Just bought a 2m section of flexible tube for a gas stove, and the sales clerk asked first for my phone number, to which I replied “I don’t have one”. Then she asked me for my name, to which I replied “I’ll pay in cash”. She then insisted it was so “the cashier will call you by name”, to which I replied “I’m not giving you my name, I’ll pay in cash”. [Edit: she apparently got a bit upset when I refused to give info, but ended up entering “no name” according to the receipt]
Am I wrong for not wanting to give personal data for an item paid in cash, in person? No other hardware store ever asks me for my personal info.
Why is it needed for Starbucks?
They call out your name when your drink is ready.
There’s a whole cottage industry of influencers now who still think it hasn’t been overdone yet to try to get them to shout something ridiculous, unpronounceable, or impossible to spell when they write it on the cup.
The one and only time I went to Starbucks, I was the only one in line. I waited right there as they made the drink. There was absolutely no need for my name. I get that it’s just what they do, but it felt weird.
This reminds me of a strange encounter I had at a Starbucks in a train station in Paris: I order, pay, give my name (for the cup) and start to wander off to wait. A random super concerned dude starts explaining to me that I need to stay in the “waiting for drinks line” till my drink is ready. I was like “um, that’s why they write your name on the cup and call you?” But no, he was insistent that the propor protocol was to wait in the line, the other folks in line seemed to agree. Super weird. I succumbed to the peer pressure but AFAICT the 2nd line was 100% stupid (maybe they have too many people w/ the same 1st name there?) and it’s kinda wild being from Seattle and having a random French dude mansplain Starbucks to me.
I’ve always been partial to Heywood Jablomi