azureabstraction > out of the blue

Telemarkers Strike Back!

I never cease to be amused by the antics of telemarketers. One particular thing that makes me smile every time I lay down the phone after a conversation with one of them is their confusion over the gender of my voice over the phone. Here's a conversation I had today, which is quite typical of a few of them I've had in the past.

Me: Hello?

Them: Hello. May I speak to Mr. Sullins?

Me: Ummm, he's not home right now.

Them: Is this Mrs. Sullins?

Me: Uh, no.

Them: Can you leave a message for Mr. Sullins that Comcast was trying to reach him?

Me: Sure.

Them: Thank you, ma'am.

I've had three or four of these conversations (in varying degrees of gender confusion — sometimes I'll get more male possibilities than female possibilities) since getting home, and they invariably end with "Thank you, ma'am." It's funny.

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