My Correct Name

Today I wrote an email on our university's email system to my committee members to schedule a committee meeting. Before I sent it out, I spelling-checked it. The system said my last name, "Zhong", was an error, and claimed it should be "Thong".

Ugh.

Out of curiosity, I consulted other spelling check systems for my "correct" name.

Microsoft Word and Hotmail seemed well educated. They immediately recognized that "Zhong" might be a last name, but didn't think it was a correct one, and suggested to change it to more common Chinese last names such as "Zhan" or "Hong" or "Zhen" or "Hung" or even "Song".

Gmail and Yahoo, on the other hand, knew a lot about Chinese history. They both believed "Zhong" was actually a misspelling of "Zedong", the name of our revered leader Chairman Mao. I was flattered, you guys, really.

All of them agreed "Thong" could be a correct name for me.

In the future, when machines control the world, and people's names are given by software evolved from these spelling check systems, my reincarnated self will be named "Lei Thong", and my real last name, Zhong, will be wiped out from the system, and lost for ever.