Would You Like Any Y’s With That?

Work is back in session, so I have to tackle some quicker ones.  I had a strange experience the last time I was at Panera Bread that still leaves me wondering.  I stepped up to the counter and gave the cheerful cashier my standard turkey sandwich and soup takeout order.  The lady then asked me for a name to call out when the order was ready.  Rather than go my standard route and give a name of a rock singer I went with my real name “Brian”.  The cashier then asked me if that was with a ‘Y’ or an ‘I’.  I tried desperately to process exactly what this actually mattered in the context of calling my name over the intercom.   Unfortunately, I couldn’t rationalize it and was just about to ask her a probing question regarding the impact it would have on my food delivery when she added “You must not be asked that very often” …with a chuckle.  She was note entirely correct since I am often asked this when dealing with text documents, but within this type of spoken scenario she was totally correct,  I had never been asked that question… ever.  In fact,  the more common mistake is using an ‘AI’ instead of an ‘IA’ – which, by the way, generally brings a smile to my face and if in an email, goes in my special ‘Brain’ folder for future reference.   I honestly replied “no” and decided to satisfy the original question with the appropriate “I” – as a note, I never get this problem when I use my standard approach and go with Jagger or Ringo.   I was still thinking this over in my head and trying to decide what I was going to do when they called me name (“did you call Bryan or Brian?….) when I noticed I had pulled out a single dollar instead of a five dollar bill from my wallet.  I stopped my payment motion, alerted her that I needed to get the right amount and took out my wallet to exchange the bills.  Then the kicker came when she said “That’s okay, I do stupid things all the time too”.   I personally preferred to classify it as a basic mistake brought on by the distraction of a previous incoherent statement, but if stupid does then stupid is fits her assessment then I will simply leave her with the positive feeling that she isn’t alone in the world.   I picked up the order for Brien and went on my way.