My yankee uncle doesn't have a middle name and when he phoned up to book a flight once they said they need an initial so after arguing with them for 10 mins he told them to put down X. The fella on the line said "X? Do any names even start with an X?" To which he said yeah "Xian, a chinese name" Picked up his ticket and flew over to London, when he was comin back into Dallas he was pulled over by customs for over an hour to figure out why he did not have Xian in his passport like it said on the ticket. Grandpa Pendes, once jokingly answered a question in US customs about anything to declare and he too was held in customs. Probably not a good idea for a Belfast man to crack jokes to US officials at the height of the troubles
The same Grandpa Pendes was invited to an Irish American function when he was out in the states and said he got booed when he took the stage and announced he was from Belfast. Maybe because the whole audience stood for the Soldiers song and he refused to budge from his seat.
