Over the years, I've come up with a pretty much foolproof way to deal with condescending salesmen. First of all, I usually give them a chance to get through at least part of their sales schpeal; after all, they sell these things for a living, which makes it at least (barely) possible that they might know something that I don't about what I'm intending to buy. If they begin to annoy me, I then begin to ask questions. Specifically, I begin to ask them the kinds of questions that nobody but an engineer (or a serious hobbyist) would even think to ask (or be able to answer). It's very important to ask these questions in a very innocent and serious tone of voice; you don't want to come across as *deliberately* trying to show them up. This usually has one of two results ~ (a) they suddenly remember something urgent that they've got to take care of on the other side of the store or (B) they run off and get their superior, who is usually older, more polite, and actually knows what he (or she) is talking about (the more rare option (c) involves them dropping the BS-attitude and asking questions about the questions that I just asked).
Maybe I'm just a little bit more sadistic than you, but I've always found this type of situation to be more entertaining than annoying. Most macho tech guys seem to find it absolutely humiliating to be shown up by a little blue-eyed blond. Of course, the kinds of tech purchases that I usually make are so specialized that the salespeople generally assume that you're an engineer if you're even trying to order them (and aren't made in retail electronics stores), so maybe I just think that the whole Sexist Salesman thing is funny because I don't often run into it. Personally, I find the salesmen who try to hit on me to be MUCH more annoying.
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Over the years, I've come up with a pretty much foolproof way to deal with condescending salesmen. First of all, I usually give them a chance to get through at least part of their sales schpeal; after all, they sell these things for a living, which makes it at least (barely) possible that they might know something that I don't about what I'm intending to buy. If they begin to annoy me, I then begin to ask questions. Specifically, I begin to ask them the kinds of questions that nobody but an engineer (or a serious hobbyist) would even think to ask (or be able to answer). It's very important to ask these questions in a very innocent and serious tone of voice; you don't want to come across as *deliberately* trying to show them up. This usually has one of two results ~ (a) they suddenly remember something urgent that they've got to take care of on the other side of the store or (B) they run off and get their superior, who is usually older, more polite, and actually knows what he (or she) is talking about (the more rare option (c) involves them dropping the BS-attitude and asking questions about the questions that I just asked). Maybe I'm just a little bit more sadistic than you, but I've always found this type of situation to be more entertaining than annoying. Most macho tech guys seem to find it absolutely humiliating to be shown up by a little blue-eyed blond. Of course, the kinds of tech purchases that I usually make are so specialized that the salespeople generally assume that you're an engineer if you're even trying to order them (and aren't made in retail electronics stores), so maybe I just think that the whole Sexist Salesman thing is funny because I don't often run into it. Personally, I find the salesmen who try to hit on me to be MUCH more annoying.