What's with the "Miss"?
It was bad enough when I had to start saying it to my kids: "Miss Susan is a great soccer coach, isn't she?"or "Miss Amanda can really kick that ball!" But when my clients started coming in and calling me "Miss Jordan", I thought I was going to jump out a window from the sheer irritation of it. To me, it's the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. "I get to play with Miss Jordan today," says one of my clients, sweetly. "NO, YOU DON'T!!! NOT IF YOU KEEP CALLING ME THAT NAME!!!" I want to shout. I have worked with families from coast to coast, including midwestern Minnesota, and nowhere have I encountered this Miss thing. Will I ever get used to it? Tune in in about 10 years and I'll let you know, because I'm sure it won't happen sooner than that.
posted by Jordan @ 9:01 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Except weren't we called that when we taught preschool at Close to Home? Is it a compliment because it means everyone thinks you look so young? ;) Would they call you Mrs. something if they knew you were married? Would they call you Dr. Jordan if you had were an MD or Ph.D.? (My younger clients all called me Dr. Shannon....) Hmmm. Interesting. I'll be sure not to call you Miss Jordan anymore, in my head.
Nope, we were all called by just our first names at Close to Home. Believe me, I've never in all my years with kids been called Miss Jordan by anyone. Do they do that in Northfield? And no, no one is Mrs. something (my clients' parents all know I'm married and have kids), but our pediatric dentist and doctor are both Dr. Mary, which also sounds weird to me but is less formal than using their last name, rather than adding formality with the "Miss"...
Methinks it's better than being called 'Frau Jordan.' Count your blessings, Scruff. Count your blessings.
I have no idea if they do it in Northfield. I'm never anyplace (yet) to find out, i.e, Julia's not in preschool yet. That's funny about Close to Home, I must have been thinking of someplace else where all the teachers were called Miss....I know I've heard it before. I agree, Dr. Shannon sounds kind of silly, but I went with it because my younger clients seemed to like it plus it preserved the credential that is an important part of buying into the therapeutic process for many clients (and their parents!). Plus my last name is way too hard for just about everyone. Hmm. I think you should devise an alternative and make them call you that instead. Queen? Oh Master of Speech and Language? Ma'am?
How 'bout Mrs. Jordan? ;-) (See, it can always be worse.)
Miss Gordon?
Perhaps we should just cut to the chase and save a few rounds here. "Jordan Gordon Schmordon".
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