Dude Sounds Like A Lady

[calulu]

Anyone out there in the working world accidentally refer to someone by the wrong sex? Ever have anyone flip out over it?

I just had a customer that sounded like a lady. I address it as "Ma'am" and it flipped out in a hail of shouting and angry words at a VERY high pitch. I kept trying to point out I was trying to show respect but he ended his rantathon with a 'I'll have your job!"

Good luck with that. I cannot see through the phone and see if you're an innie or an outy. If you sound distinctly female I'm going to call you ma'am, if you point out my mistake I will apologize but the minute you get screechy and crazy I'm hanging up on your ass.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

There used to be a guy working at the local Arby's who sounded exactly like Stuart Larkin from Mad TV.

[BuggedMei]

I had to call an account once, the name on the account was "Tracy" It was a new account, no information on it to guide me in the right sex..

Now, I always think of Tracy as a woman's name. A man picked up and I asked if I could speak to Tracy ____, he said no, I asked if he was her husband.

I could feel my headset getting blown off my face the way this guy SCREAMED at me, that he is not a woman and that he'd sue me/have my job/how dare I.. ect..

*offers hug* I never could think of a unisex way of getting around greeting people like that. Its really a best guess goes thing..

[One-Fang]

That's why it's best to simply go androgynous.

"May I speak with Tracey please?" if they're not there "Please tell Tracey that we called", not "tell her", etc.

What we need is a good, asexual, term for respect for a person to replace sir and ma'am.

[freeatlast]

A couple of times at the Call Center from Hell, I had customers on the phone who were men who sounded like women. I'm sure that they must be used the people thinking they are talking to a woman. Seems like alot of trouble to go ballistic every time someone called them "Maam". It always seemed like these customers were really difficult to start with and then the voice thing just made it worse.

But at that same job, I had a co-worker who was a guy that sounded just like a woman. In fact, because I took escalated calls I had talked to this person many times when he transferred calls to me and always thought it was a girl. He had a name that could be used for either sex. He had worked there for a couple of years before I knew that it was a guy. And the customers always referred to him as "her". He just laughed and went along with them. Too bad those sucky customers couldn't be the same way.

[PepperElf]

i'm reminded of the jokes from The Young Ones regarding Vivian's name & that he has a girl's name

[RayvenQ]

Funnily rnough, just before seeing this thread, I was watching the Firefly Episode "Trash"

"Jayne is a girls name"
"Yeah well Jayne ain't a girl."

[bainsidhe]

I usually encounter the opposite. Ever speak to those women with the deep-frog, been smokin' three-packs-a-day-since-infancy voice? Yeah, the deep gravely manly voice? I've made the mistake a couple times (oops), but usually I luck out with the customer identifying themselves as Joyce/Jane/Sheila/etc before I insert my foot firmly in mouth.

[StanFlouride]

LOL- This happened to me today in PERSON! I was helping a thin woman with very short hair when another customer said, "I need your help when your done with this fella."
I said, "I'll be done helping this woman in a second."
The woman was very nice about it, gracefully dismissed his obvious embarrassment and laughed when, a minute later I said to a third customer, pointing to the guy, "I'll be right with you as soon as I help this GIRL!"
He just said, "okay, good one, I deserve that."

[GiftShopGirl]

...but he ended his rantathon with a 'I'll have your job!"

Haha my reply to that is always, "Dude, you don't WANT my job."

[JLRodgers]

Now, I always think of Tracy as a woman's name. A man picked up and I asked if I could speak to Tracy ____, he said no, I asked if he was her husband.

Kind of like the names: Lindsey, Jo[Joe], Chris....

I once had to go out to see if a business wanted to donate money to a college theatre again (they had before, I was given the task of going out to the places that had given before to see if they would again)... the place was called something like "Tracy's Doilies and Dolls workshop".... I ran into a man that looked like a cross between a stereotypical biker gang member-bouncer-weight lifter, and I just asked if Tracy was there (not implying anything) and he totally went off about how I should've known it was a one-man business and he was Tracy. -- I was told after the guy was just an over-sensitive man regarding his name.

[hinakiba777]

Now, I always think of Tracy as a woman's name. A man picked up and I asked if I could speak to Tracy ____, he said no, I asked if he was her husband.

I could feel my headset getting blown off my face the way this guy SCREAMED at me, that he is not a woman and that he'd sue me/have my job/how dare I.. ect..

correct me if I'm wrong, but what I got from this is that the man named Tracy was the man you were on the phone with.

So when you asked to speak with tracy and he said "no", wasn't he lying? how would you know her was tracy if he said you can't talk to tracy?

I don't use ma'am or sir at work unless I know the person.

[Velfarre2001]

What a bunch of whiny twits. I not only have a very high pitched voice, I sound almost exactly like my mom does. I get Mam'd and Missed, and Mizzed and even teased when I was younger more then I would like i.e. more then 0, but I don't start going into a rant that would do a 3 year old proud about it..... how pathetic.

[PepperElf]

Funnily rnough, just before seeing this thread, I was watching the Firefly Episode "Trash"

"Jayne is a girls name"
"Yeah well Jayne ain't a girl."

yeah but Mal was the one wearing the dress.

[friendofjimmyk]

I work with a man who, over the radio and the phone, has a feminine sounding voice...I assume...it doesn't sound that way to me...however, he is mistaken for a lady all the time.