I had to stop by the pharmacy this morning to pick up a prescription. I, like always, began with “Der Familienname ist Lucas, l-u-C-a-s.” (“The family name is Lucas.”)
I’m an American in the German speaking part of Switzerland, so I do it this way because while Lucas or Luca is a popular first name with boys, when Swiss people hear Lucas as a last name they assume it’s L-U-K-A-S. Many times after I spell it out, emphasizing the C, they’ll still type K.
No matter. Then it’s on to the first name. I know she can see a list of Lucases on her screen, so spelling isn’t necessary; what is necessary is for me to pronounce my name incorrectly.
My first name is Suzanne, like Suzanne Somers.
Aha! They can find me.
Works a treat.
That tiny adjustment made my interaction smoother — and that’s exactly what small acts of service do at work
To keep reading, click here: Mispronouncing Your Own Name—and 22 Other Ways to Build Better Work Culture
Great list of things that people can do that makes dealing with others that you see on a daily basis less frustrating and I wish more people would actually do more of those suggested things. But in reality, especially noticed in the upcoming younger generation of workers, these habits are non-existent and they expect that those little courtesy actions are someone else’s job because they don’t accept that there is more to work than hyper focus on doing one task and interacting with others doesn’t always mean creating BFFs. Here’s hoping that by examples of others doing these actions will rub off on others
Our neighbors are German immigrants. The wife’s name is Annemarie. She’s learned to put up with being called “ann marie.” I makr sure always to pronounce that first e.
I lived in Germany briefly at 16. I found it annoying that nobody could say the hard J in my first name. I heard “zhim” mostly, and occasionally “chim.”