Yesterday evening, Chris and Hugh were out at the gym. Malcolm was dozing on the couch, and I was reading a book. All was peaceful.
Then the phone rang. Naturally, I had not thought to bring the portable to the living room, so had to scamper on tiptoes (so as not to wake Malcolm) into the kitchen to stop the ringing.
The name on the caller ID was unfamiliar. The voice, when I answered, was equally unfamiliar. The voice said its name, and said he used to be with the bank where we have an account.
I said “Yes??”
The guy went into a sales pitch – something about how he had changed jobs, moving to Giant International Financial Firm, and now had some important information for us regarding our retirement investments. (insert eye rolling here)
I said, as politely as possible, that we were all taken care of in that department. The voice then said “I understand that, but there may be some things youse have not thought of in that regard.”
I was shocked and amused in equal measure. a) Giant International Financial Firm had hired someone who said “youse?” b) And this guy had not lost his thuggish pronunciation before doing his cold calls? As quickly as possible, I rang off.
When I told Chris the story, he said – after the “youse” part – “Well, that’s a deal-breaker.”
Indeed. Amazing how the tiniest things can be really huge.
For those of you not on the East Coast, “youse” is the unnecessary plural of “you.”
