Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt

[Adelaide]

Grad school is slowly but surely becoming more like elementary school as the days wear on. There's a guy here who's slowly and obviously become more interested in me throughout the semester. Today I walked into class and he and his buddies were clustered together in a circle, whispering. When I walked in they jumped like they'd been shot, fell silent, stared at me until went to my seat, and one of them (who I barely know) gave me a really weird, sheepish wave. So we all sat there in silence for 10+ minutes until class started.

[whatsanenigma]

In regards to the phone stories, once I had the exact opposite happen to me at work, when it was not the caller who got upset about being asked to identify themselves.

One of my co-workers decided to corner me in private and tell me that it was very rude to ask callers "Who may I  say is calling?" when the call was not for me but I had answered the phone.  She informed me that I was not to do this any more when calls came in for her, and furthermore, when I left messages for her, they were not to go on top of her desk, but on the keyboard tray underneath.

I was rather confused by this and asked our supervisor what to do.  Our supervisor was so stunned that she actually asked our HR person because she'd never heard of anything so bizzare.  The HR person had not either, and my co-worker was set right, and I was told that I had always done an excellent job of phone-answering and to continue just like I had been doing.

[gramma dishes]

...   

One of my co-workers decided to corner me in private and tell me that it was very rude to ask callers "Who may I  say is calling?" when the call was not for me but I had answered the phone.  She informed me that I was not to do this any more when calls came in for her, and furthermore, when I left messages for her, they were not to go on top of her desk, but on the keyboard tray underneath.

...

Not to sound cynical or anything, but it certainly sounds like she had something(s) to hide!! (And possibly not work related.)  I'm glad you brought her unusual demands to the attention of higher ups.  Sounds like something they might want to be aware of.

[Shalamar]

That reminds me of one of my first temp jobs:

I was a fill-in secretary/receptionist, and part of my duties was opening the mail.    One day, I opened a letter that had "PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL" written on the outside of the envelope.    (Dumb of me to open it, I know, but I didn't notice until it was too late.)  I pulled out the letter and scanned the top of it, and that's when I realized that it was indeed a very personal letter from a lady who was not my boss's wife. 

(Obviously, this was in the days before e-mail.)

I put the letter on the boss's desk and apologized for opening it.  He didn't look pleased (not surprisingly) and told me to never open PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL mail again. 

The funny thing is, the boss in question was a wizened wee Scottish man in his mid-60's - not my teenage idea of a Lothario at all!

[Tiamet]

I put the letter on the boss's desk and apologized for opening it.  He didn't look pleased (not surprisingly) and told me to never open PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL mail again. 

Interestingly enough, in my office, I have been told that I should open all mail including mail marked 'personal and confidential'.  Of course, my boss is notedly happily married (I've worked for him for 15 years and I've heard him praise his wife but not once criticise her) and our clients have a bad habit of marking letters 'personal' when they are nothing of the sort.

[Piratelvr1121]

An old brain hurt from the early years of the Pirate marriage.  DH served in the Marines for 5 years and in 2000, he and I got married and as soon as we could, went on base with our marriage certificate to get my dependent ID card that would be needed anytime I came onto the base or shopped in the exchange, or at the hospital for appointments. 

Well we decided to use a local bank that was off base and went there armed with money to start up the account, ID's, both military and driver's licenses, and other assorted paperwork, but not our marriage license because it wasn't indicated on the website that we would need it to start up an account.  This was also a bank that worked closely with the military branches.

Okay so we get there and the woman says "I'm going to see your marriage license to verify that she is married to you." I hold up my dependent ID card, as you couldn't get one unless you were either the spouse or child of someone in the service.  And to prove you were a spouse, you had to show your license as proof.   This wasn't good enough, and we pointed out that we didn't know. 

We go back home, grab it then come back out to the branch and things went alright but that just broke my brain.  A bank that works with military members ought to be familiar enough with their rules to know that if a woman shows a dependent ID card that says "Spouse" on it, they are most definitely married because there was a marriage license to prove that. 

We found out months later, when said woman disappeared, that she'd been fired for making people jump through hoops she knew were unnecessary.

[Slartibartfast]

An old brain hurt from the early years of the Pirate marriage.  DH served in the Marines for 5 years and in 2000, he and I got married and as soon as we could, went on base with our marriage certificate to get my dependent ID card that would be needed anytime I came onto the base or shopped in the exchange, or at the hospital for appointments. 

Well we decided to use a local bank that was off base and went there armed with money to start up the account, ID's, both military and driver's licenses, and other assorted paperwork, but not our marriage license because it wasn't indicated on the website that we would need it to start up an account.  This was also a bank that worked closely with the military branches.

Okay so we get there and the woman says "I'm going to see your marriage license to verify that she is married to you." I hold up my dependent ID card, as you couldn't get one unless you were either the spouse or child of someone in the service.  And to prove you were a spouse, you had to show your license as proof.   This wasn't good enough, and we pointed out that we didn't know. 

We go back home, grab it then come back out to the branch and things went alright but that just broke my brain.  A bank that works with military members ought to be familiar enough with their rules to know that if a woman shows a dependent ID card that says "Spouse" on it, they are most definitely married because there was a marriage license to prove that. 

We found out months later, when said woman disappeared, that she'd been fired for making people jump through hoops she knew were unnecessary.

To be fair, possessing an ID card saying "spouse" just means that you were married at the time you got the card.  Not that a marriage license would be any different 

[kherbert05]

Pre 9/11
I was living in San Angelo. I found a kids wallet with a military dependent ID I tried to find the last name in the phone book. No go. So I called Goodfellow AFB, and told them I had found the wallet was there a way I could turn it in to them. Sure come to the base.


1. The gate guard didn't want to let me in
2. The people in the office I was directed to treated me like I was suspected of mugging the kid. I was questioned about how I found the wallet. I lived near a play ground. I walked past it found saw the wallet on the ground. Well why did you pick it up? Because I lost wallets and stuff like no body's business as a kid, and thought I would return it. Well when you couldn't find an address, why didn't you just toss it? Because there was a military ID with a name I didn't think you wanted it floating around.


I understood they were on heighten security because a enlisted woman had been kidnapped and murdered by a civilian worker from the base. Still I was treated like a felon for trying to do the right thing.

[sunnygirl]

When I was a kid my rabbit got killed by a fox, which was obviously a horrible thing to discover, and when I tried calling my dad and the secretary wouldn't put me through because she couldn't know I wasn't a cold caller. Because cold callers totally sound like crying children, right? 

[gramma dishes]

When I was a kid my rabbit got killed by a fox, which was obviously a horrible thing to discover, and when I tried calling my dad and the secretary wouldn't put me through because she couldn't know I wasn't a cold caller. Because cold callers totally sound like crying children, right? 

Ummmmm ... I certainly hope your Dad had a little discussion with her about that.  Even sobbing hysterical child cold callers don't usually ask for Daddy!

[Iris]

When I was a kid my rabbit got killed by a fox, which was obviously a horrible thing to discover, and when I tried calling my dad and the secretary wouldn't put me through because she couldn't know I wasn't a cold caller. Because cold callers totally sound like crying children, right? 

Ummmmm ... I certainly hope your Dad had a little discussion with her about that.  Even sobbing hysterical child cold callers don't usually ask for Daddy!

Also, it's a *phone*. That argument could go for anyone at all. His wife, the CEO of the company, the police, anyone. Did she never let him talk to anyone who called on an outside line?

Sorry about your bunny. I hope you got Daddy hugs eventually

[Elfmama]

When I was a kid my rabbit got killed by a fox, which was obviously a horrible thing to discover, and when I tried calling my dad and the secretary wouldn't put me through because she couldn't know I wasn't a cold caller. Because cold callers totally sound like crying children, right? 

Ummmmm ... I certainly hope your Dad had a little discussion with her about that.  Even sobbing hysterical child cold callers don't usually ask for Daddy!

When we were stationed in Alaska one of DH's coworkers went home at the end of the shift and found out that his 8-year-old daughter had dislocated her shoulder FIVE HOURS earlier.  The base hospital couldn't treat her without a parent's OK, and the Airman Basic who was tasked with answering phones in their Operations area refused to take the calls of the teenage daughter who was watching the younger kids.  He told her to go play and stop bothering their father at work. Poor kid.     And because it was a secure area, the teen couldn't go there in person. 

For some reason the mother wasn't available either, but I don't know why the hospital personnel didn't try.  Surely they'd respond to "This is Doctor Smith.  I need to get Sergeant Jones to the hospital; one of his kids is here in the ER with a dislocated arm." Maybe they did and Airman Idiot blew them off too.

[Piratelvr1121]

An old brain hurt from the early years of the Pirate marriage.  DH served in the Marines for 5 years and in 2000, he and I got married and as soon as we could, went on base with our marriage certificate to get my dependent ID card that would be needed anytime I came onto the base or shopped in the exchange, or at the hospital for appointments. 

Well we decided to use a local bank that was off base and went there armed with money to start up the account, ID's, both military and driver's licenses, and other assorted paperwork, but not our marriage license because it wasn't indicated on the website that we would need it to start up an account.  This was also a bank that worked closely with the military branches.

Okay so we get there and the woman says "I'm going to see your marriage license to verify that she is married to you." I hold up my dependent ID card, as you couldn't get one unless you were either the spouse or child of someone in the service.  And to prove you were a spouse, you had to show your license as proof.   This wasn't good enough, and we pointed out that we didn't know. 

We go back home, grab it then come back out to the branch and things went alright but that just broke my brain.  A bank that works with military members ought to be familiar enough with their rules to know that if a woman shows a dependent ID card that says "Spouse" on it, they are most definitely married because there was a marriage license to prove that. 

We found out months later, when said woman disappeared, that she'd been fired for making people jump through hoops she knew were unnecessary.

To be fair, possessing an ID card saying "spouse" just means that you were married at the time you got the card.  Not that a marriage license would be any different 

True enough, but the irritating thing was when we found out she was just trying to make us jump through unnecessary hoops. 

[Elfmama]

An old brain hurt from the early years of the Pirate marriage.  DH served in the Marines for 5 years and in 2000, he and I got married and as soon as we could, went on base with our marriage certificate to get my dependent ID card that would be needed anytime I came onto the base or shopped in the exchange, or at the hospital for appointments. 

Well we decided to use a local bank that was off base and went there armed with money to start up the account, ID's, both military and driver's licenses, and other assorted paperwork, but not our marriage license because it wasn't indicated on the website that we would need it to start up an account.  This was also a bank that worked closely with the military branches.

Okay so we get there and the woman says "I'm going to see your marriage license to verify that she is married to you." I hold up my dependent ID card, as you couldn't get one unless you were either the spouse or child of someone in the service.  And to prove you were a spouse, you had to show your license as proof.   This wasn't good enough, and we pointed out that we didn't know. 

We go back home, grab it then come back out to the branch and things went alright but that just broke my brain.  A bank that works with military members ought to be familiar enough with their rules to know that if a woman shows a dependent ID card that says "Spouse" on it, they are most definitely married because there was a marriage license to prove that. 

We found out months later, when said woman disappeared, that she'd been fired for making people jump through hoops she knew were unnecessary.

To be fair, possessing an ID card saying "spouse" just means that you were married at the time you got the card.  Not that a marriage license would be any different 

True enough, but the irritating thing was when we found out she was just trying to make us jump through unnecessary hoops. 

I just hope I never need to produce my original marriage certificate.   I know exactly where it is, but I can't get to it.

DD#2 was born in Italy.  In order to register her birth as an American citizen, we had to send a bunch of paperwork to the US Consulate in Naples, including (and this was specified) our original marriage certificate.  Not a certified copy, but the original.   

In due course, we got back her Certificate of Birth Abroad of an American Citizen.  But no marriage certificate.  Instead we got back a note saying "Since this is clearly a copy, we are keeping it for our records."

We wrote back, more than once. Never got an answer.   

[Piratelvr1121]

Oh brother!  We have somehow lost our marriage license in the move from California to Maryland but it hasn't really come up that we needed it and we keep forgetting to order a new one from the courthouse we got it from.