I received an answerphone message this afternoon from dd's school to let me know she was unwell and needed picking up. At the end of the recorded message, the teaching assistant obviously thinks the receiver has been replaced and says, 'that's a difficult woman'. I know it's difficult to judge without actually hearing it, but the comment was obviously made about me.
I am really upset, particularly as I had thought we had a very good relationship with the school, though it would appear that I'm wrong. The head teacher has called and said that he has spoken to the members of staff concerned and their story is that they said 'it's a difficult one', referring to my daughter's current problem with leaving mum in the morning. My recording is clear as a bell - the word used is definitely 'woman' and not 'one'. The tone in the voice changes, it is very clearly an unpleasant comment. The head teacher is quick to point out how professional his staff are and that they would never do this, yet I have this unpleasant comment on my answer 'phone! I have left it with him, stating that I am unhappy with the way things stand and would like an apology. Or is one supposed to accept this?