Monica and Liz’s advice for Sharif

Hey Ladies,
I enjoyed your candid and vulnerable convo on this episode. However, I did have a problem with your advice to Sharif regarding her dilemma with her hairdresser of eight years. You felt it was up to Sharif’s friends to make this right, but I see it as Sharif’s problem to fix. (It’s completely unfair to put both of her friends in the awkward position of telling the hairdresser he’s mispronounced her name for ALL those years. lol!) Sharif’s error in judgment was in letting the first mispronunciation slide. I think this is a female acculturation issue. It is her NAME — instead of taking a few seconds to educate the hairdresser, she didn’t think it was important enough to address. Even if she anticipated not returning, it’s appropriate to be called your correct name even in that one interaction. My suggestion on how to set it straight: Sharif to the hairdresser: “I have something I’m embarrassed to share with you. And I want to apologize in advance. When we first met, I didn’t take the time to tell you how my name is pronounced. So many people get it wrong, but that’s no excuse. It’s actually pronounced Sharif, and I figured now that we’ve known each other 8 years, I should probably share that.” This honest approach hopefully prevents the hairdresser from feeling super embarrassed. Thanks for reading, keep up the good work! Jill