My "A"
would probably not like me calling him that, either. However, I am not here for him, I am here for me. Even in emails with my friends, I shorten his name (and most everyones') to the first letter. I am always shortening things and personally don't have a problem with the labels as long as the people I am communicating with understand them. I don't call him the "A" at home nor to our friends and family. It's simply the way I refer to him here as a shortcut and easy way to remember. Maybe someday I will be clever enough to give him a nickname that no one else will get. At this point, I have referred many people to this site and most of the nicknames I would choose would give it away. Who knows...maybe BOZO would work? LOL He's the funniest guy I know and loves to clown around. I don't know if he'd prefer that over the "A" tho!
In the end, it's not the label that Bozo would hate as much as the stereotype that goes along with it and I don't think we adhere to that stereotype in this forum all that much. We are an extraordinarily compassionate group, as was noted before, because we are the ones desperately in love with the person with a problem and all we want is for them to be well.
Much love ~ piggle