Larry? Seriously?

No one has ever called me Larry ... until last weekend. Guess where it happened? Yup, you are right, at a Starbucks. My good friend Steve and I made a trip down to Long Beach to run the Long Beach half marathon. On our way back we stopped to get some Diesel (we did not get it at the Starbucks) and some coffee. I go in and order myself an iced coffee and instead of just dumping some ice in the cup and filling it with coffee right away, the Starbucks Barista grabs a Sharpie and asks me for my name. So, I say my name like any German would say it. What does he do? He scribbles something on there, asks me whether I want my coffee sweetened or unsweetened and finally says:

Thank you, Larry

I thought about protesting but realized there is no point in making him understand and spell my name. So I pay and wait for my unsweetened iced coffee, and wait, ... and wait until I finally get my sweetened iced coffee. WTF!!!
Ayway, I return the coffee and finally get the right beverage. Now, why can't they just fill a damn cup of ice with some coffee? That's faster than scribbling a name on a cup. I guess they want me to stare at their merchandise long enough that I actually buy something but that won't happen ... because I go there for a cup of coffee and not to get my Christmas shopping done.

Back to the roots - another name story

I started this blog a while ago because I thought I'd share my experiences using my first name here in the U.S., especially in coffee shops. Now, that doesn't happen that often anymore, simply because I now get my caffeine fix at work. One of the more enjoyable benefits at Yahoo! is the free coffee. We have fully staffed espresso bars where you can get everything from a simple espresso to something more complex like Low Fat Sugar Free Vanilla Half Decaf Latte with Extra Foam. Personally, I'd like to outlaw the latter but unfortunately I don't have a lot of say in this. Anyhow, the name problem in coffee shops went away but one problem that still lingers is the email problem. The email problem is this. I sent someone an email and end it with the line

-Joerg

Clearly, I don't know how to spell my own name because a large number of people (especially first timers) will start their reply with Jeorg. Drives me nuts. Makes me wnat to butcher their name too. Now how hard is it to get Joerg right? It's only five letters and only 4 if you were to use the proper umlaut ö. Do people not proof read? One thing everyone should do is to at least get the name right. But maybe that's too much to ask.