I was sexist today

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, as you see it wasn't my bed. It was my "hospital" bed reserved for when I make too much of a fuss and can't sleep with my spouse for one reason or another. It allows me more control and to be closer to things I might need like food, water, medicines, and on the good and bad side, is minus one person.

So when I got a call from our furnace people (company name redacted from this story) I was a bit annoyed to have forgotten the appointment and was sure that they were calling to reschedule (again).

The first appointment I had with them was the day after Thanksgiving, to which I got a call and a guy informing me "No one wants to work that day." I shrugged, figured that two of the three people working in my family were given the choice they wouldn't work it either, and set up another time. Two weeks before that time, I was informed that they wouldn't be able to make that appointment either for some "sudden training," that needed to be done and we would need to push it to the beginning of February.

Slightly perturbed this time, I pointed out to the guy that this was the second time.

"These things happen. Especially with Covid."

I wanted to point out the two reasons that their company had rescheduled on me had nothing to do with the pandemic, only bad scheduling, but this is a "semi-free" service for my parents that I only run because I'm the disabled one, so I let it go.

Which leads us to this cold February morning, where I'm already a little miserable. Our phone, a landline with caller ID (I wish we had a corded phone somewhere so we could be really retro), informs me in its robotic voice that the furnace company is calling again and I instinctively prepare to be disappointed. When I answer and the sweetest female voice speaks back to me, and that only assures me that the outlook is dim.

"Hi, I was wondering if it would be okay for me to be there in ten minutes?" she asked.

"Huh?" it was so shocking to me to have them actually confirm, and doubly so to have a woman repairman say she was coming I needed a moment to reset.

"I only live ten minutes away, so I was wondering if it would be okay for me to come look at the furnace now?"

My brain was still jumbled, so I briefly took stock. I was awake, in not terrible pajamas (I'd let repair people in wearing worse). My spouse was sleeping, my mother was actually home because of a recent surgery, but taking a bath, and my father, (perhaps the only one who would never take an extra day off of work if offered) was working on his office.

"Y-yeah. That should be fine."

She was on time, gorgeous, and incredibly receptive to the things my parents needed- when one of them did appear to speak to her instead of me who only jumbled and spoke on how much I needed to water my hibiscus.

As I reflected on it, I realized how sexist it was of me to expect that if someone was going to cancel on me, it was going to be a girl with a pretty voice. Add to that the small shock I received from having a female, black repair person at my door, and I felt incredibly sheepish.

When I had considered careers for both my spouse and I to supplement our various art gigs, repair work was one that I had looked to. Admittedly there are fewer women in the career, but it's growing every day. I wanted to learn how to fix my house with my hands.

So, thank you, furnace people, for canceling on me twice, so I could meet your goddess of a repairwoman and remind myself that even girls can be problematic sometimes.