When your name is of Arabic extraction, you draw some unwanted attention from time to time.

The name Aun is of Lebanese descent. The correct spelling should be Aoun, but when my ancestors arrived at Ellis Island a few score years ago, the “o” got dropped and I ended up AUN.

I was once asked if I changed my name by design and my answer was “get real… who would have chosen AUN for a last name?” Actually, I am very pleased that it is so short and sweet.

For instance, all you have to do is google Michael Aun and 22,600,000 hits pop up. If my name was Michael Smith, imagine the swamp I would have to trudge through to get to the top of the list.

So the good news is “Michael Aun” is easy to find on the worldwide web. The bad news is it pops up on every airline “watch” list. No, I am not a terrorist and have no leanings in that direction. In fact, I have never been to the Middle East even though I am scheduled to visit Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Dubai United Arab Emirates and Beirut, Lebanon for a series of speeches later this year.

Among the 165 print and electronic publications worldwide where this column appears is Networker Magazine published in Dubai. A friend of mine, Allan Austin, is arranging for my tour of the Middle East along with another speaking colleague, Mohammed S. Al-Fitaikha, who is a speaker based in the Middle East.

The name Aun has caused me to go through some rather detailed screening in many airports both domestically and abroad.

I suspect it has something to do with a long lost relative by the name of Michel Naim Aoun, a former Lebanese Christian military commander and politician who served as Prime Minister and acting President of one of two rival governments that contended for power in Lebanon before he was defeated by Syria in the war of liberation and forced into exile in the early nineties.

Aoun returned to Lebanon on May 7, 2005 after the withdrawal of Syrian troops. “The General,” as he is known, is currently a Parliament Member and is head of the “Free Patriotic Movement” party. My guess is I get tagged by all the airlines because of the common name.

I recently wrote an article “Ain’t Flying Wonderful” where I hammered the airlines for all the delays and other frustrations one faces to get from point A to point B. One of the things I did not mention was the hassles of going through security.

I naively thought that I was the only guy that got beat up by the Transportation Security Administration… until an 82 year old St. Cloud man dropped by my office one day to tell me about his problems after reading my article in the local paper.

Turns out he has a name that must appear on every “watch” list in the world as he and his son, who bears the same name, are routinely scanned, searched and questioned every time they try to check in at an airport.

I have actually received letters in advance of a flight advising me to get to the airport three hours early as I had been “selected” by my carrier for a special security screening as I was a “high priority passenger,” whatever that means.

I recall flying into Columbia, SC several years ago. TSA went through my luggage piece by lovable piece, inspecting everything from my shampoo to my dirty underwear. My belongings were spread out over four 8 foot tables. I really do not know what they were looking for but they finally waived me through.

I have learned that you smile and take it. Do not joke and do not complain. Nobody cares and your belly aching is only holding up the folks in line behind you.

And speaking of the folks in line, I was standing behind a man in the Toronto, Ontario airport once. Security asked the old guy: “Sir, do you have anything of a pornographic nature in your luggage?” The old man was a bit hard of hearing but said “Hell, I don’t even own a phonograph.”