By Art Gillis

Dear Ross,
First, please forgive me for addressing you as if we knew each other, but back in 1962, I read about your gutsy move to build a service bureau company, and I worried about your judgment. I thought, “Why would a successful IBM sales rep leave such a good job to make such a risky move.” Ever since that day, you proved why, because I’ve been reading about the good work you have done. When you rescued my friend and client, Bill Gaylord, from Iran, I knew you were a man I would follow anywhere. When Bill came home he described to me your promise to him and how you backed up every word. That’s what us little guys call leadership.

Today, I’m offering you a new warning. I have been beefing about how the Internet treats us guys who use the following structure in identifying our first “name.” Yours is H. Ross. Mine is M. Arthur. It didn’t work for me when I moved to Dallas and applied for a mortgage. I didn’t warn you then because I felt that “mortgage” and H. Ross Perot didn’t seem to come together. But yesterday, I tried to establish an electronic payments account with the IRS, and there it was again. They would not accept my first name as “M.” and I had to lie by adding a second character as the prompt demanded. I am now known as Mx to the IRS and they love it. Somehow I feel like I violated the Sarbanes-Oxley regulation.

Unlike your relationship with the mortgage world, I have a feeling that the IRS considers you a major “contributor,” so this time I want to send you a heads up. If you enroll for electronic payments, be prepared to lie to your country, something I feel is against everything we believe is noble. You won’t get through unless you choose a second character after the H. You might try “Hi.” That way, in a court of law you could say you misunderstood and it was just your folksy way of greeting the IRS.
Best wishes, and the next time I see you at L’Acenstral, I hope you won’t mind if I step outside my shell and introduce myself. I won’t call myself “M.” I’ll say Art.

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