remember those times in school, when a couple of nicknames almost stuck (giraffe, for one, because I was skinny with a long, thin neck). :)
    By the way, Arlee Bird recommended your blog on the AZ twitter chat today, and I'm glad I made it here. Great blog and posts.
    Silvia @
    SilviaWrites

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  8. Visiting you from the A-to-Z Challenge! ~ "Just Susan" at Haiku Corner.

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  9. I never had a nickname. Guess I was lucky!

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