![\"coffee-cup.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/archives\/2010\/07\/15\/coffee-cup\/coffee-cup.jpg\")
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For those of us who absolutely hate hearing mangled versions of our names, the simple act of ordering coffee at a certain ubiquitous chain can be unnecessarily stressful.<\/p>\n\n
It turns out that we are not alone. The Village Voice’s Shefali Kulkarni<\/a> recently had this revelation:<\/p>\n\n …I realized that I wasn’t the only one who had tired of being asked how to spell a name that people find difficult to handle, at least in the super-busy moment of a Starbucks line.<\/p>\n \n So, like other people, I came up with a “coffee name.” Something simple that a coffee jockey can scribble on a cup without thinking. And, after taking a survey of the local scene, it’s clear that many others have come up with a similar solution.<\/p>\n \n At the Starbucks on Eighth Avenue, a grande iced caramel macchiato for “Sean” was really meant for “Chan,” short for Chandani.<\/p>\n \n “I never, ever give out my name,” Chan says. “And they still don’t get it right, but, hey, it’s what everyone calls me.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Is anyone surprised that both the author of the article and the first person quoted both have desi names? And do any readers use a nom de cafe<\/em> while in coffee shops or restaurants? I never do, primarily because I am afraid that I will forget my alias and never get my $4 drink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For those of us who absolutely hate hearing mangled versions of our names, the simple act of ordering coffee at a certain ubiquitous chain can be unnecessarily stressful. It turns out that we are not alone. The Village Voice’s Shefali … Continue reading \n