Randy Woodbury

Since landing in the UK seven months ago, one of the first habits I quickly reestablished were my regular Starbucks runs. Now, I am not a coffee snob – in fact during the first years of my morning coffee runs with my Principal Global crew (shout-out to TP and BD!!), all I ordered was hot chocolates. (stop right now….shut it down….no judging!) Then I moved on to Chia Lattes. And finally, it was quite the momentous occasion when I finally progressed to caramel lattes!! (again…no judgement). I plan to graduate to full adulthood on the coffee continuum when I turn about 75.  

In any event, this is not a post to debate the merits and quality of Starbuck’s products, but rather a case study in…my name. That’s right…my name. For those that don’t know, the name ‘Randy’ in British culture has a, um, unique meaning. One that was clearly explained in any of the Austin Powers movies (YouTube as necessary). So there was some actual concern that when we moved here, that I would need to utilize a different name. However, we decided that since I would not be dealing primarily with teenagers day-to-day, we would charge ahead and just use ‘Randy’. (Although, in interest of full disclosure, April and the kids refuse to introduce me at school by anything other than ‘Randall’).

But back to our story…I’m in London. I’ve reestablished my Starbucks runs. However…I notice that the baristas seem to be uncertain, unclear or unwilling to spell my name correctly. Not just one or two or ten times. So below, I provide you with the 23 alternatives we have encountered thus far. I would love to know your favorite version. Cheers!