My accent

Im so fecking tired of tearing up at work every time you go out of your way to help someone only to hear the inevitable "mocking of the american's accent" as the customer puts the phone down. It makes me so angry, Im tempted to write down a few addresses and go punch them in the neck.  Where does anyone get off making fun of my accent?  This is now an everyday occurance to the point where I just want to never leave my house.

Just like the other day someone I dont know in the office refers to me as "the yank."  No, I dont think so.  You odnt know me, and therefore have no right to refer to me as "the yank".

I don't know why it makes me so angry to hear the mocking, but it does, and I dont know how to get over it.  Thinking "gosh, they hate their own lives so much they've got to make fun of my accent after ending the call... they are miserable!" Doesn't do it for me. 

I'm so angry about it , and I keep applying for other jobs internally that arent on the phone , and even outside the company.  But phone monkey jobs are the only things available, and what good does it do to switch when people in your office don't have any respect either?

Oh, Navie.  I really wish you could find a different job.  It is completely unacceptable for people to treat you like that.  They probably think they're being clever and original.  Idiots.  Sending you hugs 

People suck. If your English hubby was living in America, you can be sure people would be mocking his accent, too. They probably think they are being amusing rather than insulting. I'm on the phone all day, as well, even though it isn't a call centre (receptionist) and it does get old to have people make comments about my accent, ask me what I am doing here, etc. Sometimes I just say "I live here." Why is it everyone's business to know what brought me here? I do realise most people are just making conversation, but it does get tiresome. Even one guy just looked at me very intently and said "What are you doing here?" so I just said "I'm working." Geez, what sort of question is that? The funniest part about all of this is that people certainly wouldn't ask those sorts of questions to an Asian person or other nationality or make fun of the way they talk right to their face, so why do people feel free to do it to us? For that matter, why do Americans get to poke fun or fuss over English and Australian accents but not other accents? People certainly have a different attitude if you walk around impersonating someone from India - it's viewed as racist. So yeah, I could go on asking questions about why it's ok to make fun of my accent but not someone else's, but I have to assume the answer just may be because people find our accent to be appealing, so I guess it's a compliment most of the time.
Anyway, I know the sort of grief DH gets every time he opens his mouth in the states and he is really shy and self-conscious, so I'm glad it's me that made the move and has to deal with the daily inquisition instead of him. But it does grate on my nerves sometimes, too.

"why are you here?" Gets old as well, along with people who come through and, upon introducing myself as being in Brighton, throw out the very snarky "Brighton eh? Is that what they tell you to say?"

The worst... absolute worst... is when you have to tell them something they dont want to hear and they kick off... it almost always comes down to "you're american aren't you?" and then a jab about my country, accent, way of doing things, etc.

I wish i could learn to not let it bother me so much.

Thanks for listening gals.

People suck. If your English hubby was living in America, you can be sure people would be mocking his accent, too. They probably think they are being amusing rather than insulting. I'm on the phone all day, as well, even though it isn't a call centre (receptionist) and it does get old to have people make comments about my accent, ask me what I am doing here, etc. Sometimes I just say "I live here." Why is it everyone's business to know what brought me here? I do realise most people are just making conversation, but it does get tiresome. Even one guy just looked at me very intently and said "What are you doing here?" so I just said "I'm working." Geez, what sort of question is that? The funniest part about all of this is that people certainly wouldn't ask those sorts of questions to an Asian person or other nationality or make fun of the way they talk right to their face, so why do people feel free to do it to us? For that matter, why do Americans get to poke fun or fuss over English and Australian accents but not other accents? People certainly have a different attitude if you walk around impersonating someone from India - it's viewed as racist. So yeah, I could go on asking questions about why it's ok to make fun of my accent but not someone else's, but I have to assume the answer just may be because people find our accent to be appealing, so I guess it's a compliment most of the time.
Anyway, I know the sort of grief DH gets every time he opens his mouth in the states and he is really shy and self-conscious, so I'm glad it's me that made the move and has to deal with the daily inquisition instead of him. But it does grate on my nerves sometimes, too.

I was about to post everything Jewlz said; totally agree. And I feel for you Navie. I got this in mirror-image as a Brit living in the US, working retail thus exposed to a constant stream of the general public.

Its gets old, FAST. I was asked the most personal questions every day of my life, a dozen times a day, things that would not be asked of an East Indian, and accent-mimicking that would not be done to, say, a Nigerian person -- but oh, it's perfectly okay to do it to a Brit or an American.....

Don't even get me started on how they would take it all the way on to political crap and attacks on UK culture etc, (all with a smile of course) again all as if they think they had the perfect right, as a complete stranger in a completely inappropriate setting. Amazing rudeness. And UK people of course do exactly the same rude thing here to you and other Americans -- it cuts both ways and it's so wrong and gets SO old.

Navie I empathize completely, and it sucks bigtime.

In the end it was for this very reason that I got the hell out of retail over there and got into something where I only had to deal with an established group of people in my working situation, no more random members of the general public.

There will be folks who come along and say "aw bring some humor to it and laugh it off" but as you know, that just doesn't cut it anymore after the third year and 10,000th incident of guffawing mimicry or incredibly personal life-story question.

I know it's hard to find and keep work in this climate but the only thing I wound up having to do, as I've said, was get out of the jobs that exposed me to lots and lots of strangers. Easier said than done but it helped me to a HUGE extent, years and years ago, at least in terms of my every work-day.

Still having to be out and about in shops and restaurants though....yes, like Jewlz's husband I wound up muttering, being very brief, and even faking a US accent for strangers while trying not to talk too much just because I wanted to just get on with my day, do my shopping, order my meal or whatever,  or request the shoe size without a whole discussion about me and my bloody accent..........

"why are you here?" Gets old as well, along with people who come through and, upon introducing myself as being in Brighton, throw out the very snarky "Brighton eh? Is that what they tell you to say?"

What the hell? Do these people think customer service is being outsourced to the US now or something?

Ugggh. Working with the general public stinks. You have my sympathies.

  But phone monkey jobs are the only things available

i hear you on this, and sympathise.
I worked in call centres for years, and fought hard to get out.  Now that i've got out, and have been enjoying doing a different type of work, I'm now being made redundant and am deathly afraid i will end up back in a call centre again.

Good luck getting out! 

I feel your pain. I've been there and did not last long at all. In addition to not enjoying having the piss taken out of me and my accent, I have a hard time hearing well on the phone (accents that is) which made it worse.

But, you have to suck it up. Much of it is not really meant in a nasty way. And call centre jobs suck no matter where you are and who you are talking to. Fingers crossed you can work your way out of there, soon!

Q-G, good luck finding a job that won't take you back there!

thanks for the words guys, it's appreciated.

Q-G I hope you dont have to return to phone monkey work!!

If your English hubby was living in America, you can be sure people would be mocking his accent, too.

My Brit DH (living in the states) gets zero mocking, rather people always compliment him on his accent.

Naive, I do hope that you can find another position because I would be OTT furious about the rudeness as well. It is definitely not something that you should have to just deal with/get used to. 

Just move to London. Nobody thinks twice about an American accent.

I get kidded about my accent at work (usually when a "ya'll" manages to slip out), but personally I find it nice. Maybe it's because I grew up in a family where teasing was a sign of affection, but it makes me feel like I fit in.

My husband had it a lot worse when he lived in the US. While he liked having a few female fans at work, the fact that most people thought he was Irish/Australian/South African etc and couldn't understand him when he order water sort of bugged him.
Most people assume I'm American and ask me what state I'm from (though some day I want to pull an "I'm actually Canadian" and act all insulted!! )

Phone jobs suck. That is the deep underlying truth.

I've actually found my accent to be an asset here. It breaks the ice with people and starts conversations that might otherwise be difficult to get going. And people have been uniformly pleasant about it.

But when you drive a telephone, people start out with a willingness to be mad at you and the accent just gives them a handle to grab.

Yeah, a lot of the trouble probably has to do with the fact that the people who call are already irate and looking for a target. I work in a very international environment, and never get mocked for my accent. It just depends on the circumstances.

It just depends on the circumstances.

I agree.  It really sucks that you're having to put up with that, Navie - I'm sorry, and I wish had some great ideas for ways to deal with it.  

I also work in a job that requires a bit of phone work (much less now that I changed jobs - different job, same employer) but it's a completely different environment, in that I work for a charity...so, generally, people aren't ringing to complain about something, but rather to ask for our help.  I have the dorkiest accent you can imagine, like some weird cross between Midwestern & Southern, and am constantly getting compliments on my accent.  I have no idea why?  I vaguely recall maybe one woman caller in the 3 years I've worked there that might have been mocking my accent - except I was too clueless to realise it until after I'd gotten off the phone, but as it was just the one - it was easy to laugh it off.  On the other hand, I've had a number of people tell me they could listen to me speak on the phone all day!    Maybe I should be a phone sex operator - lol!  

I sometimes wonder if there are some American regional accents that are easier on (or more popular to?) British ears than others?  I mean, just for the sake of comparison, there was a study done some years back that found Brits would sooner trust someone with a Geordie accent than a Scouser or a Cockney.  Hence, my question - are there are any subtle preferences out there for one sort of American regional accent or another?  Would be an interesting thing for someone to research anyway!