Does this ever happen to you?
So,
I was warm-calling (calling a person who I've visited in person before, or called before, or sent a letter to) and to jog their memory, I say that I'm the person who looked like "Denzel Washington." "Oh," she replied. "You're not going to like this, but, oh, never mind."
"What? Is there something wrong?" I ask.
"Well, you don't look like you sound!" She exclaimed.
"Really?" Hoping I could head the conversation off, I earnestly added, "Well, do you think I sound like a whimp? Sometimes I think my voice is a bit high."
"No. You sound white."
Cue the surreal music. All I could say is joke with her that I grew up with Boston, a city not known for its bulging black population, and I idolized Fredrick Douglas and Thurgood Marshall.
She continued. "Well, I've never had those two call me, so I don't know what they sounded like. And believe me, I'm from Boston, too. And the rest of 'them,' I can't understand at all. You I can."
Well, I need the sale, so I just stuck with it, and aside from hearing her call herself a "mega-b*tch", I feel like I'm in a very-good position.
It's just like hearing nails go across a chalk-board. Just a few moments, and the annoyance will stop.
Well, that's my story. Where do you think I should go from there? I'm debating whether I should ask a white alpha-male to accompany me this week on the sales call. Or maybe the person was just trying to test my mettle; just trying to goose me a little.
I was warm-calling (calling a person who I've visited in person before, or called before, or sent a letter to) and to jog their memory, I say that I'm the person who looked like "Denzel Washington." "Oh," she replied. "You're not going to like this, but, oh, never mind."
"What? Is there something wrong?" I ask.
"Well, you don't look like you sound!" She exclaimed.
"Really?" Hoping I could head the conversation off, I earnestly added, "Well, do you think I sound like a whimp? Sometimes I think my voice is a bit high."
"No. You sound white."
Cue the surreal music. All I could say is joke with her that I grew up with Boston, a city not known for its bulging black population, and I idolized Fredrick Douglas and Thurgood Marshall.
She continued. "Well, I've never had those two call me, so I don't know what they sounded like. And believe me, I'm from Boston, too. And the rest of 'them,' I can't understand at all. You I can."
Well, I need the sale, so I just stuck with it, and aside from hearing her call herself a "mega-b*tch", I feel like I'm in a very-good position.
It's just like hearing nails go across a chalk-board. Just a few moments, and the annoyance will stop.
Well, that's my story. Where do you think I should go from there? I'm debating whether I should ask a white alpha-male to accompany me this week on the sales call. Or maybe the person was just trying to test my mettle; just trying to goose me a little.
posted by Coolhand at 11:46 AM
2 Comments:
In all fairness, I don't think you sound "white" whatever that means. Maybe she thinks all black people talk jive or something. I mean, you use proper english- is that "white"? But you have a quasi-midwestern accent that comes out when you are with family, so that seems more "black". And other times you just mumble and I don't know what that is. Anyways, this lady just says what is on her mind. God bless he
I've had the following exchange on many, many occasions:
White Guy: "So, where are you from?"
Me: "Lexington."
White Guy: "No, where are you really from?"
Me: "Okay, I was born in Waltham."
White Guy: "No...you know what I mean."
I know that they don't intend to be malicious or disparaging, but man are they annoying. The best was when I had the above chitchat with some guy, and when I finally told him that I was Korean, he exclaimed "No shit! My roommate is Laotian."
-Elliott
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