SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Increasingly Significant Issue

[Alice Faber]

Steve Kl. wrote:
>On Thu, 11 Apr 2002, Lynne Murphy wrote:
>
>>  In the UK, 'partner' is the term of choice regardless of sexual
>>  orientation.  It's used without blinking all the time.
>
>I, like most of my queer, coupled friends, use partner (as in my response
>to telemarketers "There is no Mrs. Dubuque; this is Peter's partner." Then
>they stammer, except recently one person went "Is this a business?")
>
>Actually, in this day in age, I'm astounded by the number of telemarketers
>who ask for Mrs. Dubuque. It seems so presumptuous on so many levels, not
>just queer/straight ones. Haven't these people ever dealt with widowers,
>for example? It seems like such an easy way to get off on the wrong foot.

Not to mention women who are not and have not ever been Mrs.
anything! (Not even when I was married)

--
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Alice Faber                                             faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                                  tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                                     fax (203) 865-8963