“Is Mr. or Mrs. (last name) there?”
One thing, among other annoyances, that I’ve noticed telemarketers do, is they always ask if there is a Mr. or a Mrs. in the house. I know they probably have a huge list of phone numbers, and just go down the line. When people see these numbers and last names, they can’t figure out who is married or not. But it annoys me that people are going to automatically assume that there is a Mr. in the house. How many single women are out there, whether they are gay or not? I’m sure there are quite a number of them. So why must people “assume” that there is a Mr. in the house? Even in telemarketing, it seems like society puts this “pressure” that there has to be a male influence.
Does this happen for men? Are there male individuals out there, who get harrassed by telemarketers if there is a Mrs. in the house? Does it even matter to men, whether or not someone asks if there is a Mrs. in the house? Do gay men get some what peeved when they get a telephone call asking if a Mr. or Mrs. is in the house? Or am I just picking at straws here with this topic? Many people may not even care, or even realize what impact it has. But I guess for me, someone who doesn’t like to conform to the patriarchial institutions, I just always seem to find ways in which society undermines women. This is a clear example. The fact that people ask, if there is even a Mr. in the household, that just makes me assume that they think there has to be one. But I guess the callers are covering their bases by asking this, to cover ALL prospective people in the house???
My partner has lived alone for quite some time. And since I’ve been in the picture, her phone number is still just her first initial and her last name. But when ever we get a call, a lot of times the person will ask if there is a Mr. or a Mrs. in the house. When I lived alone, I still got the “is Mr. or Mrs. in the house?” Usually when I hear that first line, I’d hang up. I knew that if anyone personally knew me, and was ringing, they wouldn’t be asking me this question. My partner and I were talking about it one night, about just how annoying it is when they DO ask if a Mr. is in the house. So I told her that the next time someone rings and asks if Mr. (last name) is in the house, I’m going to say “Yes, this is Mr. (last name).” We’ll see what kind of reaction we’ll get from that. My partner said that she’ll say “no, Mr. or Mrs. (last name) doesn’t live here, but I can get you their phone number..since they’re my parents.” I sometimes feel like saying to the person “what makes you assume that there is a Mr. living here? And have a go at them..pretty much take away their time that they could be selling me something stupid.
I think also what gets to me, is when they say is “the man of the house” available. Ohh, I haven’t heard that in awhile, but that really upsets me. It reminds me of a time, when I was living in the states, and I was at my work. Now, the place I worked at, was filled with feminists and many women with “radical” views. There was a time when a couple of the women at my work had to go out and spend money for some of the clients. There was so much money left in the budget, so they went out and bought a bunch of stuff. But they had to use my program director’s credit card. Well, because they had spent a lot of money (which would have signaled some “strange” activity) the credit card company was alerted. And when they rang my program director, they wanted to talk to Mr. (last name). My program director was fuming. Fuming because the credit card was in both of their names (husband and wife) but yet the company would only talk to the husband. My program director said a few choice words during that conversation. Things ended up getting worked out, but still, that goes again, to show just another way that society tries to undermine women.
-current mood-HAPPY, the sun is beaming outside.
Does this happen for men? Are there male individuals out there, who get harrassed by telemarketers if there is a Mrs. in the house? Does it even matter to men, whether or not someone asks if there is a Mrs. in the house? Do gay men get some what peeved when they get a telephone call asking if a Mr. or Mrs. is in the house? Or am I just picking at straws here with this topic? Many people may not even care, or even realize what impact it has. But I guess for me, someone who doesn’t like to conform to the patriarchial institutions, I just always seem to find ways in which society undermines women. This is a clear example. The fact that people ask, if there is even a Mr. in the household, that just makes me assume that they think there has to be one. But I guess the callers are covering their bases by asking this, to cover ALL prospective people in the house???
My partner has lived alone for quite some time. And since I’ve been in the picture, her phone number is still just her first initial and her last name. But when ever we get a call, a lot of times the person will ask if there is a Mr. or a Mrs. in the house. When I lived alone, I still got the “is Mr. or Mrs. in the house?” Usually when I hear that first line, I’d hang up. I knew that if anyone personally knew me, and was ringing, they wouldn’t be asking me this question. My partner and I were talking about it one night, about just how annoying it is when they DO ask if a Mr. is in the house. So I told her that the next time someone rings and asks if Mr. (last name) is in the house, I’m going to say “Yes, this is Mr. (last name).” We’ll see what kind of reaction we’ll get from that. My partner said that she’ll say “no, Mr. or Mrs. (last name) doesn’t live here, but I can get you their phone number..since they’re my parents.” I sometimes feel like saying to the person “what makes you assume that there is a Mr. living here? And have a go at them..pretty much take away their time that they could be selling me something stupid.
I think also what gets to me, is when they say is “the man of the house” available. Ohh, I haven’t heard that in awhile, but that really upsets me. It reminds me of a time, when I was living in the states, and I was at my work. Now, the place I worked at, was filled with feminists and many women with “radical” views. There was a time when a couple of the women at my work had to go out and spend money for some of the clients. There was so much money left in the budget, so they went out and bought a bunch of stuff. But they had to use my program director’s credit card. Well, because they had spent a lot of money (which would have signaled some “strange” activity) the credit card company was alerted. And when they rang my program director, they wanted to talk to Mr. (last name). My program director was fuming. Fuming because the credit card was in both of their names (husband and wife) but yet the company would only talk to the husband. My program director said a few choice words during that conversation. Things ended up getting worked out, but still, that goes again, to show just another way that society tries to undermine women.
-current mood-HAPPY, the sun is beaming outside.
posted by Gaylicious© at Sunday, November 13, 2005
1 Comments:
I have so had this conversation a zillion times. First, in the States we now have a "Do Not Call" Registry. You put your number on a "Do Not Call" list and if you get a call from a telemarketer, they can get in big doo-doo trouble, supposedly. Second, CELL PHONE=NO SALES CALLS.
Back to the issue at hand, though. It infuriated me that companies had the audacity to ask to speak to my Mr--assuming that I had the same programming and wiring as the masses. I was more than happy to tell them, "Boy, do you have the wrong house. We don't do guys here." That would shut them up pretty fast.
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