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What's the error rate, though? For those of us who either find it awkward or just plain incorrect, how many Emily and Johns are there feeling happy that they had a touch of "personal" service?

With an accent, and a short name, giving my name is the part of ordering at Starbucks that I dislike the most, though (presumably due to iterating on the delivery on my part) the retries have become fewer of late. It's especially weird since I pay with the mobile app. No reason my name couldn't be on-screen there for me to point to; some of the smoothest ordering experiences have been while wearing a conference badge, and the cashier wrote my name without asking.

On the other hand, I don't hang out at a specific Starbucks location daily, but I have seen folks who apparently do, and who the staff genuinely do know by name. When my local coffee shop (Red Rock) took my drink order without asking my name I definitely felt pretty special.

Of course, none of this ruins the twinge of embarrassment (is it embarrassment? I'm not sure) I feel whenever a barista loudly yells "LATTE FOR JEN" over the din of an espresso machine.



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