"Thank you, Mr. Maha..raj..uh..pruh..jarpah..."

It's a policy of the Safeway grocery stores that when a customer leaves the line, the checker must look on the receipt for his or her name, and then say, "Thank you Mr. (or Ms.) ______." It's designed to give the customers a greater feeling of personal connection with the store.

Now, my last name's Kost. Most people who read that seem to think that it rhymes with "most" or "toast", but it actually rhymes with "lost", or, I'm sorry to say, "accost". Safeway employees are no exception. "Thank you, Mr. Coast." ("You're welcome. Mr. Shore?") I'm used to it, even though I always perk up a bit when it's actually pronounced correctly.

I'm just glad that I don't have a impossible-to-pronounce Eastern European or Indian surname. Although I'd probably die from laughing, if you want my honest opinion.