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One of my favorite memories from freshman year of college was going to the student union Starbucks with my friend Maryjane, who goes by MJ.
As is common at these busy coffee shops, the barista asked for our names when we ordered our drinks.
“Cait,” I replied. Though I go by Caitlin, shortening my name makes it easier for the employees, as there are 50,000 different ways to spell it.
“MJ,” my friend said when she bought her drink. People with two letters in their name always have it easy…or so I thought.
When we got our grande lattes, I saw mine was for “Kate,” which was close enough. As I took a sip, I noticed MJ in a fit of giggles. She showed me her cup.
“Emjay,” it said.
Leave it to Starbucks to complicate something that should be so simple. She kept that cup on her dorm room desk the rest of the year.
MJ’s not alone in this mishap, however.
The hilarious new Tumblr Starbucks Spelling documents the misspelled names of Starbucks customers.
From the inappropriate (“Boner,” “Pee”) to the downright confused (“?” — fun fact, this was for a different customer named Caitlin), Starbucks Spelling is an entertaining collection of many a misnomer.
So if you’re one of the customers who frequently gets their name spelled wrong, rest assured that you’re not the only one out there.
But don’t even try to get them to spell Christian…
…or Deb.
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Listen, Paste magazine. As a Starbucks barista who is required to ask for names when I write on cups, I am slightly annoyed. Some people are just stupid. All companies hire some stupid people... this is just a byproduct of the large number of stupid people who have managed to slip through the claws of Darwinist survivalist theories. Starbucks is no exception to this. Some of our baristas are bad at spelling, or hearing mumbling customers say their names in between talking on the phone or grabbing at their screaming children.
Also, the people whose names are usually misspelled tend to be the ones who are used to having to clarify what their names are. These are the "Rhona"s (not Rhonda) and "Read"s (not Reid or Reed) of the world; both of these are actual customer names at my store.
Yes, there are exceptions to that general principle, but come on! There's usually a lot going on behind those bars. So, my apologies to MJ or Emjay or whatever. But at least MJ isn't one of those assholes who says their name is Batman or Peacock or something equally ridiculous.