Where everybody knows your name....?

I've complained, once (twice at the most), over the years about getting letters and emails and phone calls addressed to me using a title for the other gender, the one I'm not part of, at least not yet (no, I have no immediate plans, but the nights are long...). Why couldn't I have one of those you-can't-possibly-get-this-wrong names, like Dave, or Mike? I've always laughed it off, saying I'm confident in my orientation, etc, because basically it's not a big deal. That meant, though, that when my daughter complained to me about the name she got, I was all prepared to tell her to laugh it off, too...so that's just what I did.

Cell phones and the pictures you can take and send with them are great for promoting social justice, for saving lives in emergency situations, for capturing special moments that in the past would have just slipped away. They're also great for long term campaigns to make a point, like that the name we gave our daughter really may have some legitimate drawbacks. Yes, that's right, that IS why we put a man on the moon, so that my daughter has the technology she needs to complain about her name, and the way it's mistreated out in the world.

Over the course of the last year or so, she has texted images that make one or both of the following points:

1. The name we gave our eldest daughter can be incorrectly spelled a number of ways, and
2. Starbucks, while interested in giving you the exact coffee you want, doesn't hire for either listening or spelling acumen

Here is a short series of photos that make her point (and offer Starbucks' competitors a business opportunity - they can cater to people whose names all the other guys mangle up):

This is a pretty common spelling, but I think this one was after the instruction "...with two Ys.."  Let's see, checking, counting them off...one...yep, one. Good job. Got a Y in there.  Why don't I feel good?

Okay, look, anybody can make a mistake...busy day, lots of noise...be the bigger person and walk away. At least this one has two Ys.

Sigh...I suppose at least having the "i" in there makes some sort of sense..."Y after A except before L" is the rule, as I recall.

 

Finally, months and months into the campaign, a winner!  I think this barista is probably a fourth year MIT student using their barista time to look at the possibility of converting one of those huge espresso machine into a small scale cold fusion reactor.  It's the only explanation that makes any sense.

When she sent me this one, I accused her of gaming it, of putting the baristas up to deliberately outrageous spellings.  Didn't go over well.  Apparently on this one, she spelled her name out for whoever was taking the order, and this is what came up. Betcha that barista makes just a crazy good latte.  Probably a great dancer, too.



Because of my rigorous commitment to journalism, I spent actual money getting a coffee that would have my name on it, just to see what would happen. This is why I need advertising on this blog, to pay for this kind of in-depth research. I'm just glad coffee is gender-neutral.

I would love to see a whole series of this kind of thing. I really can't figure out whether they do it just to tick people off or because getting it right is just way too much work or what.