Salutations can be ridiculous sometimes. I’ve never been a fan of having to state whether I am “Ms.”, “Miss” or “Mrs.” on a form. It just seems like one extra unnecessary step for me. I am who I am by name, isn’t that enough?
Anyway, I was amused by an online form recently that used a dropdown box for the salutation. It was for a household service so they wanted to know how to address the snail mail they would be sending.
The options were:
- Mr.
- Miss
- Ms.
- Mrs.
- Dr.
- Mr. & Mrs.
- Dr. & Mrs.
And that was all. No option to create your own and they forced you to select at least one or the form would not submit.
Classy.
Now we all know there are a whole host of other titles and combinations that are missing. I don’t really need to go through them all, but heaven forbid they assume that the woman might be the “Dr.” in the household and they just might need to add a Mr. and Dr. to their list of possibilities.
Have you ever run into a form where the appropriate salutation is missing from the options?
5 comments
gretchen
I agree. If I have to use a first name, I will put BOTH first names down and not just the male name. When we get mail addressed with just my husband’s name and I’m listed only as “Mrs.” it makes me feel less important.
megan
Just throwing somethin out there, does it ever bother you when at weddings, on mail, etc. the label/people say mr and mrs( insert male name here). It bugs me and its like men are still in control of us and we are submitting to them. hmm… and ya the choices are dumb, why do you even have to put them…?
Gretchen
Until recently I worked in a fundraising office, so we had to set up addressees all the time. In the case in which the wife is the doctor, I would do Dr. Jane Doe and Mr. John Doe. So I guess if she were filling out the form you cited, she would just have to pick whether to put down herself or her husband but not both :) But yes, it’s ridiculous to have such limited choices.
Anne Jackson
I am so glad you wrote this, Gretchen. I run into this problem ALL the time at the UI when we are doing mailings to alumni and donors. If the woman of the marriage is also an alumna of our unit, I stack the names so both of their names are showing. If the woman of the marriage is the alum and the man is NOT, I also stack the names and put the woman first. She’s the alum; doesn’t she deserve that? I have done “Mr. and Dr.” and “Mr. and Prof.” as well, but only if the man is the alumnus and the woman is not. I’m sure I am one of a very few who are making these changes, but it has to happen someday, doesn’t it? We have a Life Partner designation here, and those names always come stacked, and frankly, I think we should do that for everyone. There’s my stance!
gretchen
I totally agree. There are so many different salutations. It just makes sense to let the person filling out the form designate what that salutation should be rather than forcing them to select from some generic options. Good for you for making those changes!