What's in a Name

A nice thing I've noticed about living in an area with many Spanish speakers is that they pronounce my last name right. My last name is not Spanish, it's Italian--or rather, it is an Italianized version of a Jewish last name (and therein lies a story). We lived in pretty white-bread places during my childhood, so I grew up having my name misprounounced by clueless grown-ups and mocked by classmates who knew exactly what they were doing. But Spanish speakers get it right the first time almost every time. It's kind of refreshing.