cathy wrote:

> The second thing that Vons does that ticks me off is this: when you
> pay by debit or credit card, the checker is required to call you by
> name when they hand you the receipt. So you have to wait while they
> stare at the receipt, and try and figure out how to pronounce your
> name. I find this fake "personalization" worse than just a generic
> "ma'am" or "sir"...
> None of the other markets I shop at do this. Anyone else have this
> kind of experience? (I think it's a policy for all Safeway stores).

My Danish name is regularly mispronounced in this situation, which is
not surprising. Danish has notoriously peculiar pronunciation. I tell
the checker, "It's pronounced 'yule,' but please call me Derek." I see
it as an opportunity for a very short lesson in Scandinavian
linguistics, in addition to a waste of everyone's time. :-)

Derek Juhl