Starbucks, Stop the Abuse.

John Proctor from The Crucible once said, "How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!"

He was actually yelling at a Starbucks barista.

You can say that a name isn't that important. It it just a label placed on someone upon birth to merely differentiate from the other kids in the playground. But the majority of people would disagree; a name has a much more meaningful purpose, to define the roots, history, and disposition of the said individual. And if this name were to be tampered with any way, the identity would ultimately be tampered as well.

Then I come into the picture; an Armenian with Lebanese and Russian roots, born in America. My parents must've thought that they were still living in ancient Anatolia when they dubbed me "Mhair Karnik Zeitounian." (each name has an elaborate explanation that traces down my family tree) Albeit, I can boast about my uniquely rich name to David Jones standing next to me at the cash register, but David has to say his name once, and David will never be mispronounced, misspelled, or completely butchered.

That's when my identity takes temporary beatings. I've heard it all; Maher, Muhair, Mair, Myhair, and Morehair. My favorite interpretation came during my graduation ceremony at the University of Southern California, where just as I was about to be rewarded for my four years of hard work and dedication, I proceed to be publicly called "MOOhair."

Yes, the temptation is there. When the Starbucks barista asks for my name, I wanna say Mike, Tom, or Rob to save themselves and myself time to correctly spell a five letter name. But I don't. I stop and remind myself that I'm practically an alien compared to Billy behind me, and that awkward thought actually makes me happy. I'm proud with who I am, and how my people come from distant lands with history so rich it couldn't even compare to the United States.

Yep, I just wasted two minutes because I corrected the barista in spelling my name, and yep they still managed to get it wrong. But at the end of the day, my name is the only thing that's not going to change throughout my entire lifetime, and I'm not changing that for anyone.

How Social Media Influences Self Worth

A few decades ago, your status was determined by the size of your house or by the type of car you drove. This status is now dominated by your online presence.

Social media, like Facebook and Twitter, are shaping people's streams of confidence and self-worth. With tools such as "commenting" people's pictures, or "liking" someone's wall post, users are increasingly seeking gratification from such reaction on their social media profiles.

It's as simple as this: Grace gets a brand-spankin' new hairdo, and posts a picture of her new hair. Instead of seeking opinions from a few family and friends like previously, Grace's new haircut is now being judged by her entire friend's list; a list that includes childhood friends, coworkers or teachers, and mere acquaintances. With every "notification" that she gets regarding this picture, she can either feel great about her haircut or think it's extremely lousy based off her so called "friends" reactions; so she stays glued to her Facebook page to help give her a reaffirmation of her haircut.

Besides just appearances, more serious matters are being judged, such as intellect and professional experience. Where you got your education, which company you are currently employed at, and even your interests in entertainment comprise your complete online presence. This presence becomes the cyber version of yourself, and stays in cyberspace to be constantly perused, accidentally encountered, and ultimately judged.

Social status has also evolved due to the digitization of one's network. People you connect with on Facebook are called "friends," and people who want to read your tweets on Twitter are known as "followers." The makers of these media are smart in choosing their words; using friends & followers to indicate a social media presence adds a level of competition among these sites that will drives the number of unique users skyward. It has evolved from the high school group of "cool kids" to the tech geek on Twitter who has followers from all seven continents.

With all of these devices utilized in social media, is it no wonder that younger generations are almost addicted to Facebook and Twitter. Once the major source of self gratification and self worth is achieved through the number of comments one gets on a picture or the multitude of "retweets" on Twitter, why would these users even worry about the size of their house? Social media has created a cheap thrill in reaffirmation by constantly nurturing a pseudo social identity, and as long as the world keeps going in a more digitized platform, serious identity issues become the inevitable.