I just got a call which the Caller ID identified as The Research Center. I answered.
Mistake.
The girl on the other end of the line asked if she could speak to the head of the household.
"What the hell does that mean?" I asked.
"The person who is the head of the household," she answered.
"That is SO offensive to me," I told her. And then...I hung up.
Bless her heart.
They still say that sort of thing??
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for the Ms.Moons of the world :)
Hi Ms. Moon,
ReplyDeleteThat head of the household shit gets to me too. I also hate when I am addressed as "Mr. and Mrs. Paul C." Say my name,damnit.
I am a shit commenter these days. But I love your world and your sweet boy.
I saw your comment about Mel Gibson on Mamapop, and it made me smile.
I always answer that I am the head of the household.......I run this place I am the boss.
ReplyDeleteBut when they ask me if I would answer any questions for whatever research, I ask how much it pays and they ALWAYS say that it doesn't pay and I tell them that my time is worth SOMETHING and if they aren't going to pay me, I can't answer anything.
I prefer "the person in charge of your toner purchasing."
ReplyDeleteYou are officially a cranky old lady!!! I loooove it!!!!
ReplyDelete(I think I am too. Is 29 too young?)
LOL on the head of household. My wife gets pissed because the callers frequently ask to speak to her mother because she has a young voice.
ReplyDeleteYou're not mean, just tired of being bothered in your own home. I am getting a lot of survey calls, and police fundraisers, and I'm on every DNC list there is. Sometimes cutting them off quickly is the best route.
ReplyDelete~ snort! ~
ReplyDeleteToo bad no one in my neck o' the woods asks for "the lady of the house" any more. ... My mother, bless her heart, was home whenever she wasn't shopping or travelling. In the good old days before even answering machines were invented, you either answered the damn phone or jammed the receiver into a drawerful of thick sweaters. Stay-at-home mothers (including the champion shoppers, whenever they were home) *always* answered the phone (family gossip and all that!) ;-D
One day my mother had had enough! (One thing that hasn't changed much is calls from humans -- and "robos" -- wanting your money. Nowadays the buggers call on *Sundays!* )
She picked up the phone to hear the umpteenth sales call of that day ... some hapless guy who asked, "Hello! Is the lady of the house at home?"
"THE LADY OF THE HOUSE IS *DEAD!* ", she roared, and slammed the phone down. She was furious.
I was about twelve at the time. The story became hilarious fodder for family gatherings, and I used the line a few times in the early 80s when I was first living away from my family and hawkers still asked for the "lady...". Then they'd call and address me by "Mrs.", and that didn't go over well during an "All men are rapists!" phase that I went through (fortunately, this was brief).
Nowadays I don't mind being called a lady ... as long as the gentleman in question says the word like he means it! ;-)
Tell the next telemarketer who calls you that the "X [whatever s/he refers to] of the household ... is DEAD!" -- accompanied by howling sobs and moans. Works like a charm -- and those particular hawkers tend to not call back!
oh, dear. that made me laugh. thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteyou tell 'em, lady!
I'm mean too
ReplyDeletegiggle giggle
xoxoxo
HA!!! Bless her heart is right.
ReplyDeleteYou just cracked me up!!
Corinne- Obviously they do. I couldn't believe it either.
ReplyDeleteNancy C- Don't apologize. I love it when you appear and that's all that matters.
Rebecca- Good answers.
Lisa- Well, at least that's concrete.
SJ- As if there was any doubt.
Syd- Oooh. That would piss me off too.
Jaliya- Great story. Great suggestion.
notjustafemme- I was almost speechless.
Michelle- We're all the mean girls, aren't we?
Jill- It would suck to have her job.
Fuck her. That is offensive.
ReplyDeleteI often get asked if I might be someone who makes the decisions in regard to xxx.
ReplyDeleteI will often say, no, I let my son take care of that.
Then they want to talk to him.
He doesn't live here.
I had a little rant at a poor unsuspecting woman the other day as well, for precisely that reason. She couldn't really help it but I went OFF on her. It was Marie's future principal. Oops. Catholic schools piss me off.
ReplyDeleteWe can be mean together.
(In the end, Babes was the one who went on the form. I fumed.)
I don't have a house phone anymore, so those calls are fewer.
ReplyDeleteIf I did get that call I could say... "If you mean the person that makes all the money, that would be me. If you mean the person with a penis, please hold."
oh my gosh, you are my hero.
ReplyDeleteyet, i think talking like that to the telemarketer is just a satanic ritual for success. So be careful, ok?