Jeremy Lott on the, umm, thing about his last name:
In the late '80s, ads for Domino's Pizza featured a character called the Noid. The costumed claymation creation — in a red costume with bunny ears — was to Domino's Pizza as Wile E. Coyote is to the Roadrunner. Using various contraptions, the Noid tried to delay the delivery of Domino's pizzas, or make them less than fresh and piping hot upon delivery, and was always thwarted. Thus, the sales pitch ran, buy Domino's and "avoid the Noid."
However, one Kenneth Lamar Noid was not amused. In 1989, tired of being taunted by people for his last name, Noid held two Domino's employees in Atlanta, Georgia, at gunpoint in their pizza parlor for nearly six hours (and forced them to make him a pizza) before he surrendered to police. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Over the past week, it's been hard for me not to sympathize with crazy old Lamar Noid. Nearly everybody I've talked to has seized on my odd last name to ask whether I might be related to Sen. Trent Lott (Stupid Party, Miss.) and they won't take a simple "no" for an answer. It's come up at bookstores, the video store, the bank, the local supermarket and even during conference calls — to Canada! — on my immigration status. I've started paying in cash at checkout lines to try to duck the issue.
Read the rest in The American Prowler here.