us asians and our difficult names
Dear readers, enjoy a triple shot of "ugh" regarding Texas Representative Betty Brown's desire for easier names from The Asians (Welsh, Russians, etc. excluded):
1. Stir in a basic declaration of Asian names are too hard to understand, so y'all should use easier ones,
2. With a personalized take on the matter from Concurring Opinions,
3. And a nice mix of commentary and a link to a "Betty Brown" easier name generator from Sepia Mutiny.
ETA: Because Americans are apparently incompetent when it comes to pronouncing anything that isn't in Eeeeeeeeeeeeenglish. Or by "Americans," she perhaps just means "Rep. Brown," who apparently forgets about other different, difficult-to-pronounce names. Us Asians, causing trouble for everybody.
I can live with people who are apathetic about anything outside their bubble, but what makes this extra agonizing is that the classy Rep. Brown can't just live in the bubble – she wants to make people outside her bubble conform! She would rather impose her ignorance on others than actually take a few seconds to learn a few new sounds. Certainly, there's no questioning that "Hsieh" or "Jawaharlal" might require a pause or two or an embarrassed "Sorry, could you repeat that or possibly write it down phonetically?", but come on! Give your poll workers a little credit, ma'am. Give America some credit, even. It'll do us Yankees good to get used to the idea that there are, indeed, different people out there.
Starbucks is another matter, though. My friends with "difficult names" are completely fine with giving a "Starbucks name" (e.g. """"Steve"""") for caffeine expediency.
P.S. Tangentially-related to the conformity theme, here's an excellent Japanese cover of "I Wanna Be Like You":