If It’s So Much Easier For Men, Why Are You Calling Us?

In my younger years, I did tech support for a cable company. The senior representatives would get time off the phones to walk around and provide support to other reps. One night, I was on support when I was flagged down by another senior agent, “Leslie”.

Me: “What’s going on?”

Leslie: “This customer wants a man to troubleshoot with because ‘a woman obviously couldn’t understand something this complicated’.”

This was in the early 2000s when HD was becoming a big deal and we had recently released our second set-top box capable of HD. There were only eight channels with HD programs, but it was still a big deal.

I took the phone from Leslie.

Customer: “This technology is too complicated for a woman to understand! I’m glad I have a man on the line — finally!”

Me: “Sir, this technology is still new and definitely complicated, but luckily, some of the senior agents here were actually involved in the testing and development of the troubleshooting we use, so if I don’t have the answers, I have people around me who will.”

The customer was greatly relieved and explained his issue, to which I replied:

Me: “Okay, give me a moment to look into this… Hey, Leslie, the guy says his box is doing [problem]. What should I ask him to do first?”