caro:
As someone who has his name mispronounced about a third of the time in NY and about 80% of the time everywhere else, I find people who correct pronunciation tiresome. Did I just say that out loud?
I have the same problem, but I blame the ubiquitousness of Britney Spears. (It’s SPY-ers.) Most of the time I just answer to SPEARS out of sheer laziness.
But I guess it’s a common problem. I imagine a certain Awl co-founder getting phone calls from people wanting to speak to KWI-ER-Y SIT-CHA. You can’t really fuck up Alex Balk, though.
Do not even get me started on the frequency with which I hear “Carolyn McCartney.” I have long since given up on correcting either botching, unless spelling is potentially an issue. Considering that both my first and last name are decently common, I conclude that either a) this is proof that people are generally ignorant, or b) when most people hear my name for the first time, it’s in a noisy bar.
I feel all of your collective pain, especially as my last name is now best associated with Twitter and a whale.
