Maybe it’s because the barista can’t hear you over the light jazz. Maybe spelling’s never been his strong suit. Maybe you have a hard-to-pronounce Irish language name.

Or maybe – according to Co. Meath native John Purcell – Starbucks baristas are messing with you for fun.

The hilarious video, written by Purcell and produced by TJ Misny and Paul Gale (who plays the menacing barista), explains why your name is a simple Jessica, but your latte cup reads Gessika.

As it turns out, this is the barista’s way to exact power over you.

They love to make you feel lost and confused with just one move of their marker, and then watch you post all about it on Facebook.

Purcell, who emigrated to NYC from Dublin four years ago, doesn’t actually drink coffee, but has noticed the phenomenon among his friends.

“I’ve never actually ordered anything from Starbucks, but it’s something I kind of noticed on Instagram,” the 30-year-old comedian told IrishCentral in an interview.

“It’s always in your face, so I started to imagine what’s going on in the mind of the barista.” Is there something sinister behind it all?

“What if that actually was the case?” he asked. Purcell appears in the video as customer John at the very end.

Purcell is currently working a hilarious web series that takes place in the corporate world. One of his stand-up routines includes trying to educate his audience about misconceptions of Ireland.

“I don’t think my sense of humor is particularly ‘Irish’ per se. I think I was mostly just influenced by whatever TV and movies I watched as a kid,” he said.

“With that said, Father Ted was probably my favorite show growing up so I was hugely influenced by Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthew’s writing.” Purcell lives in Astoria, Queens.

You can check out more of John Purcell’s hilarious videos on his website.