Monday, September 21, 2009
Safeway, the grocery store chain, apparently has a policy that states that guests should be thanked by name at the end of each transaction.
After scanning and bagging one's groceries and taking one's money, employees will print out the receipt, look at it, and say something along the lines of "Thank you, Mr. Aggleflaggle, have a nice day!"
They will get the name from either the credit/debit card or "Club Card" info, at the bottom of the receipt. I suppose that if you pay in cash, and don't use a club card, you'll just get a "thank you, have a nice day."
So here's where it gets interesting.
I almost always buy groceries with my debit card, because the cash in my wallet usually only suffices for a coffee or a burrito. This means that my name appears on the receipt along with my card information. I don't have a "Club Card" of my own, so I always plug in either my grandmother's or Boyfriend's phone number, to get the discounts that way.
This means that the checker has a choice of names. And, interestingly enough, the checker seems to always choose to read the "club card" name, not the debit card name.
Which means that on a fairly regular basis, I get addressed as "Ms. Boyfriend'slastname."
Which weirds me out completely.
I usually don't correct them, since that would require me to spend more time in Safeway. I hate supermarkets, you see, and usually try to dash in and out as quickly as possible.
But yeah, their assumption really bugs me. If you see my name (on the credit/debit line) and some dude's name, why would you assume that that's the right last name?????
*****
Semi-, but not completely related:
Why are so many women my age changing their names when they get married? Women who seem otherwise feminist and progressive? Just among friends and coworkers, I can think of at least 6 or 8 people who have gotten married in the last few years and have changed their names. I can only think of 3 who have gotten married and kept their names.
I mean, not even getting into the "why get married?" discussion, why is this trend still so prevalent?
I know I sound horribly judgmental, but I really don't understand.
Especially when the women in question are performers, who rely on publicity and "getting their names out there".....
sigh.
