Valerie (II)

In a busy supermarket the self-service machines are unwilling to take my card.  A human being takes me to real-life check-out assistant.  I decide to make use of the unexpected personal interaction.  I explain my resolution.  He shakes his head.  He tells me his name is composed only of a first and a last.  It is cold outside and I look desperate.  I catch the eye of the assistant next to him in a well-filled orange fleece.  She has clearly overheard our conversation.  "Do you?" I ask.  My assistant clarifies, "Do you have a middle name?"  She replies, "Yes. I have a middle name".  I ask her what it is.  Her pronunciation puts the stress on the second syllable and I have to check that I haven't misheard.  "Yes", she confirms.  But there are customers to be served and no time for dallying.