Your Boyfriend doesn't Scare Me!!! (long-ish)

[Camry178]

Okay, so I work at an optical and one of my coworkers sold sunglasses yesterday that we had to order the lenses for. Now special order normally take about ten days, but she promised this chick that she could have it by this weekend.

So this chick calls up this afternoon and wants to know if her sunglasses are ready. Here's how that conversation went...

SC: Stupid Chick
Cam:

SC: Yeah, I wanna know if my sunglasses are ready?
Cam: I'm sorry, but those aren't in yet...We said we would give you a call as soon as they were ready.
SC: Well, the girl said that she would have the lenses overnighted and that I could possible have them today.
Cam: Well unfortunately we haven't received the lenses yet, but we'll call you as soon as they are ready for you.
Anybody noticing a pattern yet?
SC: But I need them by this weekend.
Cam: I understand that and they will be here by then and I will call you as soon as they are ready for you.
SC: Well, can't you tell me where they are?
At this point I'm starting to lose my patience. What part of "I'll call you as soon as they are ready" doesn't she understand?
Cam: The lenses are in transit and should be here in a couple of days. I'll call you as soon as they are ready.
SC: Well if they're not here by this weekend then I'll have to cancel the order.
Cam: And you are well within your right to do so.
So she finally gets off the phone and get back to doing other things.
A few minutes later one of my other coworkers comes to me and asks me if I know anything about a lady looking for her sunglass order. So I check the name and sure enough it's the same damn lady, only now she had her boyfriend call and to ask when her sunglasses would be in. So I tell my coworker that I would handle this one. I hadn't stripped a guy of his masculinity in a while so this would be interesting.

SCB: sucky chick's boyfriend
Cam: just me again

Cam: This is Cam how can I help you?
SCB: yeah, i wanna know when SC's sunglasses would be ready?!
Cam: Yes, I already spoke to SC and told her that it would be another couple of days and that we would call her when they were ready for her.
SCB: Well that's not good enough. I wanna know exactly when they're gonna be ready!
Cam: I'm sorry, since the lenses are still in transit I can't tell you when exactly when they'll be ready. But we will call you as soon as they are ready.
SCB: Well where are the lenses coming from?
Cam: They're coming from one of our other stores in the state.
SCB: Well why can't they just make them there?
Cam: Because the order originated w/ us and the lenses are already in transit.
SCB: Well, what if we cancel the order with you and just go to that store and place the order there?
That's it, I'm through being nice to this guy who's trying to show how much of a man he is to his girlfriend. By the way, I could hear her in the background while I was talking to him.
Cam: You're well in your right to cancel the order. You would need to come back here with the receipt to cancel the order, then go to the other store and place the order with them and hope that they have another set of lenses being that they sent one set to us and also hope that they have the same frame....
SCB: Well you're not being very helpful.
Cam: Sir, I cannot give you information I don't have.
SCB: Well, I wanna speak to the manager!
Ahhh...those magic words...
Cam: That would be me....
SCB: oh....you're the manager?
Cam: Yes I am.
SCB: Well can you please try to have them in by this weekend?
Cam: Sure...As I explained to you and SC before, it should be another couple of days and we will call you as soon as they're ready.
SCB: Okay, well, thanks.

Okay, somebody please tell me what the hell the deal is with women who think that their man is going to get results where they themselves couldn't. I mean WTF!! Learn how to handle your own problems and stop running to your man who'll end up dealing with someone like me that will strip him of his manhood while you stand next to him!

[blas]

I can explain this one, as I have been screwed over by mechanics and men at auto parts stores in the past, and have needed my father or boyfriend to set the assholes straight.

It's not always right to use your man as ammo, in this case the girl was just being a bitch and trying to throw her weight around, but I just figured I'd try to explain why some women, over the years, have needed men to help them out.

I try to be independent and not need a man to stand up for me, but in some cases (not yours though, you were TOTALLY in the right!) sexism is alive and well.

[Camry178]

I totally get it when it comes to mechanics. I always have my dad deal with him. But when they try it in a retail situation it's like WTF...

[blas]

Oh totally. "My boyfriend is gonna beat you up!"

I'm shaking in my little space boots.

[marasbaras]

Okay, somebody please tell me what the hell the deal is with women who think that their man is going to get results where they themselves couldn't.

A few reasons (only two are good, can you guess which?):

1. Often the woman in question isn't willing to push things a little. Yes, when dealing with sucky workers one sometimes needs to push. Not saying all workers suck, but, some definitely do. SCs have to work somewhere, right?

2. Sometimes a different person will have other suggestions or tactics that will work. Sometimes it's just a matter of suggesting something else to the employee to find a solution that works for all. (note: this clearly isn't the case in the OP)

3. Because the woman in question just wants to make "her man" do something "manly" for her.

[earl colby pottinger]

Put fear into them.

I can explain this one, as I have been screwed over by mechanics and men at auto parts stores in the past, and have needed my father or boyfriend to set the assholes straight.

I try to be independent and not need a man to stand up for me, but in some cases (not yours though, you were TOTALLY in the right!) sexism is alive and well.

???? Learn more about cars then. One girl I knew put the fear of females into macho men when it came to cars and trucks. I asked to come along for a second opinion on a used truck I wanted to buy, I already was talking the saleman down $500 off the advertised price, then she asked him some very pointed questions - look on his face was something to behold - she saved me an extra $1000 bucks.

PS. Yes, I ended up running the truck to the ground in less than three(3) years, but it was cheap and I learnt how to drive stick-shift. Now I am ready if The Amazing Race opens up for Canadians.

[AKWalMartCartGuy]

I know a woman who had a friend go in to a used car dealership to look at a car and he found so many things wrong with it that they offered him a job

[Victoria J]

???? Learn more about cars then.

Doesn't really work if you're dealing with sexist idiots. I don't know about cars but I do know a reasonable amount about computers. I also know that I got a £10 better deal offered on a printer when my father was standing next to me. Did all the talking both times, but when I went back to the same shop (1 days difference, no the deal had not expired) they would not give me the deal they'd quoted when a man had been standing with me.

I spent the £10 extra but I did it in another shop that hadn't promised me a better deal.

Still bitter,

Victoria J

[Samaliel]

Oh, you did not really strip him of his manhood. Just ridiculed him a little in front of his girlfriend, which some dudes might not take very well. But I've seen chicks talk some men so they left cowering and looking just as if they lost their gonads.

I always make a point of being friendly with about anyone, especially girls (I once coined the expression "Sir Lancelot complex"), but with those girls I was extra careful of being absolutely nice but not over-nice. Lovely girls, but I defiinitely don't want to be on their bad side.

[NightWatch]

We even have sexism in the dispatch office. When people call us and speak to a male dispatcher, then call back a few minutes later and speak to a female; they ALWAYS refer to the first guy as a police officer. If they spoke to a woman first, they almost never refer to her as an officer, just 'that other girl' or 'that other dispatcher'. It's a tad annoying...

[calulu]

I get that every now and again when some weasley boyfriend will call to bitch that the flower order his girlfriend placed for herself from him isn't there yet. Usually those calls do not end well because I'm busy explaining to bf the same thing I explained five minutes earlier to the gf, that her refusal to pay for rush delivery means that they will be arriving by the end of the day, NOT by noon or one. Usually big man drops the f bomb or starts calling me a bitch whereupon I tell him to have a great day because I'm not going to sit there and allow him to abuse me because his sig-o is stupid and cheap.

[tropicsgoddess]

I can explain this one, as I have been screwed over by mechanics and men at auto parts stores in the past, and have needed my father or boyfriend to set the assholes straight.

It's not always right to use your man as ammo, in this case the girl was just being a bitch and trying to throw her weight around, but I just figured I'd try to explain why some women, over the years, have needed men to help them out.

I try to be independent and not need a man to stand up for me, but in some cases (not yours though, you were TOTALLY in the right!) sexism is alive and well.

That and car salesmen. Those places think female = easy to woo, sell and swindle. That and the computer stuff are the only times I have my guy step in for me to help with problems (the best part is when he's in person to do it because he's BIG....6'9' over 300 lbs and the natural intimidation/OMG He's HUGE!! factor comes in handy. ). No SC behavior on his part though....

[iradney]

Heheheh
TTO and I do it the other way around. He complains first (in a very nice way). If that doesn't work, then he brings me in to complain (also in a nice, but firm way). If being nice twice doesn't cut it, then I start increasing the vinegar. They don't expect that from a cuddly little female

[protege]

I totally get it when it comes to mechanics. I always have my dad deal with him.

No problem with that...because some mechanics are just assholes.

I'm a guy, and sometimes I let my dad deal with them. Not often, I might add. However, lately I feel like I've been getting the run-around in regards to a certain orange sports car. Every time I go over there, all I get are excuses--'I haven't had time to work on it,' being the main one. (Keep in mind that the car is almost finished--all that's left is to install the bumpers...and that it's already paid for.) Same mechanic usually complains about how the car is taking up space, that he wants it out of there, etc. Sick of this, I took my father (who technically owns the car, as I haven't swapped the title over yet) along. Dad leaned on him a bit

[Lingering Grin]

This is why I like having a mechanic that is actually a friend of my dad's.

Doesn't matter who goes to him, My dad, mom, me, my sister... hell my sister's fiance even.

Only my dad and my sister's fiance know anything about cars, and our mechanic knows this. He actually will sit down and explain everything to us if he has to, and he never screws us on the price.

Whatever it costs him for the parts is what you pay. He does not mark up parts at all. After that, just pay for labor and you're done. (It costs like $25 for an oil change, which is a couple bucks more than say Jiffy Lube, but he also goes through, refills all the fluids, and does a full check-up on the car too.