"Hello, this is _____ from BB&T Mortgage...."--a little lesbian rant.

So the phone rings a minute ago....

"Hello may I speak with ______?"

"She's not here right now, may I take a message?"

"This is ______ with BB&T Mortgage, if _____ is not available, then may I speak with her spouse if HE (she really stressed the HE) is available?"

"Well, I am her spouse and I am not available. Goodbye!"

<click>

Little everyday crap like that really pisses me off.

I would be too :grr:

It's just some poor telemarketer, probably some college kid.

I don't really feel like "lightening up".

Nah, not gonna lighten up. Not gonna.

I'll leave it to your imagination.

But I didn't. That was me being nice.

*I* am *her* spouse and *I* was not available.

Problem?

Someone calls the office and I answer the phone, I don't get pissy when someone assumes I'm the receptionist - how the hell would they know? And why in the world wouldn't they assume that? The vast majority of the time, the receptionist answers the phone.

Do you appreciate when someone hassles you when you're just trying to do what you're supposed to?

I tell all telemarkerters the same thing - "I do not accept solicitations, please do not call again. Thanks." That's all you need to say.

It is really appreciated.

No, really.

Your karma must be golden by now.

You've got a chip on your shoulder the size of the Grand Canyon.

Have a nice life. :hi:

No chip. I'm. Just. Fucking. Tired.

I'm. Tired.

YOU have a nice life.

It's stupid, because lots of people don't have spouses of any gender, too, and it just serves to piss people off.

Maybe people who call on the phone and invade people's privacy should learn to be a little more tactful, at least!

Telemarketers call looking for my non-existent husband. Ten years after my father's death, they're still calling my mother looking for him. When she says, "He's been dead for ten years," they're usually in a hurry to get off the phone. :D

After my father retired my mother became the principle breadwinner. Based upon her earnings they bought a house. Mortgage documents, insurance, and title ALL list HIS name first - even though her's comes first in the alphabet.
Sexism is alive and well.

fabulous reply! these people need to learn.


grrrr.

or anything.

we've got to improve the economy so telemarketers can find a new occupation and put the telephone banks out of biz.

My name is ambiguous and my husband's is almost exclusively female here in the States. Oh and we don't share the same last name (I didn't change mine). We enjoy baffling the heck out of telemarketers. They have no idea who they're asking for and always screw it up. :rofl:

I can relate to the OP though. Good for her.

I was arguing w/ someone on another board the other day about marriage & kids. She called it "guardianship" when we gay couples have children. She said "there's a box to check "guardianship" on every form I've ever seen." :banghead:

How will we ever gain equality with this kind of opposition - this blind ignorance?

They most likely read from a sheet and if they can't get one spouse, they ask to speak to the other if they are present. It in no way indicates how the person feels about the GLBT community. You might piss someone off that might be sympathetic.

Just to see what the reaction would have been.

....when someone calls asking for my partner, and he's not there, they say "Is Mrs.____ available?"

And I say "Speaking".

You basically lost your chance to prove that a homosexual marriage is identical to a heterosexual marriage.

You took indignation at someone asking for a "he" spouse to a female, rather than simply say "I am her spouse, how can I help you?" like any other spouse would have.

In other words, instead of treating the caller like any other married spouse would treat the caller, you went postal and turned it into a "gay" issue when it wasn't.

You just hurt your own cause, albeit with just 1 telemarketer. But I have to wonder how often this occurs across the nation.

Just fricking tired.

I just say "Im single, how can I help you?"

You chose, of your own free will, to take it personally, and let it affect you personally, even though it wasn't personal.

Therefore, you created an issue where there was none.

Therefore, you are creating stress in your own life when there shouldn't be any.

If you're tired, its because you're wearing yourself out.

I'm "going off" here.

I'm tired of it all.

Does my Grandmother hurt the heterosexual cause when, every time a telemarketer calls and asks for her husband, when she says "Thanks for reminding me that he's been dead for 9 years." rather snarkily I might add, and then hang up?

Being rude to telemarketers is a given, its a thankless job, and, to be frank, they are an annoyance, like flies. Probably the reason why I don't even answer my phone anymore, I use an answering machine that says, "To all telemarketers, fuck off and die!"

OK, it doesn't really say that, but they rarely leave messages, thankfully.

but also very understandable how little everyday niggling s**t like that can really wear on you.

I used to bank with BB & T as did all of my clients - altogether I owned or had signature authority on 17 accounts. One day in the mid 90s each account received a letter from BB & T asking me to use/buy more of their services.

The letters all started with "Dear Sir".

I called the local branch to discuss their sexist greeting and indicated that, although it would have been nice to actually personalized the greeting, a "Dear Sir or Madam" or even "To Whom It May Concern" would not have been offensive. The local branch manager called to apologize and a female in marketing called from their headquarters to apologize. She further indicated that it would never happen again and that company policy would change immediately regarding their sexist greeting.

Ten months later - you guessed it - 17 more letters with "Dear Sir". I closed all but one small account and moved to another bank. To this day that one small account still receives a "Dear Sir" letter once or twice a year. I just kept the one account open to see how many years into the 21st Century if will take before they figure it out. So far, not so much.