Today, I am bugged.
And I have plenty of legitimate reasons to be. I can count the hours of sleep i’ve gotten in the last two days on one hand. We ran out of my favorite caffeinated drink packets this morning. My Chapstick melted all over my jeans on the way to work. I cut my lip on accident whilst trying to pry open a cup of Greek yogurt at lunch today. Global warming.
So EXCUUUUUSE me for being a little “tender.”
Work went well, though, despite my 10 hour shift and it being Friday.
Not to toot my own horn, but I am becoming quite the efficient little receptionist, if I do so humbly say so myself. I even get my very own pen which i’ve labeled with a note that says, “This has probably been in Maddie’s mouth.”
One of the major tasks of my position as Efficient Receptionist with adorable name tag and special pen is to check in patients and also schedule their next appointments.
Never a dull moment in customer service jobs.
We get a lot of older men coming in to my work, and i’ve suffered more than my fair share of passes from these older dudes. But today was noticeably higher-saturated with passes from older dudes.
Wow, please excuse the atrocious grammar in that last sentence, and then note again the lack of sleep of which I am suffering.
Allow me to elaborate:
Old Dude #1: Thank you, missy, you are too sweet.
Me: …..
Old Dude #1: Uh, umm, (stammers, ad lib.) That wasn’t sexual harassment. (Turns and bolts toward the exit, but stops suddenly upon grabbing the door handle and shouts behind him, “have a great day, my dear!”)
Why in the actual hell would you even say the words, “sexual harassment” in this situation?! We could have easily both ignored your forward and borderline inappropriate comment about the sweetness of which I was exhibiting.
Scenario Dos:
Old dude #2: Hey, gorgeous! Sorry I’m late!
Me: ….
Old Dude #2: Oh, no, I was talking to him. (Nods to my coworker, who is a male.) Otherwise, that’d be sexual harassment.
“Sexual harassment.” Can we just delete that phrase from our vernacular? It gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Scenario Tres:
Me: Okay, Old Dude #3, are we scheduling you for 2 appointments next week or three?
Old Dude #3: two, unless the third one is me and you for dinner.
Me: *slams head against keyboard just hard enough to escape consciousness for the remainder of the work day.*
So that had me in a pretty sour mood for the majority of my shift, but it was my very last patient of the day that about made me lose my marbles.
Before you call me a man-hater and start throwing tomatoes at me, please return to your designated seat, make sure you’re caught up on your meds, have a sip of water, and continue reading.
Last patient walks in, and I go about my routine of getting her checked in and ready to go.
Last Patient: It’s so nice to see young girls like you being so efficient!
Me: *looks up from what i’m doing, eyebrows knit together in confusion and disgust*
I was unaware that “young girls” had a track record for being non-efficient.
What’s so surprising about my abilities to accomplish office and admin tasks at work? Is it that i’m a girl AND that i’m efficient? Is it that i’m young and efficient? Does she not know any girls who are efficient? And when can people finally start referring to me as a woman rather than a girl gosh dang it I am almost two decades old.
Maybe I just read into these things way too much because of my constant, ever-waxing feminist attitude. Maybe I should have just taken her comment as a compliment and not thought anything more of it. But WHY is it nice to see young girls being so efficient?! Would it still be nice if I were a young boy and being efficient?! Would she even say anything?! WHY AM I YELLING?!
I’m pissed off. I’m pissed off and tired. And now i’m going to angrily slump on my couch and efficiently eat Nutella from the jar with a miniature spoon.
M.
Down With The Norm 
Excellent point, I agree that it is unfortunate how people feel they need to explain their words, because a lot of things go misunderstood. The words sexual harassment can become so vague when people use them loosely. If we could all just be respectful of eah other, we wouldn’t have this problem… (I’m an idealist) I was reading the comments above, and I have to disagree with The Renegade Cynic. It is not fair to generalize young people, because being young does not make you lazy. It may be the way you were brought up, but age and gender has nothing to do with your work ethic. Cynic’s opinion that “young people tend to generally suck at what they do” is pretty unfair. Inexperienced workers might suck at what they do. Individuals working a minimum wage job that they dislike might not be doing their best work. But to look at a young, minimum wage employee and call them useless, you are attacking almost everyone, as most people were in this place at some point in their life.
Going back to the topic, I think that obviously inappropriate or unwanted flirtatious advances are going to far, but general speeh patterns (like calling someone ‘sweetie’) or compliments should not be debated as sexual harassment, although they might be seen in a bad light on an edgy day. Great thoughts. I really like your blog!
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Fair enough. Maybe I read it as YOUNG girls, because young people tend to generally suck at what they do. Trust me. I managed a Jimmy John’s. I have a lot of contempt for minimum-wage workers.
Also, people say stupid things. Like me. Always.
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I know the men weren’t trying to be creepy, but the fact that they had to acknowledge that they weren’t being creepy is what made it weird, y’know? Like trying to play it too safe because they’re scared i’m gonna sue their sly asses for hitting on me at work. It’s annoying. If they wouldn’t have mentioned “sexual harassment,” I probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought. I suppose the woman’s comment on my efficiency just angers me because she said, “young GIRLS” which, in my probably skewed interpretation, came off that girls my age are otherwise useless and inefficient.
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Dude. You’re definitely tired.
I know I’m going to get an angry text from you, but hear me out: Older men aren’t being intentionally creepy toward you. They come from a time when they could say cute things to a pretty girl, and not be sued for sexual harassment. They KNOW that today, you can barely look at someone twice without being sued for sexual harassment.
I would accept the compliment from the lady with fervor! Because YES, young people are inefficient, and have the obnoxious tendency to slack, and spend time on their phones and working minimum-wage jobs. You should feel flattered that your ambition is recognized.
Please don’t eat me.
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