You were getting served coffee by a Cuban dictator?

That's how Castro overthrew him - he was too busy serving coffee....

It has been hard trying to get out of the house and socialize here. Someone I am acquainted with from the Bay Area had to move back in with her parents as well and she grew up down here. She has a friend down here who never left and they are total BFFs. The friend is lightly acquainted with me as well. I invited them to my house for my small bday party. I changed the date to work with their schedules. They forgot about it after RSVPing yes. Never showed up. Didn't really seem sorry at all when they found out.

I decided to not hold a grudge and to try again. More than 2 weeks I wrote them asking if they'd like to see Harry Potter together. I've had some response from the one I know best but the other person hasn't responded so nothing's happening. They both know and see other people. I know they have large friend networks. Yet when it comes to me trying to ask them anywhere, it's like that BFF shield just bounces everything off.

So I guess I'm just going to the movies by myself again.

Ha! Thanks again, iPhone! Though that wasn't auto-correction, that was cold fingers.

When a cashier calls me by my first name off my card, it really, truly bothers me...and I'm not even sure why. I know what they are doing, and I don't even have an issue with it being disrespectful. It just really, really bothers me.

That's never happened to me, and I would totally be weirded out. They usually tell me to have a nice day. Mr. Cow, reading off the receipt.

But *never* call me by my first name unless we've been introduced. Christ, my migraine specialist still calls me by my last name.

Me too, I hate that shit.

Not least of all because you're 75% going to fuck it up, and chances were good I wasn't going to tell it to you anyway, Coffee Person. Cheating off my debit card is just that--cheating.

I sometimes cheat at the theatre, but I use the patron's last name.

Safeway cashiers are forced to address customers by their first names and I hate it.

I have complained about that. The manager said to me "It's friendlier to use a first name." and I replied "not if it offends the customer. Mary isn't going to mind if you call her Ms. Smith, but I am damned sure going to mind if someone uses my first name without permission" And he still argued with me "well, you're unusual". I said "that very well may be, but you've just lost a customer."

The debit/credit card thing is to prevent fraud. They want to make sure you answer to the name on the card.

I don't think so, or if that is the case, it doesn't work. If someone I don't know uses my first name, I'm going to ignore them, because they clearly don't know me.

OMG, I'm the person I hate. I just had a ten, fifteen minute discussion with my boss and I stared into his eyes the entire time. I freaked myself out. I could not work out where else to look. I don't remember how I normally look at people. Do I always do that? I tried to look away, but then I thought "He's going to think I'm distracted." Then I'd look at his shirt and think "That's creepy, stop it."

So, you know, sorry, Steph.

I try to look at their nose. That way, I appear to making eye contact, but am not staring.

I have complained about that. The manager said to me "It's friendlier to use a first name." and I replied "not if it offends the customer.

My eyes skipped over the first name part of the. The Dominick's cashiers (same company, basically) read your name off the receipt but it's definitely last name.

Everybody I work with probably thinks I want to shag them or beat them up. Wonderful.

So what do the Safeway cashiers do if you pay in cash and don't use a rewards card that might have your name on it? Go with the first name of the president on the largest bill?