To ask if you've ever been mistaken ...

[haveyoueverbeenmistaken]

Have you ever been mistaken at work for doing a different role, eg you're the CEO and someone thought you were the office junior and asked you to
make coffees for the meeting?

This has a whiff of a ‘Womens hour’ piece!
😛

I was mistaken by an escort when I bumped into friends at an expensive restaurant and joined their table. Their drunk friend forgot that he had been introduced to me 10 mins earlier, after I returned to the table after going for a ciggie with my friend, who then went to loo so I returned alone.

V awkward conversation where he got aggressive and was telling me that he was there with his wife. " i will be having sex with my WIFE". When it was all sorted by my horrified friends he said, "I think you're attractive and your confidence made me think you must be an escort" 🙄. His wife was furious, I laughed it off but only stayed for 5 mins then left and they apparently all wrapped up pretty quickly after.

I'm often confused for the manager 😂 Im the eldest member of staff (only 28 😂) so people automatically assume im the boss and shout at me when they're unhappy, I love being able to turn round and say 'hang on I'll get the manager for you!' And hand them over to a 20 year old 😂

This is very outing, but…

At a new company, I happened to be on a training course with the PA to the CEO. We got on and she invited me to have lunch with her. While we were eating, she waved at a man and called “Hey first name of CEO, come and meet the latest addition to your harem”. I was so excited to meet the CEO I embarrassed myself by saying some silly things, but he was lovely and funny. Said hello when he saw me around the next couple of days and even took me to his office to give me a piece of kit I was missing. He had a spare. Went back to my remote office and told everyone I’d met the CEO, how lovely he was, etc etc.

Fast forward a few weeks, I’m back in my remote office and we have a video presentation by the CEO. Except the CEO on screen is an old white guy. Not a mid 40s black guy. A call to the PA later… turns out the IT guy has the same name as the CEO. Explained all the laptops in his office.

Yes, first teaching job in a secondary school, mid 1970’s I was 21. We were expected to eat in the hall with the students. They didn’t have a school uniform and when I went to join a table of 15 year olds they assumed I was a new girl pupil.

All the time. I am a manger of a retail outlet. My assistant manager is a man who is 20 years older than myself. He is assumed to be the manger constantly. He replaced a man who is my age who was also assumed to be the manager. Part of this is probably because I am a smiley jolly person who is customer service based but most of it is sexism.
It is endlessly irritating, for me and my assistant manager.

Not at work but when I was in the hospital about to have an emergency c section for my footling breech who decided to try to make an early appearance, the doctor asked if I was medically trained (I am not).

The midwife was panicking trying to prep me and was very flustered so I was answering all of the questions about my blood pressure and what was happening etc.

A few times other medical professionals have asked me this, I clearly missed my calling!

Back in the 80s I worked for one of the major consultancy firms - most women were secretaries, not that many female consultants.
I lost count of the number of directors who asked me to do their typing, and not just once - some repeated their mistake a few times.
It just showed that they didn't really look at any of the women or recognise us, just saw a woman and made an assumption.....

I also often get mistaken for a staff member of willlkos/Poundland and other budget shops. I am not wearing anything that remotely looks like the uniform, however I go in these shops a lot and know we’re everything is so am happy to show people. Twenty years ago this used to happen in topshop/new look.

I wear a reflective jacket for cycling commute. I often get asked questions by people assuming I work for TfL.

In my first teaching job at a primarys school, on my first day, I was sent out to play by the dinner lady.

Some years later I was in hospital and my husband arrived to visit me. The nurse called over that my Dad had come. Admittedly he is 11 years older than me, but I don't think he looked that old!

I was once a speaker at an event at my workplace. I was about 32 at the time, but I'm short and I guess look youngish for my age (or I did then, before I had children). Anyway I got chatting to the delegates at the back of the room by the coffees and one of them handed me his jacket and ordered a coffee.
His face when I stood up at the podium was a beautiful sight.

When I was starting out as a lawyer going to court, people often though I was a police officer (I guess a detective, as I was always in a suit).

I must have had that vibe!

Smarmy photocopier salesman came in to our office when I happened to be in reception.

He asked if one of the directors was around to speak to him. I told him no.

I am a director.

Misogynistic git wasn't ever going to get any business out of me after that.

I've often been mistaken for a retail assistant when I've been shopping myself. It's happened a few times. I'm not sure what it is I'm doing... I'm quite intrigued!

Same... someone handed me a shoe in Clarks and asked if I had it in a size 6!

Wouldn't say so much but I had my coat and a handbag on at the time!

My DH was once mistaken for his mum’s husband when he visited her in hospital!

I’ve had the Dad/OH confusion with my current partner and before that, when I was pregnant with my ex, he got some awful looks as apparently some of the mums thought I was a teenager and he was a grown man- he’s barely a year older than me!!

I have a young face, regularly got ID’d buying calpol. People always say ‘you’ll be glad of it when you’re older’ but I haven’t got there yet, given last time I went out to dinner with my OH they mistook him for my dad and it’s hard to get people to take me seriously at work!!

I was at work in someone's home years ago in my early 20s.
Someone knocked at my clients door the door and my client was unable to answer the door, it was a work man and he asked if my mum was home 🤣

I get mistaken for a keyworker at my daughters nursery a lot. People will ask me for folders to sign out or ask me how their kid got on that day.

This is the opposite but I am often not believed to be the manager at work. Angry customers complaining often ask to speak to a male manager 😡 because obviously a woman has no idea what she's talking about 🙄

Reminds me of the first time I voted having just turned 18. I walked into the polling station and the clerk asked if I was looking for my mum!

Why not, it's gorgeous 🤣 (saying this sarcastically as someone who has to wear the ghastly uniform)

I hope you made a big show of taking the shoe, scrutinising your own shoes, and then saying... 'nope, sorry, not even remotely similar...'!

When I worked in a management role at a university this happened a lot. Older male academics asking for photocopying doing etc.