Just got a call from Jimmy Stewart =)

DanR217 · Mar 16, 2013

Not trying to start a political discussion, just thought it was funny and wanted to share.

I'm pretty used to foreigners with fake names. Right out of high school I was working one night at a graphic design studio that built ads for supermarkets and the cleaning crew came in. The supervisor of my office and the cleaning crew's supervisor were chatting, as per norm, and my supervisor looked at his name tag, "Bill" and asked him what his real name was. The guy had a heavy middle eastern accent, so it was likely not really Bill. Not having much experience with foreign language (my supervisor was second or third generation Philipino-American), the name Bill said, after some prodding from my supervisor, was unintelligible to me.

Since then I've been overseas and spoken with many foreigners and I actually really enjoy listening to other languages.

Anyway, just got a call from a debt collection company's outsourced call center who's after me for medical bills. The VA has already agreed to pay, but they're slow as Christmas with paying anyone and this company thinks if they bug me, I can make the VA hurry up. I asked the guy for his name because I've filed a complaint with the FCC and I'm keeping notes, and he says, "James Stewart". So this guy was obviously in a call center (in India by his accent) and from what I understand they choose what American name they want, and he chose Jimmy Stewart

I laughed quite a bit and he got pretty frustrated, maybe he'll google Jimmy Stewart and change his name.

Mine would be Clark Kent

Sethrotull · Mar 16, 2013

I work for a company that has a call center right in our own state. We have plenty of people with accents who work there. Most all born right here.

Blade Runner 7 · Mar 16, 2013

I was dealing with Toshiba tech support about a crappy computer I bought. (I will never buy Toshiba again). I was dealing with the same problem over and over again. Kept having it fixed. About 2 weeks later, same thing. After about 1 year and 5 or so repairs of the same issue I was getting pretty frustrated. Their tech support was in the Philippines. When I started having a problem with one guy that was trying to say they didn't need to repair it again, I asked for his name. He told me it was Satan. I laughed and asked what his employee # was and he told me it was 666. I asked to talk to a supervisor and he hung up on me. Toshiba sucks.

uyotg · Mar 16, 2013

I don't know if you're aware of these guys, but they've been around for about two years: these Middle Eastern-sounding guys that call you up claiming to be Microsoft experts, claim your Windows computer is spreading viruses, and try to scam you into letting them take over your computer remotely to "clean it up." I usually play along for half an hour and act stupid the whole time before telling them I'm on a Mac or ask them what this has to do with my microwave or something.

Anyway, last time one of them calls me up, he introduces himself in this thick accent as Tom Jones. I couldn't keep playing anymore. I had to hang up.

Sethrotull · Mar 16, 2013

I talked to this guy with a thick accent who said his name was George Washington! Ha, I was like, really! Can you believe some guy from Africa would have a fake name like that!

:thumbdn:

"Remember what you mother said..."

SaguaroKid · Mar 16, 2013

The wife and I have our burial plots paid for to be close to my grand parents and parents. I get a call from the cemetery asking me if I could come in to help transfer my information from paper to the computer. I asked why they need me to help them and they replied to make sure everything is entered correctly. I told them if they enter everything like it is on the paper it will be correct. They said we'd really like you to stop in and I replied you just want to try and sell me something don't ya. They said no. I said OK I'll come in and help you but if you try to sell me something you'll be needing a burial plot...they said I guess we won't need you then.

DanR217 · Mar 16, 2013

Sethrotull said:
I work for a company that has a call center right in our own state. We have plenty of people with accents who work there. Most all born right here.

He could have an Indian accent and not actually been in India, but most full second generation people lose their accent. I was born in Texas but I don't speak with a southern accent, I talk like a Californian and say hella and bro when I talk to my friends. Some people up here, where I live, say y'all, but it's more of a choice. Saying y'all along with hella just doesn't sound right to me... Ask any Californian who's traveled, we catch crap from people for saying "hella" all over the place. I always explain it as meaning "heck of", "heck of a lot of", "hecka" so forth.

Dialects and accents fascinate me endlessly. I was with a native Japanese girl in Okinawa, who spoke English fluently. Watching fighter jets take off from a popular vantage point one day, there was a southern couple there conversing within earshot. I asked my date if she could hear the difference in their accent from mine and she said she couldn't. It really tickled me for some reason...

I can tell the difference in accent from nor cal to socal and there's all kinds of southern and what about New York? Forget about it

Here's a fun fact: From reading old literature (poems would make the most sense to me because of the rhyming, but that's my opinion) some linguists think that Americans today sound more like British people did in the colonial days and the British English sounds more different now. In other words, the British accent has changed more than the American. But irony prevails as always and "The Queen's English" is slowly fading into "American" English, probably because of American pop culture.

In Okinawa a few years ago, hardly any of the natives spoke English, but everywhere you went there was American pop music playing, strange...

al g blenny said:
I was dealing with Toshiba tech support about a crappy computer I bought. (I will never buy Toshiba again). I was dealing with the same problem over and over again. Kept having it fixed. About 2 weeks later, same thing. After about 1 year and 5 or so repairs of the same issue I was getting pretty frustrated. Their tech support was in the Philippines. When I started having a problem with one guy that was trying to say they didn't need to repair it again, I asked for his name. He told me it was Satan. I laughed and asked what his employee # was and he told me it was 666. I asked to talk to a supervisor and he hung up on me. Toshiba sucks.

Whoa, that's scary...

DanR217 · Mar 16, 2013

uyotg said:
I don't know if you're aware of these guys, but they've been around for about two years: these Middle Eastern-sounding guys that call you up claiming to be Microsoft experts, claim your Windows computer is spreading viruses, and try to scam you into letting them take over your computer remotely to "clean it up." I usually play along for half an hour and act stupid the whole time before telling them I'm on a Mac or ask them what this has to do with my microwave or something.

Anyway, last time one of them calls me up, he introduces himself in this thick accent as Tom Jones. I couldn't keep playing anymore. I had to hang up.

That's funny, I'll mess with them sometimes too

Next time they call me I'll act like I'm really happy to hear from them and start talking about how relieved I am that they're going to help me fix my TV, you've inspired me

Sethrotull said:
I talked to this guy with a thick accent who said his name was George Washington! Ha, I was like, really! Can you believe some guy from Africa would have a fake name like that!

:thumbdn:

"Remember what you mother said..."

George Washington, that's funny. I don't think my guy did it on purpose, probably not common knowledge that Jim/Jimmy is James, or who Jimmy Stewart is, wherever he was.

"Remember what you mother said..."? huh?

I get it, you're trolling me from another thread...

Ignored for trolling...