> It happened when Bouraoui went to a busy restaurant one evening with a group of family and friends. As they waited outside for a table, a white waiter approached Bouraoui and asked for her name along with the number of people in her party.<p>> "Yasmina, party of six," she said.<p>> "I need something easier to pronounce," he said.<p>> She repeated her name but he didn't want to try to pronounce it. And then she was no longer there.<p>> "He looks at a 12-year-old in our party and he says, 'What's your name?' '' says Bouraoui, a manager with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. "Now he's just ignoring me."<p>That’s some terrible customer service. I’ve heard many people give aliases or single syllable westernized names by choice to simplify things, but having the employee you’re dealing with insist on it is particularly insulting.
`but by law in the US she is considered white -- and she looks white as well` -- as a non-American I have a hard time understanding why the law in the US should distinguish your race?<p>Maybe I am missing something?
This is a very interesting article that offers a unique insight into the experiences of people with non-traditional names, that the majority of users on HN will not be familiar with.<p>It absolutely aligns with HN's goal of promoting intellectual curiosity. Furthermore the comments so far have been civil and uncontroversial.<p>With this in mind, could the person(s) who flagged it please unflag it?
A different experience from the UK: my uncle is known by a Ghanian name as my grandmother lived there for many years. He is Caucasian.<p>He's not once mentioned any discrimination he has experienced because of his name.<p>I'm not saying there's no prejudice here but I think it is less extreme.
Reminds me of a song by "die feisten" called "ich heiße Ranjid" (my name is Ranjid)<p>It's about a German guy whos hippie parents named Ranjid and now he has some of the problems usually only immigrants have.