Anyone else dread giving their name at coffee shops and restaurants?

Posted by caffeinated_thomas on March 7, 2026 at 8:20 AM

went to starbucks this morning and gave my name as Thomas. barista writes Tom on the cup even tho i said Thomas. fine whatever. but then ANOTHER Tom picks up my drink before i can get to it. this happens to me at least once a month. ive started giving fake names honestly. last week i was "Marco" and it was the smoothest coffee pickup of my life. no confusion no mixups just Marco's latte ready to go. anyone else with a super common name just... give up and use a fake one?

9 Comments

TJ_in_Seattle Mar 7 at 8:55 AM

I use my last initial now. "Tom J" seems to work better than just Tom but honestly even that gets mixed up sometimes. The fake name strategy is genius tho, might steal that

caffeinated_thomas Mar 7 at 9:10 AM

do it. being Marco for 3 minutes a day is honestly therapeutic lol

not_that_thomas Mar 7 at 9:45 AM

the restaurant thing is even worse. tried to pick up a takeout order last month under Thomas Johnson and they had TWO orders for Thomas Johnson. gave me the wrong one and i didnt notice until i got home. had to drive back. the other Thomas Johnson had already taken my food. we sorted it out but man. i now use my phone number instead of my name for every takeout order

JohnsonParty Mar 7 at 10:30 AM

phone number is the way. i switched to that years ago after a similar thing at a pizza place. also had a situation at a doctors office where they called Thomas Johnson and two of us stood up. the receptionist looked SO confused

tommy_j_42 Mar 7 at 11:15 AM

my wife thinks its hilarious when this happens. she calls it my "name tax" like its the price i pay for having the most generic name possible. she has an unusual last name and has literally never had this problem. must be nice.

TheOriginalTJ Mar 7 at 2:20 PM

best one for me was at a hotel check-in. front desk said theres already a Thomas Johnson checked in and asked if i was sure about my name. like... yes im sure about my own name thank you. they had to add my middle initial to everything. spent the whole trip wondering if the other thomas johnson was having a good vacation

caffeinated_thomas Mar 7 at 2:50 PM

haha the hotel one is brutal. imagine getting the other guys room charges on your bill

TheOriginalTJ Mar 7 at 3:15 PM

dont even joke about that because it almost happened. got a charge for room service i didnt order. sorted it out but still

anonymousTom Mar 8 at 7:40 AM

i just go by my initials everywhere now. TJ. shorter, less common as a combo, and baristas spell it right every time. highly recommend the rebrand