IT IS ONLY Q
2023-12-18
The programmers at British Gas are among the many who don't believe that a
surname can be only a single character, and their customer service agents have
clearly worked around their validations (or just left a note for themselves in
the problematic field!)... leading to hilarious postal mail (I'm ignoring for
the moment that they're using the wrong title for me.):
IMG Letter from British Gas addressed to "Mr Dan Q (it Is Only Q)" and opening with "Hello Mr Q (it Is Only Q)".
UPDATE
This is getting a lot of attention, so I just wanted to add:
* Yes, my surname really is just the letter Q, and it has been for most of my
adult life. The story about it is less-interesting than the fact of it.
* Yes, it causes me problems with online forms and the Passport Office hate it
but just sometimes it pays for itself. It's quick to write out, too (if you
don't count the time I lose having to tell people "no, really..."), and saves
me wear-and-tear on my keyboard.
* I can help you change your name to something stupid awesome, too. If you're
a British citizen normally-resident in the UK, at least.
* I've already seen Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names, thanks. I
linked it above, but you probably didn't see the link if you found me via all
the Mastodon boosts this post is getting.
* Be gay, do crime.
LINKS
HTML Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
DIR My blog post "Mx", indicating that I don't use the title "Mr."
DIR My surname really is just the letter Q
HTML Problems with online forms
HTML The Passport Office hate it
HTML Sometimes it pays for itself
HTML Help you change your name to something stupid awesome