I’ve never been mistaken for a girl before. OK, I may not be the manliest man in the world, but people know I’m male.
So why has the Discover Card market segmentation group decided that I’m a girl? I received a holiday card from them today. In pink:
“We’re here to spread a little holiday cheer— with savings to make you smile.”
“15% off your purchase of $100 or more at Ann Taylor and a double Cashback Bonus® award”
I’m ecstatic.
In trying to decide how they came to the conclusion that I am of the opposite sex, I looked back at my bills. Here are the girliest charges I could find:
Oct 14th : Penzey’s Spices, $36.44
Dec 12st : Bed Bath & Beyond, $125.99
Dec 24th : Williams Sonoma, $21.65
Apr 21st : Design Within Reach, $291.43
Aug 6th : Sak’s Fifth Avenue, $231.80
Jan 11th : Crate & Barrel, $419.95
But the following manly charges should at least cancel those out:
Dec 31st : Liquor World, $64.26
Dec 26th : CompUSA, $76.46
Jun 25th : MicroCenter, $12.58
Jan 1st : Eastern Mountain Sports, $42.95
Oct 15th : Tweeter Electronics, $136.49
Jan 18th : Burton Snowboard Factory Store, $129.85
Comments
Dec 30 02003 7.58p
Whitney #
Was the letter addressed to Ms. Carl Tashian? Men can get pink cards and shop at Ann Taylor. Does this bother you? I get things addressed to “Mr. Whitney Boon” all the time. I’ve been called “Sir” to my face and over the phone numerous times. It’s difficult to turn gender into a binary code. In order to do this, everyone has to cooperate. I marvel not that you may have been mistaken for a woman, but rather that in 25 years everyone up to this point has correctly classified you. Think of how statistically significant your manhood must be! (Maybe that’s the scary part!)