I want a man

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Speaking of a Highschool classes, let's talk middle schoolers (junior high).
I'm going out on a limb and saying that at least half of the parents I met had either
A:no idea how technical the courses were (vocational tech meant nothing to them)
or
B: were stunned that we weren't all wearing buisness suits like M (mr.awesome)
or
C: that there were male/female teachers there, just as many thought there should only be men as there were that didn't want male teachers

*sigh*

[dalesys]

One of the girls who impressed me most when I were a twerp was the one in my summer high school electronics class in 1968. Impressed me enough that I named my first daughter after her.

But then, my mother is a genius (graduated HS at 15) while starting a month late & ending a month early each year, and so are the four younger sisters I grew up with.

[rose_metal_nz]

I work in a mainly male (think 90+%) staffed helpdesk for a telco and the first few "i want to speak to a man who knows what he's talking about" type calls would throw me for a loop.
I got over it
Funny enough, I still get irritated when I fix something for a women and I get the whole "ha, takes a WOMAN to get things right, huh? huh? huh?" comments.
Altho TBH the biggest bane of my existence is other women that will say, to me, another woman, "oh, that's too technical (checking if it's plugged in is too technical??) I'll get a man on the phone".
Grrr.

[Crawley]

Yeah, I can troubleshoot backwards and in heels!

RENT reference FTW.

[valhar2000]

I worked in one Tech Support Dept that was quite often only staffed with women. Our supervisor? Also a woman. It was highly amusing when we'd get callers who wanted to speak to a man and would hang up on us and call back.. again.. and again.. and again.. and--[...]

Is this the Stupidity Tax I keep hearing about?

[digitalaether]

My first IT job was at a local ISP. One of the female techs there was a particularly good tech. She not only had the problem with misogynist customers, but she also had a disadvantage because she had a slight lisp. Slight mind you, she was easy to understand, but you can still pick it up listening to her. She probably only got to field about 1/4 of her own calls because so many people would ask to speak with a 'man', or someone who is not 'retarded'. *rolls eyes

[Akasa]

I'm pretty sure he expected me to pass him over to a man immediately, not put back into the cue.
I just happened to be enough of a bitch to put him back in cue.

[JLRodgers]

If I was on hold for 2 hours I'd talk to a trained monkey-dog-goldfish team that were trained to make noises that resembled words - if it helped (you know, monkey to look up things on the computer, goldfish to do the support, and the dog to bark out the orders between them).


I'm a man who knows how to sew, cook, garden, and other things that are still (by some at least) thought to be "women's jobs" -- but can't do things involving cars/etc.... I once knew a woman mechanic who actually owned the place (or co-owned with her husband)... she had to say she was the secretary for people to drop off their cars - even though she was the head mechanic!

[Alpha Strike]

I realize that, by definition, SCs are idiots but that reaction is still surprising to me. Most SCs hate to wait more then 3 seconds for anything; I'm trying to imagine an SC who would rather wait two MORE hours then speak with someone who can help right then.

Hell, even if I were the world's biggest misogynist I'd take what I get after 2 hours on hold for tech support.

(And 2 hour hold times? That's insane! I thought that our 20 minute que times were bad but you folks take the cake!)

[powerboy]

Great thing that I am not like that. I am happy if I can get someone who can fix it.

[draggar]

I don't get this attitude. I worked with a female tech when I was in retail and she was incredible, especially with blackberries and the PDA phones.

A cuistomer comes in, wants to talk to me about this BB - I tell him let me get someone better knowledgebale with his device. Get her, he refuses her because "girls don't know tech stuff" well, then, I guess you're not getting any help.

[technical.angel]

The entire helpdesk is female. When my direct sup was male, I was just DYING for someone to pull that on me. Then, when my direct sup left, and I got a female sup with a female dept head, I was just ITCHING for someone to pull it on me.

Sadly, I've been in tech support for almost 7 years, and I've never gotten it.

[Kiwi]

In the sultriest voice possible, you could have responded: "So do I."

or you could respond in a deep husky voice

well I might be Amanda now, but I was born Adam, can I help you now big boy?

[Samaliel]

If they want a man so badly, they can call one of those lines that charge $1.34 on connection + $.34 / minute and ask to talk to Hector.

[Nurian]

I had a friend who had something similar.
We had a 30 minute queue, a numbnuts guy gets her. He demands to speak to a man. She can't get a word in edgewise. Finally she says, "Alright, Sir. If you would like a man, you may call back." <release>