(Fenchurch:)
> When I went looking for a ten port patch panel for our flat intranet, the
> one shop assistant that did help me, only helped *after* a short but
> interesting conversation about the merits of BNC vs UTP. The rest...well, I
> got asked if the cable "looked a bit like a phone cable, but bigger" or "we
> can hold it until tomorrow if the others want to look at it, to see if it's
> what they want".
>
> 8< other story of presumed incompetence... >8
Looking at it from the other side of the counter...
My SO used to work in the Auto Parts department of a Canadian Tire,
and she was frequently subjected to this kind of "presumed
incompetence" by customers, on account of her being female.
This, of course, despite the fact that she had (and has)considerably
more clue than any of the customers that gave her a hard time.
All of the other staff in the Parts dept. (all male, IIRC), on the
other hand, knew this, and backed her up when this sort of BS
happened (to the point of a supervisor throwing a customer out
of the store, IIRC).
The best story about this situation, though, comes from my
"Philosophy and Gender" prof (Dr. Joanne Cey) [1], who, earlier in
her life, also worked at a Parts Desk:
Customer: I need Foo strut for a 1987 Barmobile.
Her: (looks up part, fetches it, gives it to customer)
Here you go.
Customer: Thanks. (Goes down the counter to Male Supervisor.)
Customer: (to Supervisor:) Can you just check this and make sure
it's the Foo strut for a 1987 Barmobile?
Super: (blatantly:) Jo, is this a Foo strut for a 1987 Barmobile?
Her: Yes.
Super: It's the right part. Have a nice day.
[1] Whom I pretty much worship and revere =) Seriously, I'd highly
recommend her as a prof to anyone who gets to take a class with her.
IIRC she's now at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Rick
--
key CF8F8A75 / print C5C1 F87D 5056 D2C0 D5CE D58F 970F 04D1 CF8F 8A75
Socially, it is quite difficult to exclude males from linguistic
references because so rare is this occurrence that listeners assume
that any speaker who refers to males as she/woman is mentally disturbed.
:Dale Spender
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