A man claims to have been given free hotel and car rentals, just because he changed his last name to “Null.” The Daily Mail reports:
Raven Felix Null, 24, from the United States, says he changed his surname after becoming an adult and claims the word ‘Null’ is incompatible with a lot of computer programming, leading to many systems not recognising him as a person.
The programming fault means that when an employee puts the word ‘null’ into the surname box on an IT system, it will recognise the word as meaning ‘an absence of data’, and refuse to validate it.
The glitch often results in an IT failure where Raven isn’t billed for the item he has bought.
But Raven is quick to point out that he didn’t change his name to get free stuff. Rather, he claims he did it to reflect his estrangement from his family. He chose the word “null” because, he said “it means nothing, meaning I am not connected to my ‘family’ in any way anymore.”
The story people pick up on here isn’t the real story. This isn’t a story about getting free stuff. It’s a story about the great void in this young man’s life in the absence of a loving family — a void that is felt so deeply that he chose to change his name to Null.
Sadly, there are countless others who feel the same way. But just because you grew up in a dysfunctional home, that doesn’t mean your name has to be “Null.”
Instead, you can chose to turn to your Father in Heaven, Who loves you with an everlasting love. And although your earthly family may have abandoned you — leaving you feeling distant and alone — your Father in Heaven will never do that. Rather, He promises to fill you with His love, and He welcomes you into His eternal family, the Church, and into the fellowship of Christ’s love.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” (John 15:9).
“[Father] I [Jesus] am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:23, NLT).
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Adapted from the article “Man claims he gets free holidays and car rentals after changing his surname to ‘Null’,” by Caroline Mcguire, Daily Mail, March 2016; < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3513652/The-cleverest-time-Man-gets-free-holidays-car-rentals-changing-surname-Null.html >.