Friday Question #10

 

Have you ever talked to someone whose gender you could not identify, even after a lengthy conversation?

 

Show 29 Comments

29 Comments

  1. Since I have worked in Tech Support for the last 4 years of my life…I cannot tell you how many times I have mistakenly called a man “ma’am” or “Mrs. (Enter Last Name Here)” But it happens vise versa as well, I have also called several, very masculine sounding women “Sir” or “Mr. (Enter Last Name Here)” And if you have ever had to call tech support…some of those calls can last for 20 – 30 minutes.

  2. Just once, and it was during a visit to Germany which made things even more difficult. Because even the normal girls over there have huge shoulders, hands, feet, Adam’s apples and hairy legs so you can’t tell by noticing the usual gender clues. And checking for a crotch bulge is a risky gambit in any social situation….

  3. Bec

    Guilty..”This one time at Kroger…” 😀

  4. yes and she turned out to be very well endowed.

  5. [quote comment=”628890″]yes and she turned out to be very well endowed.[/quote]

    Mandy, when you say that it sounds intriguing. If Dave had said it, it would have just been creepy. Not surprising, considering he’s from Royal Oak, but creepy none the less.

  6. DaPopster

    [quote comment=”628880″]Damn SHEMALES! :limp:[/quote]
    I agree it can be sometimes confusing and if you’re not careful, downright embarassing.

  7. Cobe

    Yea, and it’s name was Pat.

  8. Bigwavdave

    This issue was well documented in the film 50 First Dates!

  9. Bigwavdave

    Moving on…Bec’s :boob: :boob: or Mandy’s :thong:? What the hell, I’ll have both :wang: After all, “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room ;-)”

  10. Face to face or on the internet??

    #1-no.
    #2-too many times to count!

  11. fruf

    what’s really bad is when your 5 o’clock shadow is lighter than hers

  12. junkman

    “it” works for our same day courier company. we call “it” the “shim”. it can lift heavy objects. it has a mullet. it has small boobs/moobs and a female voice. :geek:

  13. Bec

    OMG, ironic this question is here today! I just got home from work and I had already replied before I went in, and a she-male came in and I actually busted out in laughter. I have NO idea what it was? Couldn’t even get a clue from the voice! 😯

  14. No, but I have seen a she/he on a bus before with one hell of a beard and boobs bigger than mine. :wtf:

  15. Mel

    Someone asked me where the bathroom was in Target once, it was during the remodel and the mens was outside, the womens was in the usual spot. I didn’t know which direction to point him/her :limp:

  16. nina

    Yes and sad but true not only did I have a long conversation with the person and had no idea we ended up friends and it took a year before I finally had to ask. Turns out that my friend was female but saving up for sex change operation.

  17. I conducted an entire interview for housing assistance (20 minutes) with someone announced by the receptionist as ‘Miss Summer _____” The paperwork said (s)he was a female, but I kept trying to reconcile what I saw with what I was supposed to see. (S)he had huge boobs, but a 5 o’clock shadow. (S)he was obese, so I couldn’t see an adams apple. The jerri curl hairdo could have gone either way. When I asked her to sign the paperwork her hands looked mannish, then (s)he said “Should I sign my mother’s name since she’s not here?” Who are you, I asked. “Her son.” He must have wondered why I called him “Miss Summer” the entire time.

    The interview had to be rescheduled because the applicant has to be there. I covered my embarrassment until (s)he left, but the receptionist cracked up when I told her what happened. Apparently she knew the whole family, and had announced the mothers name as a ‘joke’, which I didn’t get. She had also known I couldn’t approve the paperwork without the applicant present, but she had left it to me to straighten out.

    This was my first clue that the receptionist a) hated me and b) drank her lunch. It was also the beginning of the chest pains, eye tics, and panic attacks that have plagued me ever since. This incident is high on my list of most embarassing moments, but not #1. That would be the time I went into confession at the exact same time the priest left (unnoticed by me), so I made my whole confession to nobody. Which would not have been so bad, until I left the box and the entire line of people waiting to confess had to be told the priest had gone. (Why I just didn’t slink away without comment, I don’t know.) “We saw he left,” the first woman said, “But didn’t know why you didn’t come out. We were waiting to see what happened.” I haven’t been to confession since. Technically I am still Catholic, but I sure can hold a grudge.

  18. janeeto

    My husband and I were at a Home Depot, looking for stuff. My husband had hair that would rival Sammy Hagar’s 80’s look, I had hair to the middle of my back. A male sales person came up behind us and said, “May I help you ladies?” I could not stop laughing!

  19. Margaret

    I’ve worked around the military for 15 years ( I was enlisted for 5 of those years). This gender issue has happened more times than I can count. Among the military, it’s usually the females that are suspect for the following reasons: 1) close cropped hair cut 2) males and females both wear the same uniform, even down to the boots and t-shirts 3) most guys in the military are clean shaven.

    Most times when I encounter someone that I don’t know the gender (especially in uniform), I just call them by the rank and their last name. That usually gets me through the conversation but leaves me wondering what gender they were for the remainder of the day.

  20. YankeeRose32

    First: I used to work with one…………. second………. I’ve been called “sir”. I work in a callcenter for a well known wireless provider, and was fixing the phone’s MMS feature which was not working properly.

  21. julesOdeNile

    [quote comment=”628892″][quote comment=”628880″]Damn SHEMALES! :limp:[/quote]
    I agree it can be sometimes confusing and if you’re not careful, downright embarassing.[/quote]
    my sisters mother in -law (don’t ask what was doing hanging with her at the mall) stopped me n my tracks with these wise words as i was manning up to pull this one fabulous looking lady, “do you notice just how PERFECT she is?” :limp: from then on i do the adam’s apple-bulge in pants quick check. don’t wanna be the guy that deeps his hands for sushi, comes out with a fistful-o-nuts! 😮 👿 😡 :puke:

  22. ReV.JellYBaby

    There was this one girl round our way who may have been a pre- op strapadickto-me either way she dressed like a bloke but had a really stupid voice like a kid trying to sound like his dad. Unfortunate for her, as the village I live in, stoned her to death last week.

    PeAcE OuT

    ReV

    😉

  23. Spud

    Nope, never had this dubious interaction.

    Over this side of the lake, we know who the blokes are and who the sheilas are.

    Wazza matter with you crazy Amerikans?

  24. [quote comment=”628939″]Nope, never had this dubious interaction.

    Over this side of the lake, we know who the blokes are and who the sheilas are.

    Wazza matter with you crazy Amerikans?[/quote]

    Yeah okay, Mr. Smartie Pants, but what do you have to say about these weirdos?

    http://whyfiles.org/shorties/156cuttlefish/

    😛 :love:

  25. Wizzerkat

    I waited on someone today whose gender I could not identify until I saw her credit card she gave me to pay. It’s strange when you don’t know whether to day “thanks Maam” or “thanks, Sir” so I did neither. Next time at least have some discernible breasts!

  26. Myra

    Having been a switchboard operator this has happened and really pissed off the “lady” I was talking to so she must get called sir a lot. Also, my son, 26 and a little chubby, works at a well known large discount store and there is a girl there who could be his twin. From the back they often get mistaken for each other, one reason my son grew a beard. He is a very masculine guy but she is extremely butch. I just don’t get it. I’m not a really girly girly as in lace and ruffles but people certainly know I’m a woman. :knickers: 😮

  27. Schon

    I was in a walmart with my parent’s and the person working in the jewelry department through us for a major one. It was just after we had watched the movie Pat. I think they had an androgynous name also.

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