Do you get s – – t for your name?

When your name is Osama and you’re living in post-9/11 America, you always know The Question is coming.

A Starbucks opens in the library. It is quickly the most popular spot on campus. Lines are always long and sometimes extend out of the building during finals week.

Even though the baristas ask for my name every time and spell it correctly on the cup when they write it down, I notice that they never say it out loud.

I feel bad for putting the barista in a position where they are afraid to offend someone by calling them an Osama.

I tell this story to all my college friends. I end it with the punchline, “So I guess everyone has name troubles at Starbucks.”

People laugh in acknowledgement; even though their name is Gracie, Chris, or Zach and mine is Osama, we share the same inconveniences at Starbucks.