‘Sexist’ man demanded to speak to ‘one of the boys’ instead of worker woman

In a popular social media post, a worker shared his story of how he dealt with a “sexist” customer who demanded to speak to “one of the boys” instead of a female worker.

Posted on Reddit’s r/MaliciousCompliance forum, a man using the anonymous username u/WoolliesMudcake shared his story, and his post received over 18,000 upvotes and 700 comments.

The original poster (OP) began his story by explaining that when he was 18 he worked for a well-known auto parts company. The shop where he worked had an equal number of male and female employees. However, the female employees sometimes received comments from both men and women asking if there was a male worker who could help them instead.

While the OP was working in the back of the store, one of his colleagues asked him if he could help a customer. He briefly explains that she has been with the company for about seven years and that he has only been with the company for a few months.

The OP wrote: “I’m asking why she needs help because she usually knows more than me considering how long she’s been working here. She explains that she was standing at the service desk and a guy came and asked her to get one of these “guys”. She has tried to explain to him that she is more than competent to help him, but he insisted that a man has to help him. So after hearing that, I decide fuck it, I might as well have fun. I tell her to follow me back to the desk where he was and just let me take care of it.

“I go to the customer and ask what he needs. He explained to me what he wanted, so I stare at him for a moment with a confused look. Look at the customer and say, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t actually know how to help with this’ and turn to my colleague and say, ‘Actually, she’s an expert in this area, she knows more about it than I do, I am sure she can help you.” He looks annoyed and asks for “another one of those guys and on cue one of my other male colleagues who overheard the whole conversation comes over,” he continued.

After some of the other male employees repeated the OP’s words, the customer “reluctantly” allowed the woman to help, but eventually left the store without saying a word.

news week contacted u/WoolliesMudcake for comment.

What is “gender discrimination” and how to deal with it in the workplace?

As defined by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sex discrimination includes unfavorable treatment of an individual (applicant or employee) based on that individual’s sex, including the individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy.

Do you or someone you know experience gender discrimination in your workplace? Here’s what you can do through equalrights.org:

• Check your company policies to see how they protect you.
• Document everything by writing things down and keeping any messages or notes that can help you.
• Report your concerns to Human Resources (HR) and put them in writing.
• If you wish to file a complaint, you can file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
• Discuss your situation with a lawyer.

news week has published several articles about careers, including a woman who received online support after refusing to care for her disabled sister and to focus on her career A woman urged to contact HR after her “nepo-hire” colleague had referred to her as “Bimbo”.

Redditor reactions

Many Redditors shared similar stories.

“I used to work for a large farm equipment company, Sperry New Holland. It was 1980 and I was about 20. We worked with farm equipment dealers all over the area. One day one of these particularly recalcitrant traders called my area and wanted to speak to a man who knew something. My boss was at my desk right now, so I tried to hand him the phone. He said tell the guy there are no men here who know anything!! One of the best bosses I’ve ever had,” said u/writer978.

U/Mjummotron wrote: “I worked in tech support for a large computer company about 15-20 years ago. There were almost 50/50 men and women manning the phones. I was sitting next to a woman who took absolutely no crap at all.

“She received a call from a customer in his late 50s who kept asking to speak to a male colleague because it was a technical issue and he wanted to make sure everyone understood the issue correctly. Her response was, ‘I’m sorry, none of this. My male colleagues are available, but if you can get your wife on the phone instead, I’m sure we can work it out.’ One of the best laughs I’ve had on this job had,” the commenter continued.

U/Competitive-Slice567 shared, “I’m running as a paramedic in an area where a lot of the populace and even the paramedics are stuck in the 1950’s. Had one crew ignore my female paramedic intern and report back to me because the prevailing attitude was ‘women can’t be paramedics, let alone good ones.’ I thanked them for their report and then said they could look at her and tell her the same story since she was in charge of the call and I was monitoring her I swear you could have seen smoke coming out of their ears but they did as they were told and never showed me that attitude again when I had an intern again. “

“This crap is so silly,” u/rachel_higs commented, “when I worked in the automotive industry, the customer service team always took care of it mrs. then challenge the cs/sales manager… who was a woman. then they demand the manager… who was a woman. then challenge the ceo… who was a woman. like bro you stuck with us… be a man [laughing my a** off].”