The time I made people spew their drinks...

Once I was at a conference up in the Capitol region, one of those multi-organization day long things. The sort of thing where most of the participants knew a few of the others, so breaks ended up being rotating cliques of introductions and catching up on stories. No different from the rest, I had run into some peers from various places and enjoyed the opportunity to make some new friends.

So, partway through the morning a gent I served in the Navy with brought over two other guys and introduced them by first name, along with the typical "They work down at XYZ... (name changed to protect a reference to an information gathering government organization). Knowing my friend well enough, and figuring we were all similar in outlook, I couldn't resist the opportunity.

"So, do you guys recruit based on first name, or do you make them change it after?"

This was met with a slightly confused look from the pair, as one of them asked "What are you talking about?" Even my friend appeared kind of lost as I set the hook on my bait.

"Well, in twenty years of running into you guys around the world, I've noticed every single one of you has the same first name. Whether it's Boston, Bangkok, or Baghdad. It's always "Just".

"Just?" - the same guy again. But I saw my teammate starting to grin with comprehension.

"Yeah, "Just." "Just Mike." "Just Dave." Everybody is named "Just."

Of course, by this point they had caught where I was going, but it was too late. Our little group, as well as the ones close enough to catch it, were all openly laughing and a few had spit their drinks as a result.

It's one of those tales that still makes me smile - because if you've met the community, you completely get it.