Notes From Under the House

I really dislike it when our receptionist buzzes me to tell me someone is calling for me and she doesn’t ask what company they’re calling from. When I call a business, I always identify myself; I always say my name, the company I’m calling from and sometimes what the call is regarding (if of course it’s not confidential), especially because I don’t want them thinking it’s a sales call. Then I ask for the person by name. I also point out if they are expecting my call. Our receptionist will call and tell me so-and-so is on the phone. If I don’t recognize the name, I’ll ask what department he or she is with, and then our receptionist will ask me if I want her to find out. No! She should have found out in the first place. Going back to the person and asking where they’re from tells them I’m present in the office and I’m screening my calls. It’s rude. And having to keep going back to the client to ask for information is unprofessional.
I dislike it when telemarketers call my home and address me by my first name. These people don’t know me from Eve. I may sound like a teen on the phone (I was once told that my voice doesn’t match my personality), but I’m not. I am to be addressed as Ms. _____. I actually had a woman call me one night regarding a survey, and she had the audacity to not only call me by my first name, but introduce herself as Mrs. So-and-so. When people do that, I nicely correct them (Yes, this is Ms. ____ speaking).  With my clients, I call them by their title (Chief, Captain, Mr., Ms., etc.) until they ask me to call them by their first name, which they usually do. And even then I sometimes forget. I tell my clients to call me by my first name from the get go because I want to establish a relaxed, easygoing, work relationship with them. After a while, they start calling me Ms. Taskmaster because I end up getting on their case if they’re not meeting their timelines; I love it when I get to crack the whip on a fire chief or a medical director. But all of my correspondences with them are addressed with their prefix.
Another thing I dislike is when salespeople in department stores call me honey or sweetie. That really gets on my nerves. I’m not a little kid. I get these grandma-type women who call me that all the time, but what are you going to do? You know how grandma-types are. But when I encounter these young girls calling me these names, it makes me bristle. When a salesperson puts me in a dressing room, a lot of the time they’ll tell me their (first) name in case I need anything, and I’ll generally tell them mine. But when I get these baby calling names coming from my peers or someone younger than myself, it is not endearing, it’s irritating. How would they like it if I called them babe or honeychile? Oh, and don’t say girl to me, either. I’m not one of your girlfriends, I’m a paying customer.
Yes, I’m old school; it’s the way my parents taught me to address people in business.