aka Bob Ramsdell

Bobbie: In grammar school, I was known as “Bobbie”. All other Roberts were Bobby and I don’t know how the different spelling came about. In WWII, I got a letter in the mail to “Miss Bobbie Ramsdell” asking me to join the Woman’s Army Corps! If knew then what I know now, I would have joined.

Red Dog: From the name of a character in an old West skit at Yuba College.

Okabu: (Okinawan for red head) when I was stationed on Okinawa during the Korean War. Once in San Francisco, I was waiting to cross Market Street, two years after the war, when I heard “Ok”. When I looked in back of me, there was one of my sergeants standing back of me. Often, the natives would call me Okabu Goncho were Goncho meant glasses.

Pinky: I got the name when I worked at CalTrans. On my first day at work, a friend of my brothers who was the mail carrier‘s son in 1939, saw me walk in the front door. He couldn’t remember my name and called me “Pinky”. It’s a good thing he didn’t call me Carrot Top!

Pinky Bob: Later, at CalTrans, when I complained that I could never be able to run for President of the United States with a name like Pinky. Also, “Pinky Bob” set me apart from that idiotic co medium, “Pinky Lee”.

Robert: My wife, Joyce, hated the name “Pinky”.

Flab Rimsteel: This was to be my name if I ever become a movie star like Tab Hunter, Rip Torn and others.

Baby Uncle Bob: My niece, Roslyn Raney, gave me that name because I was the baby of the family.

Grandpa Pinky: This is what my grandchildren (Chris Poling’s kids, Brandon and Sarah) called me. Joyce was “Granny Red” since both of us had red hair.

Charlie Davis: In a case of mistaken identity, there was guy who thought I was the guitar player with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.

Sir: As I got older, young people would call me “Sir”, but once I got a call from retired Brigadier General Michael Green . He told me that he was researching the 1847 graduating class at West Point and one of the graduates was married to a Ramsdell woman. My nephew, Richard, had originally gotten the call and told him to call me as I knew all about the family history. That felt pretty good to get the call from the general where I had only risen in the army to the exalted position of Corporal!

Pinky Tuscadero: CalTrans friend, Tony Mason, named me this after a character in “Happy Days on TV”.

George: By my mom. Once in a while when my brother, George, was there, he would say his name was Sam. She would laugh and say “I never had a son named Sam!”

Zilch: My sister Shirley called me that and I have absolutely no idea where that came from.

59 Word Story "The Unanswered Question"

Boy, am I getting tired of standing here by the road, just scratching my feet in the dirt. The traffic just keeps coming and coming.

Wait a minute! It looks like there is going to be a little break. I’ll try it

Wow, that was close! Now that I’m here , why did I cross the road?