Another classic BSAG moment
As regular readers will know, my nom de keyboard of ‘bsag’ and the title of this blog both refer to the look which comes over someone’s face (usually male) when I exhibit signs of knowing something about technical matters (see my About page for more details).
I had a classic example of BSAG earlier this week when I had to contact some heating engineers about our boiler. We’ve dealt with these particular people before, and they are great: they are nice guys, do good work and charge a reasonable price. However, they really don’t seem able to handle the fact that — while neither Mr. Bsag and I are experts on heating systems — I know a bit more about it than my husband. I started to explain what I thought the problem was, but they asked if they could speak to Mr. Bsag. I could have put my foot down, but since I’d dealt with them before (an experience very similar to those experienced by Arabella Weir’s ‘Invisible Woman’ character on the Fast Show), I knew that it was a losing battle.
So I handed the phone over, and we had a farcical exchange where the heating engineers would ask Mr. Bsag some technical question on the phone, he would ask me, I would answer, and he would tell the engineers what I’d just said. It worked out OK in the end, because they came and fixed the problem (which was indeed a faulty control board, as I’d thought), but it would have been a bit easier if they’d actually believed that I knew what I was talking about. Sigh.
1
Don't worry, love.
by Jolyon @ 27/04/2008 7:08 pm • Permalink •
2
Bad luck... But hey, I'd really like some tips on how we can get our 30 year old boiler to die a death so that the diocese will replace it with an efficient new one. Any bright ideas?
by tony @ 27/04/2008 9:42 pm • Permalink •
3
Take a few days off and present the Bishop with a sick note for carbon monoxide poisoning, or ......... By a couple of carbon monoxide detector patches, make them go black, send them to the Bishop saying saying "you keep them near the boiler, and what does it mean when they go black?"
by Jonathan Briggs @ 27/04/2008 11:38 pm • Permalink •
4
Bsag, it can cut both ways. I came down with a virus last year and a couple of my female colleagues cracked jokes about me having 'Man 'Flu'. My female doctor told me to stop wasting her time. I started to believe it myself, despite feeling really ill. Women can bear up to these things. Men are egoists who take the mick and gun for sympathy.
I had viral myocarditis, and I ended up in intensive care with heart failure and a form of hepatitis. I was in hospital for 5 weeks and off work for 6 months.
If I'm ill again and I hear a Man 'Flu joke - well, world war three will break out.
It's bad - what happened to you. It goes to show that most people are essentially compromised. Most people are idiots. I know this sounds bad, but it's the way I'm thinking at the moment. What really gets me is when I get a lecture from a woman on equality and feminism and she is far more narrow-minded than me. Man, I was trained in feminism. I believe in it - believe it to be the most important movement in the world for, say, the last hundred years. I'm a non-man. No football, no sport, no cars, no male company.
I had better shut up now before this becomes an essay.
by Lighty @ 28/04/2008 1:36 am • Permalink •
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My wife has a terrible time at her sales job because most of the company's customers are men (contractors, builders, you know the type). The majority of the time, if she answers the phone, they ask to talk to the other sales rep, who is male. It's really sad that their expectations of women are so low.
by Stephen Tudor @ 28/04/2008 12:21 pm • Permalink •
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Jolyon: Your tongue better be in your cheek there, mister! :-D
tony: I like Jonathan's idea about the carbon monoxide detector.
Lighty: You're right. One of the many things about adverts that annoy me are the kind where the man is depicted as some kind of gormless idiot who can't use the washing machine, clean the sink or iron some clothes, and the woman presents him with Product X while patronising the hell out of him. And the whole 'man 'flu' slander is positively dangerous given that men are generally more reluctant to bother their GP with medical problems, so all kinds of serious conditions go undiagnosed before it's too late.
Stephen Tudor: That must be really tiring.
by bsag @ 28/04/2008 6:26 pm • Permalink •
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My wife and I have this sorted.
She handles the small issues and I handle the large ones.
She looks after broken boilers, builders, fixing the car, buying a new house, etc.
I work out ways to tell the Prime Minister what to do, reorganise the United Nations and bring Scottish Footbal clubs into the Football Association.
Thanks,
Stuart
by Stuart @ 30/04/2008 12:27 pm • Permalink •
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I am having the same situation too. But it happen to my wife. My wife actually can solve the problem of the software easily. But the customer still want to ask me for confirmation.
by Rostyslav @ 30/04/2008 3:13 pm • Permalink •
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I have exactly the same problem!
The other day I was talking to a male friend about our nieces pc with my husband standing beside me. me: 'it just needs the hard drive replacing' male friend turns to my husband 'can you do all that hardware stuff then' husband: 'no' male friend looks confused husband: 'but she can', pointing to myself male friend looks even more confused!!
Maybe we should take up knitting or something....
by Liz @ 01/05/2008 12:41 pm • Permalink •
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