Why do some people feel the need to be so rude?!

2rkehij30qtza5

Rang a particular public hospital this morning as am waiting for an appointment. Secretary to consultant nearly took the head off me with rudeness. I called the consultant 'Professor' instead of 'Mister' and I was promptly corrected in the sharpest tone..so taken aback that I actually apologised to her for my error!!..she continued then to sharply bite my head off for the rest of the phone conversation. If my boss in work ever heard me speaking to a person on the phone in that manner I would probably have my marching papers.

This isn't the first time I have encountered unbelievable rudeness from consulants' secretaries in this hospital.

It costs nothing to be mannerly and you'd imagine that the fact that these people work in a hospital, which is supposed to be a caring environment for unwell people, that they would have some sort of manners. I am sure there are nice consultants' secretaries out there but my latest experiences leave me thinking that the majority are just plain rude, ignorant and ill-mannered and shouldn't be working in jobs where they have any face-to-face or phone contact with people. :mad:

Ann Landers

Above any other, I find secretaries to often have an uppity air about themselves for some reason. Not all, obviously, or even close to all, but moreso than any other professional I've experienced. Not sure why.

dr.bollocko

People always say "Oh the wait time was terrible but the staff couldn't have done more to help."

I get the impression these people are being held at scalpel point and not released from the hospital until they breathlessly praise the staff.

I've certainly never found that they could not have done more.

The Backwards Man

Just be super nice back to them. You get waaay more satisfaction out of it.

jimgoose

Address him as "Sawbones" in a slit-eyed, Clint Eastwood rasp. It won't do much good - you'll be hard-pressed to find a greater hotbed of entitlement and self-importance these days than a hospital - but it's fun. :cool:

MadYaker

Don't be so sensitive.

sopretty

Is 'mister' the correct term for a consultant? I'd have called them 'doctor'. Lol.

I agree though, some secretaries should never be put dealing with public.

I've worked as a secretary in various industries. I'm a nice secretary though.

danniemcq

Things like this always remind me of the speech this is water.

Basically there are days when everything goes against you, you are surrounded by morons who are rude, aggressive, dumbasses, just there to get in your way or piss you off.

However look at it from their point of view. Maybe the guy that got pissed off went through a lot of crap recently, maybe someone in their family is dying of cancer and today is particularly bad.

Maybe it’s the anniversary of something that affects them deeply

Maybe they just found out that the banks are coming from their house

Maybe this is their third job and they are stressed with bills piling up that they can't manage.

Although maybe they are just assholes.

My point is you can't tell what’s going on with everyone around you. No doubt you have had days like this and you just didn't know at the time or even now but someone else thinks the same about you.

2rkehij30qtza5

MadYaker wrote: »

Don't be so sensitive.

Am actually not sensitive but poor manners and ignorant behaviour is not something I think should have in the public service...or private industry for that matter.
And no matter what is going on in anyone's personal life...that person should still be civil in their professional dealings...or else stay off work if they cannot get it together to deal with work-life. No excuse for poor behaviour.

Liam90

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Just be super nice back to them. You get waaay more satisfaction out of it.

That's what I do with rude customers. Be overly nice to them and it seems to really wind them up even more but there is absolutely nothing they can do about it

S.R.

Collin Pitiful Comedian wrote: »

Rang a particular public hospital this morning as am waiting for an appointment. Secretary to consultant nearly took the head off me with rudeness. I called the consultant 'Professor' instead of 'Mister' and I was promptly corrected in the sharpest tone..so taken aback that I actually apologised to her for my error!!..she continued then to sharply bite my head off for the rest of the phone conversation. If my boss in work ever heard me speaking to a person on the phone in that manner I would probably have my marching papers.

This isn't the first time I have encountered unbelievable rudeness from consulants' secretaries in this hospital.

It costs nothing to be mannerly and you'd imagine that the fact that these people work in a hospital, which is supposed to be a caring environment for unwell people, that they would have some sort of manners. I am sure there are nice consultants' secretaries out there but my latest experiences leave me thinking that the majority are just plain rude, ignorant and ill-mannered and shouldn't be working in jobs where they have any face-to-face or phone contact with people. :mad:

What?!?! You apologized for saying Professor instead of Mister?!? Are you serious?!?! Professor, Consultant, whatever - I call all of them "Doctor".
I wouldn't give a thing whether it's Professor or Mister. May be that's why some of secretaries are rude to you? Some people are like this: if you talk to them politely they will try to sit on your head. But once you raised your voice with "shut up!" they turn into peaceful sheep.

Forgot to say: I have never had any problems in hospitals with secretaries or somebody else.

Dr Turk Turkelton

Just keep referring to him as "The Doc" next time you call.
Also don't get the whole Mister thing-they study for however many years just to get called the same as they were before they started!
At least if they finish after seven years they are called Doctor.

Edit:just noticed my username lol name change to Mr Turk Turkelton please!

S.R.

sopretty wrote: »

I'm a nice secretary though.

Not sure about this.

sopretty

S.R. wrote: »

Not sure about this.

I'd put on my best 'uppity' attitude especially for you. :cool:

S.R.

sopretty wrote: »

I'd put on my best 'uppity' attitude especially for you. :cool:

Here we go: secretary in action!

kneemos

sopretty wrote: »

Is 'mister' the correct term for a consultant? I'd have called them 'doctor'. Lol.

I agree though, some secretaries should never be put dealing with public.

I've worked as a secretary in various industries. I'm a nice secretary though.

Do you wear those big rimmed glasses and your hair tied back,oh and maybe a button or two undone?

sopretty

kneemos wrote: »

Do you wear those big rimmed glasses and your hair tied back,oh and maybe a button or two undone?

Think friendly librarian.......

Caliden

Liam90 wrote: »

That's what I do with rude customers. Be overly nice to them and it seems to really wind them up even more but there is absolutely nothing they can do about it

"I hope the rest of your day is as pleasant as you :):) "

In the most sincere voice possible.

jimgoose

sopretty wrote: »

Think friendly librarian.......

Ooook??

sopretty

jimgoose wrote: »

Ooook??

Pardon me??

kneemos

Went for an interview years ago and the receptionist had such a low cut top I could see her belly button when she bent over.

sopretty

kneemos wrote: »

Went for an interview years ago and the receptionist had such a low cut top I could see her belly button when she bent over.

Did you 'overlook' her rudeness? .... pun intended.... :pac:

S.R.

kneemos wrote: »

Went for an interview years ago and the receptionist had such a low cut top I could see her belly button when she bent over.

I wouldn't look at belly button.

jimgoose

sopretty wrote: »

Pardon me??

Sorry - different Librarian!

fortwilliam

I do not refer to anybody's qualifications in any walk of life, I do not understand what it has to do with anything.

If I am calling about my appointment with Dr. John Smith, I will tell the receptionist I am calling about my appointment with John Smith.
If corrected, I will correct the receptionist to address me as Sales Manager Fortwilliam.

Social situations I find even more inappropriate and hilarious.. Hi, I'm Doctor Mary Doyle.. Oh Hi, I'm Shop Assistant Brian.

jimgoose

fortwilliam wrote: »

I do not refer to anybody's qualifications in any walk of life, I do not understand what it has to do with anything.

If I am calling about my appointment with Dr. John Smith, I will tell the receptionist I am calling about my appointment with John Smith.
If corrected, I will correct the receptionist to address me as Sales Manager Fortwilliam.

Social situations I find even more inappropriate and hilarious.. Hi, I'm Doctor Mary Doyle.. Oh Hi, I'm Shop Assistant Brian.

...followed immediately by a Chopper Reid-style "How the furk are ya??"

Rochelle

Collin Pitiful Comedian wrote: »

Rang a particular public hospital this morning as am waiting for an appointment. Secretary to consultant nearly took the head off me with rudeness. I called the consultant 'Professor' instead of 'Mister' and I was promptly corrected in the sharpest tone..so taken aback that I actually apologised to her for my error!!..she continued then to sharply bite my head off for the rest of the phone conversation. If my boss in work ever heard me speaking to a person on the phone in that manner I would probably have my marching papers.

This isn't the first time I have encountered unbelievable rudeness from consulants' secretaries in this hospital.

It costs nothing to be mannerly and you'd imagine that the fact that these people work in a hospital, which is supposed to be a caring environment for unwell people, that they would have some sort of manners. I am sure there are nice consultants' secretaries out there but my latest experiences leave me thinking that the majority are just plain rude, ignorant and ill-mannered and shouldn't be working in jobs where they have any face-to-face or phone contact with people. :mad:

If I had to field dozens of retarded calls from ginnets on a daily basis, I don't know how civil I'd be either.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

My dad was rushed to hospital last week with heart problems. Now Hospital A is 10 miles away - a medium sized hospital that has lost most of it's functions to Hospital B, which is a large regional Hospital 50 miles away. Both of these Hospitals are in the same direction from where we live.

My dad was taken away at 11.30am in an ambulance which rushed in towards the Hospitals. My mother was told by the ambulance crew that they'd ring her when they knew which Hospital he was being taken to. 4 hours later, she had had no word. She rang both Hospitals a couple of times each, to be told by both that neither had a record of him being there, and that maybe he was still on the way. Now in those 4 hours, I had driven from a far corner of the country to get home, so there was no way he hadn't gotten to either Hospital in that time. When I got home, I rang Hospital A, who empathised with me but more or less told me to ring Hospital B. Not a whole lot of use, nice and all as they were. I rang Hospital B and explained our frustration and what was going on and she took my number and rang me back a few minutes later to tell us she had found him there. Fair play to her, she went the extra mile for me, but at the end of the day it was her job.

TL;DR - Most people are grand, some can be pricks, its dependant on what kind of day they're having sometimes, but generally, people are good.

Badly Drunk Boy

Rochelle wrote: »

If I had to field dozens of retarded calls from ginnets on a daily basis, I don't know how civil I'd be either.

The receptionist mentioned in the opening post could have ignored the caller's mistake over her employer's title and saved herself the time explaining, as well as not creating the tension which lead to this thread. It's not that hard to be civil.

jimgoose

Rochelle wrote: »

If I had to field dozens of retarded calls from ginnets on a daily basis, I don't know how civil I'd be either.

Dealing with ginnets who are deeply resentful of the fact that their career options are limited to answering the phone all day isn't much fun either.

cruais

I always find medical secretaries to be the biggest bitches.

biko

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote: »

TL;DR - Most people are grand, some can be pricks, its dependant on what kind of day they're having sometimes, but generally, people are good.

This ^^^

But all you need is one person having a bad day and taking it out on someone for a thread to spring up about it.

Zillah

sopretty wrote: »

Is 'mister' the correct term for a consultant? I'd have called them 'doctor'. Lol.

It's actually kind of weird.

A normal guy on the street is Mr.
A guy who is a medical doctor, like your GP, is Dr.
A doctor who has gone on to become a specialist consultant used to be called Dr. and is now Mr. again. In that context Mr. is actually a higher title than Dr., which is weird. He's still a doctor, of course, but he's Mr. Smith, not Dr. Smith.

Bonkers.

Also consultants are usually gigantic jakkasses. I worked in a hospital for four years, trust me. They charge huge fees, are in massive demand and can basically treat the world however they like and still get treated like royalty. I imagine their secretaries tend to pick up on their demeanor and emulate it.

jimgoose

kneemos wrote: »

Went for an interview years ago and the receptionist had such a low cut top I could see her belly button when she bent over.

When she bent over towards you or away from you? Now the latter would be a low-cut top!

Zillah

fortwilliam wrote: »

I do not refer to anybody's qualifications in any walk of life, I do not understand what it has to do with anything.

If I am calling about my appointment with Dr. John Smith, I will tell the receptionist I am calling about my appointment with John Smith.
If corrected, I will correct the receptionist to address me as Sales Manager Fortwilliam.

That's because becoming a doctor takes a decade of hard work and intellect, and their title reflects that level of commitment and expertise, whereas I can train a labrador to be a sales manager in a week. That's why no one goes around using a title for it - it doesn't reflect anything and no one gives a toot.

sopretty

I find it hard to know how to address a guard at a checkpoint. Particularly when I don't want him to notice my slightly lapsed tax disc. I feel the urge to give them some sort of respectful title. Or bow or something. Lol.

The Backwards Man

Yes, lad.

pharmaton

went for an interview for a FÁS placement a little while ago, I had to bring any relevant certification with me and one of the interviewers decided to take umbrage with my qualifications. From the moment I sat down she barked down her neck at me. Apparently we had worked in the same place about 15 years previously and she referred to it on my C.V. She asked did I really work there because she didn't remember me. Mostly because she worked in customer service in a different part of the building while I worked in operations and had a very a different job spec. I had to actually name the managers and other employees I worked with and still she just rolled her eyes.
One of my certs was done through NUIG 12 years ago, when she asked about the course I explained it was run through KK but I had to attend NUIG twice a year for seminars and she stated quite vociferously that whatever it was it definintely wasn't an NUIG qualification. I wouldn't mind but the certificate had it written quite plainly in Irish so I'm guessing she doesn't speak the language.
I'd love to know how these knob jockeys get hired.

jimgoose

Zillah wrote: »

That's because becoming a doctor takes a decade of hard work and intellect, and their title reflects that level of commitment and expertise, whereas I can train a labrador to be a sales manager in a week. That's why no one goes around using a title for it - it doesn't reflect anything and no one gives a toot.

"You will address me by my proper title, you little bollocks!!" :pac::pac::pac:

Ann Landers

Zillah wrote: »

That's because becoming a doctor takes a decade of hard work and intellect

Hard work, yes, but medical training is no more difficult than a lot of things, it's just more intensive.

kneemos

sopretty wrote: »

I find it hard to know how to address a guard at a checkpoint. Particularly when I don't want him to notice my slightly lapsed tax disc. I feel the urge to give them some sort of respectful title. Or bow or something. Lol.

Yes it is my ve hicle

anncoates

Last time we renewed our life assurance it took my wife's consultant /his secretary so long (as in months) to simply fax a record that we actually both passed a birthday and had to pay a higher premium. Constant requests just met with ignorance

Doubt that kind of forgetfulness would prevail for an unpaid bill of course.

LynnGrace

sopretty wrote: »

I find it hard to know how to address a guard at a checkpoint. Particularly when I don't want him to notice my slightly lapsed tax disc. I feel the urge to give them some sort of respectful title. Or bow or something. Lol.

Well in the radio ads people say 'gaaard'
There was one some years ago, I think it was about having a designated driver...'he's grand, gaaaaard'.

danniemcq

oh and this is the video i was on about earlier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKYJVV7HuZw

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/story-behind-water-inspiring-video-people-cant-stop-watching-149324

Edit: the adweek link has the video at the bottom that doesn't seem to be blocked at my work anyway

sopretty

anncoates wrote: »

Last time we renewed our life assurance it took my wife's consultant /his secretary so long (as in months) to simply fax a record that we actually both passed a birthday and had to pay a higher premium. Constant requests just met with ignorance

Doubt that kind of forgetfulness would prevail for an unpaid bill of course.

It had probably gotten mislaid in her fancy shmancy filing system. :pac:

Zillah

Ann Landers wrote: »

Hard work, yes, but medical training is no more difficult than a lot of things, it's just more intensive.

I would have thought more intensive training was more difficult, no? Less time to rest, less time to study, less time to catch up on anything you missed or struggled with.

Dr Strange

The difference between Mr and Dr in the medical profession lies between surgeons and any other type of medical consultant. A medical consultant in any field outside surgery would be Dr. A surgeon would always be Mr (in the Irish and UK systems anyway).

sopretty

Preusse wrote: »

The difference between Mr and Dr in the medical profession lies between surgeons and any other type of medical consultant. A medical consultant in any field outside surgery would be Dr. A surgeon would always be Mr (in the Irish and UK systems anyway).

Aha - that explains their arrogance then!

Dr Strange

Google provides some detailed answers but this one is as good as any: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon
Under "Titles".

Tombo2001

Collin Pitiful Comedian wrote: »

Rang a particular public hospital this morning as am waiting for an appointment. Secretary to consultant nearly took the head off me with rudeness. I called the consultant 'Professor' instead of 'Mister' and I was promptly corrected in the sharpest tone..so taken aback that I actually apologised to her for my error!!..she continued then to sharply bite my head off for the rest of the phone conversation. If my boss in work ever heard me speaking to a person on the phone in that manner I would probably have my marching papers.

This isn't the first time I have encountered unbelievable rudeness from consulants' secretaries in this hospital.

It costs nothing to be mannerly and you'd imagine that the fact that these people work in a hospital, which is supposed to be a caring environment for unwell people, that they would have some sort of manners. I am sure there are nice consultants' secretaries out there but my latest experiences leave me thinking that the majority are just plain rude, ignorant and ill-mannered and shouldn't be working in jobs where they have any face-to-face or phone contact with people. :mad:

The consultants are lovely people. (How much do they earn?).

And the secretaries were rude. (How much do they earn?).

sopretty

Just as a complete and utter aside (and apologies OP for going off-topic on you - hope your day improves and Madame-Full-of-Her-Own-Importance has left your mind!).....

But, does anyone else find it amazing that the witnesses in the Oscar Pistorius trial don't get confused by having to say M'Lady all the time, even when they're being questioned by one of the two barristers?

I initially thought it was the formal way to address the barristers (which I found strange lol) until I finally copped that it was the Judge they were addressing.