Flue Straight Into Sexism

I opened a chimney sweeping business under the shortened version of my first name, which, when shortened, can easily be mistaken for a man’s name. A woman called me up and wanted a quote for cleaning her chimney. I give her the quote, and she’s not happy.

Caller: “That’s too expensive!”

Me: “Are you a senior citizen or have you served in the military?”

Caller: “I’m a senior citizen.”

So, I applied the senior discount and re-quoted the price. She still wasn’t happy.

Caller: “I’m going to call [Shortened version of my name] and have him fire you for trying to charge me so much!”

I invited her to give him a call and wished her a pleasant day.

I guess once you get to a certain generation, it’s too hard to wrap their mind around a woman owning such a dirty business. The witch with long hair flying on a broom past a chimney as my logo should have given her a clue, though.

I hope she enjoyed finding out my nearest competitor charged double what I did and had a six-month wait list.