Chuck is the name he went by and preferred to be called, but he was born Chunlukkun.  He followed his parents to America from Thailand when he was just 5 years old; well he really didn’t have a choice in the matter.  He didn’t pick up his new name until he was 12.  So for 7 years he had to put up with people butchering his name or having creative versions of it spoken instead… Chupacabra… ChunLi… Cuntlicker to name a few of the favorites people have called him.  He didn’t legally change his name because his Thai name had meaning and was a gift from his parents.  So he just ended up picking up an Americanized nickname and requested that people call him that, less awkward for everyone around.  So yes, he prefers to be called Chuck and if you are wondering his name in Thai means… I love you.

His name maybe the cause of a multitude of future sessions with a therapist, but his problems didn’t stop there.  When life doles out hardships it doles it out in bulk.  His left eyelid drooped lower than his right, which gave the appearance making one eye bigger than the other and gave more ammunition for the bullies to work with.    His growth spurt… sputtered and kept him shorter than his peers for most of his youth.  His metabolism was ran rampant and kept his physique thin as a rail.  From his fist 5 years spent in tropical climate of Thailand and an abhorrence for clothing (which thankfully he outgrew… somewhat) he received and a full-bodied dark tan.  Top of his head with a mop of untamable mop of curly black hair and then stick in a foreign land… presto you then have a bully’s wet dream.  A small weird-looking foreigner; who would have little chance of fitting in.

Bullies come and go, even though they are at the forefront of our childhood nightmares we end up forgetting them and they just become nameless, faceless assholes of our past.  Their actions did not get them immortalized in Chuck’s mind.  He would rather immortalize those who matter.