sexist/racist/Homophobic customers

[Ducky]

I got sexists quite often on phone calls. They'd ask to talk to a female agent, and I'd tell them we don't have any way of transferring inside the site, and if they really wanted to talk to a female agent, they'd have to hang up and call the automated line, and they'd have a 50/50 chance of succeeding.

Of course, then you get guys who are adamant about talking with female agents, too... creepy...

I've been called an "incompetent swine," and I must be a high school drop out to be at such a poor establisment, and that would explain why I couldn't help them. I've been called every word that you could tie with the word "ass," complemented with several strings of the f-word. Usually when calls get to that, I don't even bother to ask, I instantly put them on hold and transfer them to a supervisor.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I don't like male bashing any more than I like female bashing. Sexism is sexism.

Yeah, women have had to put up with way too much shit for way too long. So we should know how wrong it is to treat someone that way.

Protege, that story about the nasty old broad in the wheel chair about killed me.

When I was working in public television, one of my jobs was to put up and strike sets. We lifted, we hauled, we unloaded trucks. We sweated. I was not the only woman on the crew, but I was the oldest woman. There were two men that were older, one of whom was The Funkstain. Anyway, we used to host a lot of conferences and whatnot in our building, and one afternoon, a bunch of women who were heading one said they needed help loading their boxes into their cars because "They were too old to be lifing that stuff. Tee hee."

So of course, I volunteered to do it. I grabbed a furniture dolly and went down there alone. Turned out I was older than they were by a fair amount. They pulled the "we're old" thing on me, and I made some hint that I was pushing 40 (I am a good bit older than I look) . I can only hope they were hoping they would get one of the buff young men on the crew instead of the smug old broad.

[XCashier]

Sheesh. We have to put up with male chauvinist pigs, men have to put up with male-bashing man-haters. CS workers just can't win.

Yeah, women have had to put up with way too much shit for way too long. So we should know how wrong it is to treat someone that way.

I couldn't agree more. It's like the people who worked in customer service, got the same crap we all get, then go to another store and treat the workers there like crap. Treat others as you would want them to treat you, how difficult of a concept is that?

[Kiwi]

at the craft store we had an indian woman (from India, not an american indian) who had a slight accent but spoke better english that I did

people would hear the accent and pretend they didnt need help until someone else (re white) was free to serve them....

she also did our customer orders on a monday and half of the people would ring back saying "I CANT UNDERSTAND HER".... her accent was minimal

I wish people could get past accents, listen to the words people the words!!

[Cufflinks]

I work in jewelry now, and managed a hat store before (I am male).

People would always assume that I couldn't possibly help them find the right hat or the right earrings to match their pendant.

By the way, one of my passions is fashion (and no to all you homophobes I am not gay, and to all you available gay men, sorry I'm not gay either, no really I'm not), so I can usually do a better job dressing these women then they can.

I graduated in architecture with a minor in art, I design, I see design in all aspects, being male or female has nothing to do with it.

On the flip side, homophobes assume that I am gay, because I can dress myself, and not look like a cross between a contractor and a nascar fan (no offence to nascar fans). I also seem to enjoy what I am doing so, "well he must be gay".

Why do people think that in order to like clothing and jewelry you must:
A. have breasts
B. wish you had breasts
C. walk around in a tutu and speak with a lisp
D. wear pink
E. all of the above

By the way I do wear pink(So I guess I do fit the stereotype), you got a problem with that, huh do ya.

[dragonflygrrl]

By the way I do wear pink(So I guess I do fit the stereotype), you got a problem with that, huh do ya.

No problem here. You go...er...boy!

I don't get it. I really don't. What could gender possibly have to do with career competency? For the record, I couldn't pick out the right jewelry for an outfit to save my life. People like you are why I can go out in public!

[amarisse]

in the returns dept i work in we are all women there are no guys and it leads to us not having the fun peopel demandin ga man since they know there is none. Only once have i dealt with anyone racist and its when a man came up and said i coudlnt help him becasue i wasnt the same race as he was. He actually refused to even step near the counter where i was at. and walks across the aisle from me.

[Greenday]

Eh, at the racetrack, I've had guys ask my why I'm using a handtruck to carry beer kegs. Apparently I should just be carrying it on my shoulder or something. These guys are also the ones that are like 6'5" or 6'6". I'm freaking 5'10" and 160-165 pounds depending on how late in the day it is and how hot it was. I'm not a big guy. I can't carry a full keg of beer, it's FREAKING heavy!

[Imogene]

Not work related, but still... it fits the topic.

A few months before my school moved campuses, I was in the old building, just kind of lounging, waiting for class to start (a freaking hour before class... Yes, I was that early.)
One of the teachers pokes her head into the commons area, sees me (and only me, as I was the only one out there), then notices the vending machine that's out of place on the wall... by like an inch...
"Can you move this back into place? You look like you're the strong type."
*in my head* "Ha! I've got one good side, and one bad side... I might be able to rock it back into place, but I doubt I can just slide it correctly..."
I did it anyway.
I'm 6'5"... for the record. I have never even hinted at being strong, cause I'm not. What the hell made her think I could actualy move the damn thing? And isn't there a safe way to move those things? Hello, she was the Director of Regulations, and used to get on our case for sitting on the railing outside the smoking area...

[Acolyte]

I haven't got any of the above, but I get a lot of age discrimination. People assume that, being 19 and not in university (Neverminding that I will be in about a month), I therefore can't be a computer tech, and they have to speak to someone older. When I explain that they're out because I'm the shop tech and they're doing calls, they call BS.

Right. Ok, unless you want your computer full of more trojans then a porno movie, shaddup and let me do my job. That you don't think I can do.

[Cyanocobalamin]

I wouldn't really say this man was sexist per se, just elderly and set in his ways. He kinda did a when I (female) picked up a 30 pound box he was dropping off at the UPS counter. Never mind the fact that I can pull a half-ton pallet of case paper {slowly but it's Heavy!! } from one of the store to the other!

As for any potential racism issues... I bet a customer having a bad day would love to play off the fact that we just don't have any Black or Latino employees at the moment. The ethnicities of my store's employees just reflects the same proportions as the town it's located in.

[ZumZum]

Cufflinks, if I wasn't married, I would so date you! I love a man who is into fashion.

My hubby does like to shop with me, though. He wont wear plaid shorts though. Will you? I love them.

[Demonoid Phenomenon]

When there's no more room in Hell, the dumb will walk the earth.

I had a lovely gentleman walk up to my counter one day and ask me how I liked his hat. He asked if it 'matched' his shirt (the hat was a tropical tourist straw thing and the shirt was your garden variety Hawaiian monstrosity).
I merely smiled and said, "Yes, they seem to go together just fine."
He continued with: "You know what they say about guys who wear shirts like this, don't you?"
I admitted that I didn't know.
He said: "They say they're either party animals or queers! And I ain't the second one!"
Long story short, I'm gay. I didn't freak out or say anything because, quite honestly, the guy seemed a tad, well, simple. There's that and the fact that he was a good foot or two taller and a good yard or two wider.

[ladodger34]

Quick age-related thingy...

When I was running the youth basketball league, a kid cussed at a ref and was kicked out. As per my policy, anyone getting kicked out of a game was suspended for the following 2 games.

There is a really long story that goes with this, but the dad didn't like that I suspended his son for 2 games. We went back and forth for a while. And we went back and forth some more. Couldn't get the guy to leave it alone.

Towards the end of the rant, he pulled the "how old are you?" card and I told him I was 23 (at the time). He told me I couldn't possibly understand that his kid cussing at the ref was just a kid thing because I was too young and wasn't a parent. In a way, he was also saying that I was too young to do my job.

I don't even remember what I replied when he said that. He was trying to provoke me and it worked. Anyhow, I turned my back on him and left the gym.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I guess we can all see why his kid thought it was okay to cuss out a ref. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, eh?