Why the 'H' Mike H?

Ah, the eternally asked question. Why the 'H' after your name? What does it stand for? Why do you use it?

It was, in fact, applied to me in the 1st Grade because there was another Mike in our class. Actually, back then I went by my full name of Michael, because I didn't know that Mike sounded so much cooler. So, this other kid was Michael K and I was Michael H. Just for as long as I was at that elementary school, but we moved 20 blocks and I had to go to a different, Mike-less school for the rest of the non-important grades.

Fast forward to my first semester of University. Mike had become the name I chose to identify myself with because only my family had ever called me Michael for my whole life. Mike just sounded better coming from friends. So I had this group of friends up at school, 3 ladies, whom had already been up for a semester before me and had started making friends of their own. One of whom was named Mike as well. "Too many Mike's" they said. So we all sat down together and brainstormed ways to identify which Mike they were talking about. Because, they were girls and girls like to talk about boys, and the other Mike was hot so they talked about him a lot. They decided, that because my last name was kind of long, 10 letters, that they would call me Mike H. It was easy to say, so it stuck. But I thought that it was unfair that this other Polish Mike was not getting a cool nickname too. (Mike H a nickname? sure!) I asked this Polish transplant where he had grown up besides Poland, and he told us "Winnipeg". Well, he got the name Mike from Winnipeg. But because that was so long to say, it quickly got shortened to Mike-a-peg. Him and I started carpooling together and he turned out to be a really cool guy. He was very mysterious and intense, very James Dean, but he looked like Leonardo Dicaprio.

University was where the H became stuck, and that was when it just got easier to introduce myself as Mike H. Because sooner or later another Mike always shows up and you'll have to start specifying which Mike you're talking about. Because the other Mike is usually more important and thus talked about and to much more.
Then I met TGP and her crew up at University and ... well, that's a story for another day.

As an aside to this story, here's the part you're not going to believe. Michael K from 1st Ggrade had the exact same last name as Mike from Winnipeg. But they weren't the same guy at all. Seriously, I didn't even believe it myself at first. Seems this Polish name starting with K was common over there, but I didn't know it. Because the two Mike's weren't related at all. I asked. Weird, huh?

So, all through my life as I meet new people they already seem to have a Mike in their circle of friends. I just cut out the naming discussion and introduce myself as Mike H. It seems to stick with people because not too many people at the age of 24 still identify themselves with their last initial. That was so 1980's.

As for what it stands for? I tell people 'Humperdink' for a laugh, but that doesn't always work. Some people actually believe that my last name is 'Humperdink' and don't ask any more questions. But it's not 'Humperdink'. I just like saying it.