Going Deaf or Going Daft? (Richmond, VA)

I have an excuse. The music is blaring, so I've got my ears plugged and can hear hardly a word that anyone cares to say. But the woman who's just been introduced to me -- and whose name I didn't hear and would've forgotten immediately if I had (I've never met a name that I could remember without multiple exposures), isn't plugged out or in. She says (and I DO hear this): "I'm going to call you by a nickname."

"No you're not," I respond.

The woman who introduced us helpfully chimes in with a suggestion: "Barbie."

I glare at her. "Absolutely not!"

I look at her friend and offer my own suggestion: "How about if you just call me Barbara?"

"Sure," she replies with enthusiasm, "but what's your real name?"

"Barbara," I say.

"Now, that's really strange," she remarks.

I walk away. The exchange seems weird to me, too.