Do any other of my female readers ever have problems with people acknowledging them when they are out with a male friend? I have two pretty obvious instances recently and was wondering if this happens to anyone else.
The last time it happened was just a few days ago at a CompUSA when, after the sales guy misunderstood a completely legitimate question I posed, he proceeded to ignore me and finished the conversation speaking only to Russell. It was like I had suddenly disappeared from the store. The other instance was at a nearby restaurant one night when the waitress refused to look at me or ask me questions. Every time she would stop by the table she would ask Russell something and then move on. I pointed this out and even he agreed it was weird.
I get worried when this happens to me because I start to wonder if I do this too. In my daily interactions do I automatically look to males as authority figures, bill payers and decision makers? I hope not, but I can’t be sure. I’ll be extra vigilant about this in the future. Your thoughts?
3 responses so far ↓
dweebcentric // March 11, 2007 at 12:39 am |
a tangential question: does john ever feel intimidated by the russell being viewed as the source of conversational authority?
clair // March 11, 2007 at 8:33 am |
And another tangential question: is it better that guys ignore you and direct comments to Russell, rather than talk to your chest for the duration of the conversation?
Actually, I was travelling with a mixed group last weekend and noticed lots of wait staff, hotel staff, ushers on Disneyland rides, etc., who focused their conversation on the guys in our group. And boy were they surprised each time a girl paid a bill. I think it’s a sad cultural statement.
The other Stephanie // March 13, 2007 at 2:41 am |
hmmm…I’ll have to pay more attention, but I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that. Even when I was looking for a car and Karl was with me, the sales people would talk to me. But maybe they did that because they thought I didn’t know what I was doing and so then maybe it would be easier to sell to me. hmmm