I had a little problem with my Internet connection this morning. Faithful Reporter’s Notebook readers will remember that I don’t exactly view my cable provider in the best light. So when I called them for assistance this morning, I was prepared for an excruciatingly long wait, followed by a non-resolution.
I was surprised right off the bat. Despite being warned of “heavy call volume,” a customer-service rep answered my call in less than five minutes. He noted that my modem wasn’t receiving a signal and checked to ensure there were no outages in the area (there weren’t). He then asked if we used a splitter for my cable modem and the TV.
We do use a splitter, and when I told him of this, he asked if there was anyone in the house who could help me connect it directly to the cable line.
“I can do it,” I told him.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “Because it might require pliers.”
C’mon. Are we really still entrenched in the stereotype that women don’t know anything about technology or how to assemble and disconnect it? Granted, I should have thought to do this before I called, but since my service had been working just fine prior to this, it didn’t occur to me.
You can add rampant sexism to my list of complaints for my cable provider. And, of course, my prior history with them doesn’t color my opinion whatsoever.
