I remember years ago I would be annoyed with Starbucks keep misspelled my name, even when I spelled out loud to them. But now I realised it's just a petty thing to be upset with.
Honestly I grew up without realising how disconnected I was with majority of people. In Malaysia we are categorised into three different income groups.
Malaysians are categorised into three different income groups: Top 20% (T20), Middle 40% (M40), and Bottom 40% (B40).
Not to brag, but this need to be mentioned so you will get where I came from. My family belongs to T20, well, at the edge almost to M40. I wasn't aware I was rather privileged, spoiled even. I grew up thinking every house will at least have a microwave, I grew thinking everyone would at least go to big malls like Midvalley or Pavilion.
I was also sheltered and only have (somewhat) freedom when I went to university. Some may say I was controlled, restricted by my parents but I never resent them for that. They said as long I'm under age I am under their responsibilities and promised once I'm at legal age they will let me go. And they did kept their promise.
Again not to brag, but this needed to be mentioned so you can tell what kind of crowd I was in. I went to one of the expensive private universities in Malaysia with 70% of students are (privileged) foreigner kids.
I have my first taste of Starbucks (and other brand name beverages) while in university and I remember I often frustrated with the staffs couldn't write my name properly. Apparently this issue had been a running gang among Starbucks frequenters. I used to humor this but over time I become annoyed, I'm expecting some competency from the staffs and at that time this view is shared by all my friends at the university. I remember how we would chastised the staffs behind their back.
But over time as I begin to work and mingle with people coming from many backgrounds, I begin to realise how petty and shallow I had been.
One of the eye opener moment to me is when one of friends who worked in F&B lamented the hardship working in the F&B industry. From crazy, long hour shifts to low wages to handling many types of customers. It's harrowing listening to them. Maybe it's no surprised why some of them no longer trying to be friendly when serving people. Didn't say it's the right thing to do but it had become very understandable.
As my friend pointed out, most of the Starbucks' staffs are lethargic and couldn't even think straight when it comes to write names. If you did received your order correctly - and - fast, that means the staff had been efficient, so why need to be fussing over as something as menial as getting your name correctly written?
I admit I do feel ashamed whenever I think about this. She was right, despite all the wrong naming shenanigans, I did received my drinks correctly and fast plus the staffs had been friendly and kind.
Over time I begin to understand there are more things to be worried and fussing about. I am now appreciate everything in life; they may be little things to me but to some it's their dream life. I need remind myself I am one of the lucky ones in life and there are others who are less fortunate. With how the world is going, there are more pressing matters we need to look into and do something about it, and a misspelled name on a Starbucks cup is not one of them.
After all, by the end of the day this is just a name written with a black marker on a plastic cup that I will just throw away.
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