ORIGINS OF A NICKNAME

"For every man there is something in the vocabulary that would stick to him like a second skin. His enemies have only to find it." - Ambrose Bierce

As my readership grows (I think I added a new reader this week - my cousin Val!) it strikes me that an explanation of my nickname might be in order.

My rookie year on the Wildwood Beach Patrol in 1990, I hung around my friend Dan Fourney, who was already a lifeguard and got me into his group house. Dan's nickname, given to him by his older brothers, is Thinman, after Dashiell Hammett's novel and subsequent movie series, but also because Dan is thin.

When dudes get together, they never call each other by their real names. Consequently, my last name went from Cronin to Bonin to Boneman, because I was always hanging out with Thinman. Although there are some out there who think it may have a nefarious connotation, and I won't name who you sickos are, it's as simple and as stupid as that! Yet there are people out there who literally only know me as Boneman, and don't know my first or last name.