Wednesday, December 06, 2006

PTA moms hate my name

That's right. PTA moms hate my name. Last year the president of the PTA started off calling me Yvett. I know this for sure because I remember the messages she'd leave me. Then at a movie night at school, she started calling me Odette. I thought I'd heard it wrong but I confirmed the next week. She continued calling me Odette for months. I even corrected her once. And . . . I was embarrassed to correct her. She apologized, called me Yvett that day and went back to calling me Odette. My theory is that she was doing it on purpose.

This year. . new state. . new school. The PTA president calls me "girl". Ok, granted, she calls everybody girl and it bothers me soooooo much. She knows names but refuses to say them. Everyday after school, I know when she's there because I hear "Hey girl". That's how she greets everyone. At first I thought she just didn't know my name, but I'm sure now that this isn't the case. Yesterday she called me and asked for Yvett. When I said "This is Yvett", she immediately said "Hey girl!" which absolutely makes me cringe. As much as it bothers me, I know I'm not going to tell her anything. Not this lady. See, she seems sort of gossipy. She's there everyday talking to all the "girls" and very often includes phrases like "let me tell you. . " or "did you hear" all in a sort of gossipy tone. You know what I mean, right? I can totally imagine if I politely asked her to please not call me girl, she'd be on the phone with other moms saying things like "Girl, let me tell you about Brianna's mom. . . " If only she'd call me that. I have no problem being called "Brianna's mom" since that's what all her little friends call me. Also, I know moms like that: "Nicole's mom, Sarah's mom, Riley's mom". I'd much rather be Brianna's mom than girl. -sigh- I should just learn to tolerate it, right? What would you do?

feeling: COLD!
listening to: Pixies (Where is my Mind?)

3 comments:

foodiechickie said...

That's tough. Do the other moms reply "Hey Girl" too when they see her? I wonder if the gossiping bugs them too? I guess the "Hey Girl" thing is friendlier than the "Odette" thing. I have that situtaion. But see my name is strange so I can't tell if people just like to Americanize it by calling me Annie or don't give a damn. Niel's family does this. His brother and we don't even like one another is the only one who can prounounce my name. Makes me angry. His mom sometimes says "hey girl" too. I don't know if its an age thing or she thinks we're friends or what. I wish I had advice for you but I just have sympathy. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

I don't suppose calling her "hey old lady" every time she says "hey girl" is an option?

Is she southern? A lot of people do that around here, although I am getting ma'am-ed more and more as I get older.

Bailey said...

Is she 16 years old? That would drive me crazy. No wonder the youth of America can't speak and seem to have a lack of respect when they speak, it's because their parents speak the same way. How annoying.