Mason Wong: Anthony Bourdain Answers Your Questions From Reddit

Other guys named Mason Wong

While growing up, I always assumed my name was entirely unique.

I knew Mason was a somewhat common last name and an infrequently used first name. It wasn't until college that I actually met someone else with the same first name. In fact, by my junior year, I had met two Mason's. Statistics show in the past 15 years, Mason has become a very popular name for baby boys in the U.S. I still don't understand why.

It wasn't until the early growth of the web, around the mid-'90s, that I started to learn of other guys named Mason Wong. It started with a stranger emailing me asking if I was the Asian American studies professor who taught long ago. Since then, I've come across and exchanged emails with a few other Mason Wong's around the world. Recently, I found a growing number on Facebook.

One Mason Wong with some media and Internet exposure is the restauranteur and nightclub owner in Sacramento. Occasionally, I receive misdirected emails intended for him (apparently, we have similar addresses with a major email provider). As of this writing, I have not had direct contact with him.

Others are accessible via Facebook.

15 July 2011

Anthony Bourdain Answers Your Questions From Reddit