An innocent mistake

Oh this was fun. There's been a long email thread about some feature requirements for an in-progress project, and a new technical product manager (TPM) was just added to the fray. In one of his first responses, he quoted & agreed with something I had said and referred to me as "her." He's never seen or heard of me before, so I guess the "ele" at the end of my name could be seen as a feminine "-elle" by someone who didn't know better, but for some reason I found it exceedingly comedic. I was actually sharing the fun with a co-worker when my phone rang. Who showed up on the caller ID? Why, if it wasn't that same TPM. I tried my best to go straight-faced, and when I picked up the phone, I mustered up the deepest voice I possibly could, and answered, "This is Bamidele..." The silence that followed on the other end was priceless.

I know, I'm mean. It was just too good to pass up.