Au Bon Wha cha ma call it ?

No matter how I try, I simply do not feel comfortable pronouncing Au Bon Pain.  

I've been there on numerous occasions, since there's one right in the building I work in.  Yet, anytime someone asks what I might have for lunch I'll only say, "the sandwich place downstairs", or "Au Bon whatever it's called".  

Recently, I sent a tweet into cyber space asking, "How DO you pronounce Au Bon Pain??".  A friend, who happens to speak French, responded with, "Say it with me, Oh-Bon-Pan!".  Now, I would have never remembered this exchange if it weren't for a twitter response from an Au Bon Pain representative thanking my friend for the proper phonetic spelling.  I'll admit, I still don't pronounce it correctly.  My rendition sounds more like a physical therapy clinic than a sandwich place.  And naming a company in another language other than the native tongue is a whole other issue.  I wonder now, how did sending a response to us affect me as a customer?  If it did, it was on a psychological level because it didn't make me eat there more often or even say the company name right.  

Now, Twitter is a very current and, (forgive me for the word Im about to use), cool platform.  It's also very informal.  Just imagine getting a letter in the mail thanking you for a phonetic spelling.  That would seem... desperate.  Perhaps the tweet was meant to simply be a positive customer exchange and nothing more.  What do you think?

Also, I think it's interesting that throughout this blog post, I had to continuously edit my sentences because I kept referring to the "representative" as a "she".  I quite obviously have never met this person, yet I instantly assume the person is female.  "She" tweeted me, "she" thanked my friend.  All very interesting thoughts stemming from a simple tweet.   And still, all this Au Bon Pain talk has not even made me hungry.