Recommended headline: “A Customer Mocked a Restaurant Employee for Mispronouncing Her Name. He Answered in Spanish, and Learned She Barely Speaks It Herself
Pexels/Reddit
There’s nothing wrong with correcting someone who mispronounces your name, but how you say it does matter.
One restaurant employee learned that firsthand when he checked a customer’s name because his coworkers couldn’t find her order.
He didn’t realize her last name was supposed to be pronounced in Spanish, but instead of correcting him, she insulted him for being unable to say it.
What she didn’t know, though, was that he’d lived in South America for a year and spoke Spanish almost fluently.
So he switched to Spanish and cheerfully assured her they’d have her order ready soon, only for her to admit she spoke just a little of the language herself.
Read on to see how this whole situation unfolded.
Customer called me out for mispronouncing her name
My job requires me to yell a customer’s name to my coworker so that they can get their order ready.
Upon my coworkers having trouble finding her order, I went and double-checked her name since another coworker got it, and they wanted me to double-check.
The customer was very fair-skinned and did not have any traits that led me to think she was Hispanic, nor was it a common enough Hispanic last name that it immediately registered to be pronounced as it would be in Spanish. But apparently, it was supposed to be.
So, upon butchering her last name, she looked at me and said, “Stupid little white boys can’t even pronounce my name right,” which, although objectively true on all accounts, I took offense to.
As most people would, he took offense to what she said.
I’m straight-up white, like not a drop of Hispanic blood. But I’m almost entirely fluent in Spanish due to having lived in South America as an exchange student for a full year, speaking little to no English the entire time.
So, upon her calling me a stupid little white boy, I said, as cheery as could be, in nearly perfect Spanish, “OK! I’m actually fluent in Spanish, so don’t worry. We’ll get your order right to you in just a second!”
Her response was just, “Uhhhhh, un poquito.”
Also, I don’t have any problem with people who are Hispanic and don’t speak Spanish. That’s all cool, and I understand it’s difficult to learn while constantly switching between two languages and even more difficult to keep the language. But if you’re gonna come at me, have your receipts.
Wow! That’s no way to be in any situation.
Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit think about people who act like this.
This person kind of sees both sides.
That’s a good point.
Here’s someone who lived as an exchange student.
Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a deli counter employee who tells a customer they’ve gone too far when they want them to do their shopping.
Now, here’s a funny way to handle it.
For starters, she didn’t have to be so rude.
But at the same time, the way he told this story was a bit odd. He focused a lot on what she looked like and how little Spanish she spoke, even though neither had anything to do with her behavior.
Ultimately, they were both wrong.
She could’ve corrected him without insulting him, and he could’ve left her appearance out of it.
Enjoyed this story?
Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.
