“It’s the one in Philadelphia…”
Yeah, I bought that “Not Penn State” shirt at Steve and Barry’s my freshman year. I’ve thrown it out years ago, but maybe I should have kept it…
So I was at the gym this morning and someone comes up to me and said, “I noticed you were wearing a Penn shirt at the gym last week. Did you go to Penn State?
Grrr.
As I always do, I gracefully replied, “Actually, it’s University of Pennsylvania.. the one in Philadelphia.”
And she replies, “Oh, because I have friends who went to Penn State.”
Grrr.
Then there’s the story from a couple years ago. I was in a Starbucks out here in Los Angeles and there was a guy wearing a Penn sweatshirt. We started chatting for a couple of minutes when a neighboring CHW girl leaned in and asked “Oh, you guys went to Penn State?” The Penn guy with whom I was speaking looked at me and asked “Do you want to take this one or should I?” We both laughed because this wasn’t the first, nor would it be the last time we would have to explain the difference…
If I had a nickel…
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6 thoughts on ““It’s the one in Philadelphia…””
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i hail from taiwan, so very few people i meet have heard of upenn or psu, but one day i was very pleasantly surprised to find that a prospective employer of mine knew of penn. at the interview, he enthusiastically waxed on about how great a school it is, how much he liked the campus when he visited, etc. etc., and i was filled with warm fuzzy feelings, and all was well. then he started talking about how great our athletics was. i told him our school had decent teams, especially amongst our peers, but they’re really nothing to shout about. he insisted that our school perenially did well in the ncaa’s… our basketball team, our division 1 football team… and as that warm fuzzy feeling left my stomach, he seemed confused that i could know so little about my own school while i struggled to keep from rolling my eyes. needless to say, i did not end up at that company.
A couple of months ago a woman called our office to get the admissions office telephone number for Penn State. I advised her that she had reached the University of Pennsylvania. She simply asked me to transfer her call to the proper person. When I explained that I am in the West Coast, she beleived that we should all be in the same office. I finally went on the internet and gave her the number. It was easier then explaining things … again.
Cynthia Alvarenga
Administrative Assistant
Western Regional Office
University of Pennsylvania
Los Angeles, CA 90024
“Explaining things again”. Sorry but just in case it was never explained to you listen carefully. Once you are assigned to answer the telephone you take on the responsibility to represent the University and that means being as helpful and courtious as you can and if you still feel you were helpful then posting your comment in a site that could be viewed by this woman was distasteful and thoughtless. Besides “administrative assistant” is just a glorified title for a secretary and its highly likely the woman who seems to have bored you was a actual ALUMNI the main reason for your employment as a administrative assistant.
Calling Cynthia Alvarenga “distasteful and thoughtless” plus making fun of her job title was in itself thoughtless and distasteful. She may have not phrased herself as well as she could have and while it is not an excuse perhaps she is just young however I do agree her seemingly innocent post could have been found and caused someone some grief and as a retired employer I do wonder what finds her online at this site on a Friday workday?
yeah.. that’s a good call.. typically after I call the wrong university looking for the administration number , I then follow up by browsing websites concerning said wrong university, and if anything is mentioned concerning my mixup, however good natured it may be, I vow to never call said university again. Then, I go on to websites and post inane criticism under the guise of anonymous…
Define “inane” what if your really being crude, lewd or just plain rude…and then theres the ever popular just plain smart ass, big butted receptionist with a napoleon attitude. As for anonymous I am really Barack Obama online looking for random nasty things to say about Hillary…opps did I say big butt?