Voice ID

From time to time I end up on the phone with customer service agents. Tonight, I had the pleasure of two such conversations.

The first was with T-Mobile, who has the most incredible agents in the business. Just give them a call, you'll see. Every time you call because you're overcharged for minutes or your phone breaks, it's like you get a new friend. This isn't bullshit either -- they really do have a great system.

Call #2 was to United Airlines. And for maybe the thousandth time the agent thought that I was a woman. They come off so quickly with the "ma'am," even now it still catches me off-guard. The conversation gets so deep into my air travel that although I cringe everytime I hear him call me "miss," I am too polite to note the correction. Then again, I've also agreed to let a man most likely in Bangalore give himself the name Johnny Ricardo. Who am I to tell people what they can and can't be?

But I ain't no "Miss Justin."

I'll be the first to admit that my voice doesn't sound like Morley Safer's -- but I like to think it sounds masculine. Or at least vaguely non-feminine.