I felt the need to post this.

[elephantschild]

I worked for RadioShack for a couple of years, I experienced a LOT of discrimination from patrons but one took the cake. When I went to see if I could help him he pointedly told me that No, I could not and that the only reason the company would hire me is because they have to hire "a few girls to look pretty and keep the lawyers off their back, because everyone knows girls don't know anything about electronics."....

Heh. Here's a good one.

I worked at (big bookstore). A couple of young guys (late teens? early 20s?) came in while I happened to be behind the service counter one day and audibly mused about whether they should ask me about fantasy football magazines. (With a distinct air of "This 30-something non-cool female can't possibly know anything about that subject ...")

I smiled at them, left the counter and steered them over to the magazines ... where I produced a handful of my favorites, including the one I used the year before, when I'd won our league championship.

They had the grace to thank me. And they both bought the magazine.

[hyzenthlay]

I had three in each ear, that was it, and they weren't even gauged when I was hired.  I was hired by my merit, not how I looked.

My Dh and I like to joke that you can't be hired by our favorite local pet store unless you have a piercing, tattoo, crazy hair or all of the above.  There are a couple of employees that don't appear to have any of the above, but it is by far the most modified group of employees I've ever seen 

[GreenEyedHawk]

When I was in college, I was working part-time at a hardware store to help make ends meet, and not a week when by where I didn't get the, "Can you go find a MAN for me to talk to?" line.  It was always irritating, since probably nine times out of ten, I could answer the customers' questions perfectly well.  I think in a few ways, I kind of ended up being the son my dad never had, and he introduced me to the skills of fixing things and using tools very early on in life; I'm handier than most men I know!

[Mental Magpie]

When I was in college, I was working part-time at a hardware store to help make ends meet, and not a week when by where I didn't get the, "Can you go find a MAN for me to talk to?" line.  It was always irritating, since probably nine times out of ten, I could answer the customers' questions perfectly well.  I think in a few ways, I kind of ended up being the son my dad never had, and he introduced me to the skills of fixing things and using tools very early on in life; I'm handier than most men I know!

Pretty much the same for my sister and me!  When our (mine and Dark Boyfriend's) dryer broke, I didn't take it in at first; turns out I didn't need to because I fixed it myself.

When my sister was my dad's office manager, she got "Can I talk to a man?" quite a bit (his business was making roll cage kits for race cars).  Little did they know that my sister graduated first in her class in auto mechanics in VoTech.

[Ms_Cellany]

I installed my own gas dryer. 

Do you know, when you call the city and say "I just installed a gas dryer myself. Could someone come and check it out?"  they get there FAST!

They said I did a  perfect job.

[Mental Magpie]

I installed my own gas dryer. 

Do you know, when you call the city and say "I just installed a gas dryer myself. Could someone come and check it out?"  they get there FAST!

They said I did a  perfect job.

Can you imagine what the city workers were thinking when they heard that? LMAO you're awesome.

I backed up my SUV to a trailer by myself, hooked it by myself, and just when I was getting back into my SUV, 2 men came out and said, "Oh, we better check that for you, we didn't realize you were doing it yourself." (This was my family's trailer parked at our friend's building; they were his workers.)  I told them, "Check, if it's wrong, I'll give you each $20."  I did not lose money that day; I've been hooking up trailers since I was 10.  When I came back with the trailer, they watched me back it into its spot all by myself.  They just smiled and waved when I left.

I can back up a trailer better than all but 1 guy (my age)  I know.  I do not know any guys (my age) that can drive a fork lift; I can.  I know only 1 guy (my age, and the same guy that can do the trailer) than can weld; I can.  Also, I am the bug killer (unless it's a cicada!) in my house.

[Ms_Cellany]

I installed my own gas dryer. 

Do you know, when you call the city and say "I just installed a gas dryer myself. Could someone come and check it out?"  they get there FAST!

They said I did a  perfect job.

Can you imagine what the city workers were thinking when they heard that? LMAO you're awesome.

It wasn't scary or difficult at all. The utility room already had exposed threaded gas pipes for the heater in the next room (the feed to the heater went through a hole in the wall). Turn off the valve, screw on new pipes using pipe sealant, spray soapy water on the joints, turn on gas and sniff. If I'd smelled anything or seen any soap bubbles, I would've turned off the gas at once!

[Diane AKA Traska]

If you're working someplace that sells MANLY things, and they say "Hey lil' lady, you think you could find me a fella so they'd know what I'm talkin' 'bout?", go find the male on duty that knows the least about the subject (make sure HE'S okay with this, because if not it could be embarrassing).  Watch guy's expression when he says "Uh... RAM?  I think we have some.  You need to ask Techgirl though, she builds the systems here."

[Mental Magpie]

If you're working someplace that sells MANLY things, and they say "Hey lil' lady, you think you could find me a fella so they'd know what I'm talkin' 'bout?", go find the male on duty that knows the least about the subject (make sure HE'S okay with this, because if not it could be embarrassing).  Watch guy's expression when he says "Uh... RAM?  I think we have some.  You need to ask Techgirl though, she builds the systems here."

This.

[Nora]

I used to do techsupport for *BigDutchCompany*. Whenever a customer called and asked for a MAN in that demeaning little voice bigots use, I transferred them to Alan. Alan sucked at anything even remotely computer-related, but fun thing: he did not know that. He thought he was awesome!

So Alan would "help" the customer (randomly deleting things in the registry, asking the customer to void their warranty by performing half-donkeyed repairs etc), who would call back, get a woman, and darned well listen to what we told them.

[Reika]

If you're working someplace that sells MANLY things, and they say "Hey lil' lady, you think you could find me a fella so they'd know what I'm talkin' 'bout?", go find the male on duty that knows the least about the subject (make sure HE'S okay with this, because if not it could be embarrassing).  Watch guy's expression when he says "Uh... RAM?  I think we have some.  You need to ask Techgirl though, she builds the systems here."

The funny thing is that one time I was at a local computer store checking out a sale special, acting as a sounding board, even if it did involve things she had no clue about, mom tagged along. So while I was contemplating some video cards, and trying to justify the purchase of a new card to myself, an older gentleman came up to me. He'd heard me explaining stuff to mom and figured I might be able to help him. He wanted to get his grandson some more RAM for his computer, but didn't know what to get.

Thankfully he had the specs written down so I knew what to look for and helped him figure out what speed and such to get. I have no clue where the sales person was for the area, he/she/it probably saw me and went somewhere else, I had a bit of a reputation. Not that I was rude, but I didn't put up with people trying to pull the wool over my eyes either and not afraid to call out someone being stupid.

He got what he wanted, thanked me and wandered off.

The funny thing is that when I went to make my purchase, the gentleman was in line ahead of me and when asked what salesperson helped him, he pointed at me. The cashier looked consternated, I was certainly embarrassed and mom beamed at the fact her daughter, the computer geek, helped some random person.

[Chip2]

Also, I am the bug killer (unless it's a cicada!) in my house.

I was pulling staff duty one night when I got a call from family housing. The woman's husband was deployed and she needed help getting rid of a spider. I gave her some advice over the phone, but when I when I heard her and her daughters screaming I agreed to go over. When I saw the beast I almost told the lady she was on her own, but I did my best Steve Irwin "You're a beaut!", manned up, and got the thing out of the house. I did get some cookies for my trouble, so it was okay in the end....