Despite identifying as Asian/API myself, I've had the privilege of having a Basic White Name and have gone through life without the constant microaggression of people obtusely mispronouncing my name (or, worse, misspelling it in writing). As with most English Biblical names, mine doesn't have a ton of apparent personality the way that these characters' do, but then again I don't need to think about it often.

In other words, I'm not confronted with my underlying otherness that's examined in Coffee Shop Names. This short film is smart in the way it disempowers these microaggressions through humor while celebrating the cultural and religious significance potently encapsulated in so-called "ethnic" names. It feels true-to-life and true to my South Asian friends' experiences in the casualness with which these characters deal with racism. It's not that it isn't serious, but why place more emotional labor than necessary into what's essentially an inevitability of daily life as an Asian American?