Who is the Bob/Bobby/Robert in YOUR life?

In My Humble Opinion
41

My grandpa is Bob Sr. He married my grandma and they had 4 kids, and she eventually went crazy. They had a woman from the Mennonite church they went to (in the city!) take care of the kids while she was off for electroshock treatments. Grandma died on my birthday in 1986 and in 1987 he married the Mennonite nanny - who was raised Amish, had never married, and still lived in the house her Amish dad built in “Amish Country” - moved out of the city to Amish country and has never been happier. He’s 86, thin and handsome, loves practical jokes and stupid magic tricks. He is an “Amish Hauler” now - like a taxi service for the Amish.

My dad is Bob Jr. He’s worked at Ford since he was 17 (lied about his age). Went to Vietnam in 1969. He’s an alcoholic but one of those goofy “i love you” alcoholics and wouldn’t hurt a fly. When I was 14 or so he went to some kind of schooling and became a sheetmetal worker at Ford and now makes bouku bucks. He hurt his back 3 months ago and hasn’t worked and he’s in agony about not being able to go to work and having to sit still all day, alone.

My brother is Bob III. His nickname is “Trips” after some card game called “trips.” Only people who are related to him or knew him as a kid call him Trips. His lifelong best friend’s mom calls him Robert. Everyone else knows him as Bob. He looks nothing like his tall, blue-eyed, fair-skinned namesakes (above). He’s under 6’, has jet black hair (now turning gray, since he was 18), dark eyes and a deep olive complexion. Looks exactly like his maternal grandpa. He’s a social person, would make a great concierge. Dabbles in the music industry (as sort of a go-to guy for local bands and national acts coming through town) and would like to make it a career but has no guidance in life so instead he now works for me, answering my company’s phone while surfing the Web all day. At least he has health care.

Bob Sr’s BIL (Bob Jr’s uncle) is Great Uncle Bob. He was my dad’s favorite uncle. Many years ago when I was a kid we met uncle bob at what seemed to me to be a speakeasy type bar near Cleveland Stadium and took him to a game. It was great fun, he had great stories and it was the last time I got to go to the Stadium before they closed it down. He’s still alive but in poor health. His wife is in poorer health. We still get Christmas cards from him.

Bob Sr’s nephew (my dad’s cousin) named his son Bob after Bob Sr., his favorite uncle.

Bob Jr. works with a guy named “Airplane Bob” - his weird partner with quirky autistic tendencies. He built an airplane a few years ago and only ever talks about airplanes and lunch. Bob Jr. does not miss working with him.

I met a guy online via Yahoo Personals named Bob. We chatted alot and hit it off well. Turns out he was Airplane Bob’s son. He doesn’t like his dad much and the idea of his dad knowing that he was chatting with the daughter of a guy at work killed all hopes. We still met, tho. He told me I was fat (he was too). I got pissed. I lost alot of weight (and dated other guys). I hit him up a few years later, told him I wasn’t fat anymore. We became friends again. We chatted alot until he got a girlfriend and I got bored with him. But he is henceforth named “Online Bob.”

I could go on, but those are the “main Bobs” in my life.

Everyone! :smiley:

42

Me. I’m named after my paternal grandfather that I never met.

43

My Robert is one of my best friend’s husband. He’s an awesome man completely devoted to his wife and kids. He’s a little nerdy but he’s way cool.

44

Funny, but that just reminded me…my Bob (the ex, see above) has a half-brother also named Bob SameLastName who is a few years older than him, lived in the same very small town and went to the same school. They have absolutely no relationship with one another, and I’ve never met him, but it’s just weird knowing he’s out there. Apparently his dad got the girl preggers, married her to give the kid a name, divorced immediately, then went into Army, met his next wife, and then named their son the same damn thing as his first son. No imagination, I guess. Though I’m not sure if they have the same middle name…

45

Oh, Ruby, so you know Bob, too?

My Robert is Bob, my best friend’s husband. I’ve known her for 20+ years and Bob for 18. He’s a great guy, great father, great husband. He’s a computer geek who drives a race car for fun.

46

Similarly, I’m named after a great-uncle (Dad’s father’s brother) who died young, around the time Dad was born. This Robert was going to marry a woman named Helen (i’m not sure if they were formally engaged). She apparently knew me when I was too young to remember, as she later encountered me at a family funeral and said she remembered how I could read all the labels of soup cans when I was two years old (a memory my mother confirmed). Helen thus considers me an honorary great-nephew. I did end up with a Great-Aunt Helen, as Grandpa “Sternvogel’s” other brother married a woman (not so pleasant) who had that name.

I was born in Cleveland, and my first name also unofficially honors former Indians pitcher Bob Feller, whom Dad idolized (still idolizes, in fact). I did meet Feller once – he worked in some kind of greeter/PR capacity at a hotel where I was attending either a stamp show or Dad’s Musicians’ Union Christmas party. Dad saw Feller walking through the lobby, and told me to introduce myself to my namesake. I was kind of awed, so I asked the baseball great if he was indeed Bob Feller, and he jokingly replied “I’ve heard of the guy.”

47

Favorite brother, Grandfather, couple of uncles, several dozen cousins . . .

And that dipshit I dated (briefly) in college. Got all bent out of shape when I refused to use WD-40 to fix my carburetor (float had a pinhole, and didn’t, well, float). He didn’t deal well with a woman who was more mechanically inclined than he. :wally So I dumped him. Not graciously.

Not too many Roberts, really. William, however . . . now there is a list. A boring list, mind you, but a long one.

48

My Bobby is my uncle as well.

He’s my mother’s brother. I should use past tense though as he died a few years ago.

He was a drunk, a drug addict, homeless, a thief, and a liar. He would shoplift in November so he’d have a place to stay through the winter (prison). The entire family gave up on him after giving him more chances than he deserved.

One time I woke him from his drunken stupor at the bus station near my house and he tried to rob me.

He died of a head injury, made worse by his untreated syphilis, Hepatitis C, and cyrrhosis.

I also knew a Bobby in grammar school that was notorious for picking his nose.

49

I hace an Uncle Bobby (he’s married to my mother’s sister). I haven’t seen him in four years. He never had much impact on my life.

One of my lab mates in college was Rob. I could never tell if he liked me and the others or not. I think he was just moody. One day he’d be nice and compassionate, the next day sort of a jerk.

50

Hmm… I just don’t know …

51

Bob is my husband’s very recent-former-boss and a tiny little man is he! A pointy-haired boss, in the most Dilbert sense.
Robert G. is my husband’s best friend, while Robert same-last-name G. is my sister’s ex-husband and father of my neices and nephews. ( Most of them, anyway.)
Robert M. is a good friend and very-recent-former co-worker of my husband’s and pointy-haired Bob’s nephew.
I dated a Bill who had a Bob as a twin, luckily fraternal, because they looked more like father and son, Bob having an alcohol problem.
My former sister-in-law is married to Bob, who is Dave’s much-older brother. I dated Dave in college and didn’t know he was Bob’s brother until after the wedding.
Too many Bobs.

52

Am I ever glad to see this thread. You see, nearly every other male in my family, on both sides, is named Robert.

As follows:

Robert, my father.
Robert, my brother.
Robert, my nephew (son of the above).
Robert, my maternal grandfather (deceased)
Robert, my maternal uncle.
Robert, my cousin (son of above).

They all go or went by Bob or Bobby, except for my nephew who’s just Robert.

53

My dad was John Robert, but almost everyone called him Bob. A charming, funny guy sober, a pain in the ass drunk. Died back in 1981–I still miss him.

My oldest half-brother is Robert, but I’ve always called him Bobby or Bob. One of the greatest guys I know. I should call him…

54

My dad is Bob, but was Bobby as a boy.
LilMiss’s first babysitter was Rob (his brother is a close friend)
Friend from elementary school was Roberta (Bobbie)
Another friend from high school was Bobette (Bobbi [the i was hearted, too])
I work with three Bobs, one Robert, one Roberta, and one Robin

55

Let’s see:
Uncle Bob
Cousin Bob
Brother-in-law Bob (x2)
Nephew Robert (x3 - one goes by his middle name and the others are called Bobby)
and at least three friends named Robert or Bob

56

Ew.

The “Bobby” I knew, I encountered when I went back to school for my Associates Degree in Design. He was quite weird, in his late 40’s, had bad hair plugs, and ran an escort service for income. He even asked if I wanted to come work for him, and told me he’d be my first customer.

Ew, ew, ew…I need to go disinfect, I’m so skeeved out now.

57

My first Bobby was a bratty kid who hit me in the head with a rock in third grade.

Next was a Robert, my boss at my first job in Seattle. Nice man, fought in the Spanish Civil War and wanted to write a book about it. I keep checking Amazon, but apparently he hasn’t gotten around to it yet.

I worked for a lawyer named Robert, in Seattle. His college roommate was the brother of a girl I went to high school with in Iowa. Small world.

Currently have a stepson Robert who I’ve only met once, he’s adorable, a helicopter mechanic who lives in Georgia with an awesome wife and two sweet boys.

Had an uncle Bob, a railroad engineer who died of Alzheimer’s complications about 15 years ago. His brother was the guy whose marriage was the basis for the movie Yours, Mine, and Ours.

One of my daughter’s bad boyfriends was a Robby. I’m not sure he’s alive. Last we heard from him, he’d ripped off a drug dealer and was looking for a place to hide out.

58

Me, but what else would you expect from BwanaBob?

However I have my own set of Bobs.

Bob E. - A great friend and former colleague. Wish there was a way to work with him again.

Rob P. - A friend I met at university; we’ve been colleagues at a couple of companies, but currently not. Actually, he worked with Bob E. too!

Robert B. - Not a friend, but a 2 time acquaintence. He is a professional musician.
I stopped by his studio to buy a CD and wound up talking with the guy for quite a long time. Nicest musician I’ve ever met.

59

The first one that came to mind is Uncle Bobby. He’s not my uncle, he’s my brother-in-law, but he doesn’t have any kids of his own and he’s like a big kid himself, and he’s Uncle Bobby to all the kids.

We also have two Rob’s - one is a neighbor and the other is the grown son of my husband’s employer, otherwise known (to us, anyway) as Robby Yo-yo.

Oh, and then there’s Sir Robert Madgwick, my great uncle, but he’s dead.

60

I had an Uncle Bob. We were never that close. He died in 1976.

The best Bob in the world is my horse Bob. We just celebrated our 18th anniversary on Sept. 2. He’s 20, was almost 3 when I bought him. He has lasted longer than my marriage. His registered name is “Whata Sweet Talker.” When I decided to buy a horse, I said “I’m gonna name him Bob” so I looked for a horse that looked like his name should have been Bob. That’s a really bad way to choose a horse but I was darn lucky. He has a lot of nicknames–Rootles, Puddy, Mr. Guy, Sid Robert, Hey Big Fella, Tater Boy, Rob S. I rarely call him Bob. But he does look like a Bob.