(no subject)

[semperfiona]

The phone rang this morning, just as I was about to leave for work. Thinking it might be the painters I had left a message for, I answered it.

Caller> ...mumblemumble in rapid Spanish...Está <my full name>?
Me> Habla <my full name>. Habla usted inglés?
Caller> No, gracias. ::click::

This annoys me. Yes, my surname is Hispanic. No, I am not Hispanic. And even though Ray was Hispanic, he was a third-generation US citizen, and less fluent in Spanish than I am. I happen to be quite fluent, but I refuse to speak Spanish just so someone can try to sell me long-distance service (which is what the calls are invariably about).

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

My ex-mother-in-law has an Old Testament first name, and used to have vaguely Jewish-sounding last name from her first husband, before she was remarried. She grew up Catholic.

Back when she was teaching primary school, she noticed that her class had less than half its usual enrollment during Yom Kippur. She mentioned this at a staff meeting one day: "Wow, there must be a lot of Jewish kids in this town! My class is half-empty!" The principal replied, "Yeah, we gave you the Jewish kids because we figured you'd understand them."

Yeesh.