A Confession
As I have progressed through the various businesses, organizations, and bureaucracies to tie up loose ends, I dread having to deal with men. Men just don’t seem to be as engaged and knowledgeable about their organizations and processes.
Today it was a bank, where I had to wait for a half hour to see anyone, and it was apparently a manager of some kind who was constantly looking at his computer screen to figure out how to close an account. He finished by having the teller give me cash.
Teller looked at the amount and looked at the manager several times before she started the process, as if she couldn’t believe what he was doing. It wasn’t enough to buy a new car, but it would have made a very nice down payment.
I then had to make an unplanned trip to the credit union to unload the cash, because it made me nervous. Normally I would want to be armed carrying around that much money. The teller had me move close so she wouldn’t have to count it where anyone could see it, and put it in an envelop so it wasn’t obvious.
The lady at the insurance agency took care of switching the car insurance and got me a decrease in the cost, because I am a much safer driver than my Mother was.
Sorry, but I’m convinced that women are just better at this type of thing, and I don’t want to deal with men. I guess that makes me a sexist.
4 comments
No. Makes you rational & honest m8. I’ve discovered something similar, with some notable exceptions on both sides. But generally… yeah. 🙂
The feeling I was getting from men is that they felt what they were doing was beneath them, while the women wanted to help and were confident of their ability to do the job properly.
The teller at the bank asked to see my ID, and asked about any outstanding checks, because she didn’t think the manager had done it. I had my driver’s license, the check book, and the most recent bank statement in my hand, because I expected to be asked for them, but the manager didn’t. It’s a bank, ID is the first thing they want to see!
I think there’s something about the way men are socialized in the United States today. I won’t say that “gangster rap” is raising our kids, but that sort of anti-social attitude — every man for himself, helping other people is something suckers do, etc. — seems to be more and more prevalent. So when they’re now part of the work force and paid to help other people, it gets under their collar and you know, people never do jobs they hate very well.
Women, on the other hand, are still often being socialized to be helpful, pleasant, and to a certain extent polite. (I say “to a certain extent” because there are quite nasty exceptions to that). So they don’t view it as a personal affront to be helping people.
Of course, we’re all speaking with broad brushes here. I know that I often got kudus on my customer service back when I was doing customer support, umpty-ump years ago, for example, while the lady in our office was often curt and short with our customers (who, granted, weren’t the sharpest tacks in the corkboard, but there was no call for that). That’s the thing with generalities, that’s all they are, and whether they apply to any specific person… (shrug).
There are certainly good men in customer service roles, even if I have encountered any of them recently. It’s increasingly difficult to find too many people, especially younger people, who are happy at work. I can’t say I blame them giving their working conditions today. People are working because they have to, rather than doing what they want to do.