Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[NutMeg]

Re. non minty toothpaste: Europe is big on homeopathy, which apparently doesn't go well with mint, so the choice is a bit wider - e.g. I remember a lemon verbena toothpaste that I bought just because I like change, very nice, turned out it was designed with homeopathy in mind.

In Asia, Japan offers everything (once  bought a strawberry toothpaste, ewww), Thailand has interesting herbal ones (feels very weird at first, as if you had just brushed your teeth with Vicks, but I ended up a fan after a while), and of course there's always green tea toothpaste, always nice. I still like mint, though, but I also like having OPTIONS in the morning. And toothpaste bought on a trip is a fun way to start or end the day remembering the trip. Cheap too.

[Moose135]

4 hours ago, DeLurker said:

Might I suggest any of the following for torturing annoying cube mates?

You're evil...I knew there was a reason I liked you!

[zxy556575]

Is political commentary allowed in Small Talk threads? They're supposed to be non-show related chatter so it seems like elections or whatever would be fine.

[MargeGunderson]

1 hour ago, lordonia said:

Is political commentary allowed in Small Talk threads? They're supposed to be non-show related chatter so it seems like elections or whatever would be fine.

I don't think so; the no politics rule seems to be across the boards. 

Related pet peeve - people who continue to talk about something after you've asked them to stop, like my mother in law and the elections. We have the same political leanings so it's not like she's trying to convince me of something. She just can't stop talking about it no matter how many times I've told her I don't want to discuss it. Unfortunately we are visiting her at the end of October and she will be a basket case by then.

[zxy556575]

1 hour ago, MargeGunderson said:

Related pet peeve - people who continue to talk about something after you've asked them to stop, like my mother in law and the elections. We have the same political leanings so it's not like she's trying to convince me of something. She just can't stop talking about it no matter how many times I've told her I don't want to discuss it. Unfortunately we are visiting her at the end of October and she will be a basket case by then.

Arg, sorry! I'll try to do better. My brother-in-law and I are liable to bemoan politics together even though my sister has asked us not to. If we keep at it, she'll leave the room and then he and I get those "guilty dog" meme faces.

Edited September 21, 2016 by lordonia

[MargeGunderson]

Hee! But do you preface your conversation about politics with "I know you don't want to talk about the election, but?" 

[zxy556575]

53 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

Hee! But do you preface your conversation about politics with "I know you don't want to talk about the election, but?" 

You're sweet to try to give me an out, but I am not off the hook at all: "I know Lisa is tired of this, but what do you think of ..."

It's especially rude if we're at a restaurant or other event where she can't leave. I promise I'll quit.  ;)

[ratgirlagogo]

7 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

Actually I never see any Hillary bashing.

Well I hate them both if that makes you feel any better.  But I also  appreciate the no-politics zone here since my more engage friends bombard me with Fun Facts 24/7.

[ParadoxLost]

Is it normal for the local news to play mood music during their investigative reports?

Because I don't think that property tax bills being mailed late is justification for the news to add a soundtrack and sound effects to their reporting.

But I'm pretty sure a serial killer is going to brain the fired tax commissioner with a slot machine.

[zxy556575]

Enough already with Brad and Angelina and Jennifer.

Jesus Christ on a cross. I don't particularly follow celebrity entertainment news so am only aware of events when they've reached RED LEVEL alert status via my homepage newsfeed headlines, talk show monologues, or are discussed here. Even so, I can't escape Brad and Angelia and, invariably, Jennifer even though their breakup was a fucking decade ago. IT'S SUPER ANNOYING.

Also? There have now been more than 75 years worth of references to "ding dong [X] is dead" and "someone, something, something, oh my" and CAN WE PLEASE RETIRE those goddamned phrases?

Edited September 22, 2016 by lordonia

[Wiendish Fitch]

9 minutes ago, lordonia said:

Enough already with Brad and Angelina and Jennifer.

Jesus Christ on a cross. I don't particularly follow celebrity entertainment news so am only aware of events when they've reached RED LEVEL alert status via my homepage newsfeed headline, talk show monologues, or are discussed here. Even I can't escape Brad and Angelia and, invariably, Jennifer even though their breakup was a fucking decade ago. IT'S SUPER ANNOYING.

 

Has it even been 48 hours? It already feels months old! Let it go, folks! I'm amazed they lasted THIS long!

[Qoass]

Well, that's the thing:  those magazines at the supermarket checkout have been announcing that they were getting divorced since approximately five minutes after the wedding ceremony. 

[zxy556575]

19 minutes ago, Qoass said:

Well, that's the thing:  those magazines at the supermarket checkout have been announcing that they were getting divorced since approximately five minutes after the wedding ceremony. 

Here's Kimmel's joke about that.

Quote

@lordonia, can I be indulged while I do a little dance of glee for Jennifer? Just for a bit longer? Please? 

I could never say no to squash. :)

Edited September 21, 2016 by lordonia

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 9/19/2016 at 11:00 PM, backformore said:

. I hate buying toothpaste.  My dentist tells me to use sensodyne. But then I have to figure out, do I want tartar control, plaque fighter, whitening, fresh breath, or cavity protection?

Have you read the ingredients?  Because they're the same on all the formulations:  potassium nitrate for anti-sensitivity, and fluoride for anti-cavity.  There are NO other active ingredients, even the if the box touts tartar control, plaque fighting, even whitening.  How can that be?  They do something others don't, but the active ingredients are the same?

And I'm trying to avoid sodium lauryl sulfate in toothpaste.  Some Sensodynes have it (in the inactive ingredients), and some don't, and I can't discern a pattern.  But I don't like the screw-on lid on Sensodyne (and the flip-tops from other brands don't fit).  I found a Walgreens brand anti-sensitivity toothpaste that doesn't have SLS, but there are two versions so I have to be alert; the whitening formula (with the exact same "active ingredients" as the regular formula) has SLS but the regular doesn't.  And I think the whitening formula is 50 cents more.   Or something like that--this is all from memory and rage probably affected some of the neurons.

 

On 9/20/2016 at 7:40 AM, DeLurker said:

@bilgistic - Might I suggest any of the following for torturing annoying cube mates?

Back in the days before cell phones (hell, before even pagers), there was a woman in the next cube who would howl into the phone, constantly.  A lot of it was talking to her mother, who she called "mama" over and over and over.  Pronounced mah-MUH.  And even on work calls she was incredibly loud and always breathily overwrought.  "Yesssss.  Yessssss."

There were distinctive rings--single rings for "inside" calls (which were presumably work related) and a fast ring-ring for outside calls.  The outside calls would ring three times and if unanswered, then roll over to the receptionist, Carol.

When the howler was away from her desk but still within earshot, I would verrrry quietly pick up my phone, punch 9 for an outside line, and dial her number.  She'd come rushing over (which was no mean feat--she was a very large woman) and just as she picked it up, I'd hang up with my finger (quieter than the receiver).  Then I'd hear her answer the phone, and a lot of hello? hello? hello?  Then, desperate that she might have missed a personal call, she'd call the receptionist:  "Carol?  Did a call for me roll over?  No?  Well it rang here but I didn't get to it in time.  It didn't roll over?  Are you sure?"  And she'd be tortured wondering about the call she missed.

I just loved that we were no more than 24" apart during all this, and she never knew.

[janestclair]

@StatisticalOutlier - that is amazing.   I love it.

I lost one of my favorite earrings today. This annoys me on two levels. One, I don't know when I lost it which means it's probably lost and gone forever. And two, how long did I walk around today with only one earring and no one said anything. WTF, people?  Clue me in!  We took ID photos today too, which means I possibly only have one in the photo. Awesome.   

[Demented Daisy]

Peeve: pranks.  I don't find them funny.  I find them mean-spirited and immature.

[DeLurker]

I fully fess up to being both.  Petty too.

[StatisticalOutlier]

54 minutes ago, Demented Daisy said:

Peeve: pranks.  I don't find them funny.  I find them mean-spirited and immature.

I like some and don't like others.  The one with the phone?  She started it.   :-) 

But the type of practical joke that I don't like is where someone is waiting to hear whether someone passed a driving test or something, and they purposely come in with a hangdog look and either say or imply they flunked, and then say they actually passed.  That puts the concerned person in a state of sadness and disappointment that is there only because they care about you and you misled them.  I think that's mean.

Oh, but I'll confess to something else I did that I find completely harmless but hilarious, and you can judge.  In my freshman dorm, it was all girls.  No guys were allowed past the lobby, so they had to go to this little room to call their date's room and have her come down.  The little room had mailboxes along the left side, and on the right were two phone booths and then three house phones on the wall out in the open.  I'd noticed that the guys always went for the middle house phone.

So I made up signs that said "men's phone" and "women's phone" or "men only phone" and "women only phone" or something along those lines.  I put the "women only" sign above the middle house phone and the two "men only" signs on the flanking ones.  And watched.

And invariably the guy would walk up to the middle phone and as he was reaching for the receiver he'd see the "women only" sign and move over and use one of the other two.  God, I laughed myself sick.  The only mean-spirited thing about that was my thinking, "Seriously??"

If you enjoy practical jokes, listen to the Fresh Air interview with Adam McKay, which was about his movie The Big Short, but at the end of the interview, he said this:

Quote

But I still think at root I love comedy that has a prank quality to it, a comedy that messes with audiences and upends expectations or you think it's one thing and it's another thing. I'll always love that. Like, I'm 47 years old, and I swear if they didn't have caller ID I would still be doing crank phone calls.

Then he goes on to describe the crank calls in college.  There's a transcript here, and also a link to the audio (the audio is particularly hilarious because you can hear how funny he still thinks it was):

Fresh Air with Adam McKay

She asked him if he felt any guilt (Terry Gross doesn't come across to me as a big practical joker), and he said none whatsoever:

Quote

So we weren't taking anyone's money. We weren't putting anyone in danger. We were just kind of giving them a chaotic hard time, which I think is good. I think that's healthy on some level, as long as there's not serious emotional distress.

[ganesh]

My crowning achievement prank call: I called the Home Shopping Network and tried to order a butt plug. I was on the phone for 10 minutes before they hung up. I played it straight the whole time and didn't crack. 

[auntlada]

Just now, ganesh said:

My crowning achievement prank call: I called the Home Shopping Network and tried to order a butt plug. I was on the phone for 10 minutes before they hung up. I played it straight the whole time and didn't crack. 

My father used to do stuff like that with telemarketers. He'd let them go through their whole spiel and then ask them some bizarre question they didn't know what to do with. He once listened to a salesman trying to sell siding (we lived in a brick house) until the guy asked him if he had any questions. Dad asked, "Can you put the siding on a teepee?" (We lived in what advertised itself at the time as Indian City, U.S.A.)

Another time a traveling encyclopedia salesman stopped by the house, and Dad talked and talked to him and even dragged me out to talk to the guy. We weren't going to buy the encyclopedias. We couldn't afford them. But I had to sit and talk to the guy. (I would have liked to have the encyclopedias, actually.)

He never did his best idea, though. He was a newspaper editor and always said when he retired, he was going to write letters to the editor extolling the virtues of prostitution and sign the mayor's name. He didn't do it because he had enough sense to know how much trouble you can get in doing stuff like that -- and that the people in charge of the paper after he left would have just printed the letter without even asking the mayor, "Did you really write this?"

[ParadoxLost]

29 minutes ago, auntlada said:

My father used to do stuff like that with telemarketers.

I torment Comcast when they call.   Its always fun to have them try to sell you a home security system and to turn it around on them to make them listen/try to help with a recent service complaint.  They get befuddled because they work for Comcast, but not that Comcast.

[DeLurker]

3 hours ago, ganesh said:

My crowning achievement prank call: I called the Home Shopping Network and tried to order a butt plug. I was on the phone for 10 minutes before they hung up. I played it straight the whole time and didn't crack. 

I'm 12 so find that hilarious!

[potatoradio]

4 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I like some and don't like others.  The one with the phone?  She started it.   :-) 

But the type of practical joke that I don't like is where someone is waiting to hear whether someone passed a driving test or something, and they purposely come in with a hangdog look and either say or imply they flunked, and then say they actually passed.  That puts the concerned person in a state of sadness and disappointment that is there only because they care about you and you misled them.  I think that's mean.

Oh, but I'll confess to something else I did that I find completely harmless but hilarious, and you can judge.  In my freshman dorm, it was all girls.  No guys were allowed past the lobby, so they had to go to this little room to call their date's room and have her come down.  The little room had mailboxes along the left side, and on the right were two phone booths and then three house phones on the wall out in the open.  I'd noticed that the guys always went for the middle house phone.

So I made up signs that said "men's phone" and "women's phone" or "men only phone" and "women only phone" or something along those lines.  I put the "women only" sign above the middle house phone and the two "men only" signs on the flanking ones.  And watched.

And invariably the guy would walk up to the middle phone and as he was reaching for the receiver he'd see the "women only" sign and move over and use one of the other two.  God, I laughed myself sick.  The only mean-spirited thing about that was my thinking, "Seriously??"

If you enjoy practical jokes, listen to the Fresh Air interview with Adam McKay, which was about his movie The Big Short, but at the end of the interview, he said this:

Then he goes on to describe the crank calls in college.  There's a transcript here, and also a link to the audio (the audio is particularly hilarious because you can hear how funny he still thinks it was):

Fresh Air with Adam McKay

She asked him if he felt any guilt (Terry Gross doesn't come across to me as a big practical joker), and he said none whatsoever:

You were 't a sociology major, were you? Sounds like a perfect experiment; I would have laughed my arse off. 

My hygienest told me that if a toothpaste doesn't have the ADA seal, it hasn't been approved for all of its claims (e.g., whitening). Not quite the same as a Consumer Reports write up, but I think that's why some varieties of paste with the same ingredients have the seal and some don't. Course, she also told me the new high pressure water thingie  MIGHT sting. Oh, ha ha ha....

[topanga]

14 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I like some and don't like others.  The one with the phone?  She started it.   :-) 

But the type of practical joke that I don't like is where someone is waiting to hear whether someone passed a driving test or something, and they purposely come in with a hangdog look and either say or imply they flunked, and then say they actually passed.  That puts the concerned person in a state of sadness and disappointment that is there only because they care about you and you misled them.  I think that's mean.

Oh, but I'll confess to something else I did that I find completely harmless but hilarious, and you can judge.  In my freshman dorm, it was all girls.  No guys were allowed past the lobby, so they had to go to this little room to call their date's room and have her come down.  The little room had mailboxes along the left side, and on the right were two phone booths and then three house phones on the wall out in the open.  I'd noticed that the guys always went for the middle house phone.

So I made up signs that said "men's phone" and "women's phone" or "men only phone" and "women only phone" or something along those lines.  I put the "women only" sign above the middle house phone and the two "men only" signs on the flanking ones.  And watched.

And invariably the guy would walk up to the middle phone and as he was reaching for the receiver he'd see the "women only" sign and move over and use one of the other two.  God, I laughed myself sick.  The only mean-spirited thing about that was my thinking, "Seriously??"

That sounds like a great social experiment! How many guys went for the middle phone (sounds like most), and how many were able to be controlled by a crazy sign (sounds like all of them?. No one was harmed or embarrassed, and you got a great laugh out of it. 

I'm ambivalent about pranks. I don't mind lighthearted jokes, but not ones where people get harmed (or think they're being harmed). That's why I liked the show Punk'd sometimes. For example, I enjoyed the episode where someone moved Raven Simone's car to a handicapped spot, and she had to convince a police officer that she didn't park there--and he called her "Rudy Huxtable" during their interview. But I did not enjoy an episode with Macy Gray when she went to the children's community center/Boy's and Girl's club she was sponsoring, with corporate sponsors, and Ashton had the building wrapped in plastic to make it look like the building has asbestos. That was not funny. And even though it was revealed to be a joke, she still might've lost donations from some of the corporate sponsors. 

 

My pet peeve for today: reading a book or watching a movie after too many people have read it or seen it. I hate, hate, hate when someone says they don't want to spoil the ending but then proceed to tell me there will be a twist at the end, or I'm going to cry, or I'm going to hate the ending. WTF? You've basically told me the ending already. Just STFU. If you want to give me a comment, simply tell me whether you liked it or didn't like or if you think I'll like it. No details are necessary.

My mother is the worst. If I mention wanting to see movie that she's already seen, she'll say, "Is that the one where the wife turns out to be the killer?" Gee, thanks, Mom.

[JTMacc99]

11 minutes ago, topanga said:

Gee, thanks, Mom.

I'm sitting here chuckling to myself about this. Heh. 

[P2C2E]

On 9/19/2016 at 0:52 PM, potatoradio said:

 

I had a conniption fit the other day because I could not find a single variety of gum or mint that didn't have some kind of fake sugar as an "artificial flavoring." I know to bypass anything that says "sugar free," but f*ck you, ALtoids and Juicy Fruit and DoubleMint and Starbucks mints, for not pointing out that you now use some form of fake sugar. LifeSavers is the only brand I can find that uses sugar, still, but did they have plain old LifeSavers at the welcome center kiosks? Oh, no, too hard to fit one more brand among the ten thousand already there. Phhhhhtttt....

This is what I like. http://www.myntz.com

[annzeepark914]

I hate pranks just like I hate teasing.  I feel there's some hostility tucked inside the prankster/teaser.  And dirty jokes (cause they're almost always at the expense of females).  But I'm not an angel cause when I was a kid, my friend & I used to call up numbers we'd find in the phone book and ask the lady who answered (it was always a lady) if she'd like to participate in the Snappy Girdle Contest.   Two young bored kids (wish we'd had computers back then...but maybe it was best we didn't).

[bilgistic]

That made me remember that my "bad influence" friend and I would prank call people in middle school. She had three-way calling, so we could do it together when we were both stuck home, as pre-teens often are. This was the mid-1980s.

We lived several miles apart in a suburban area that was still rural-ish here and there, which made the following believable. Because I had the more "grown-up" sounding voice, I would ask whoever answered the number we called that belonged to so-and-so on Any Street (remember phone books had addresses!) if they could go look to see if my cow was in their backyard. "You see, she got loose and wandered away, and could you go take a look?" SO MANY PEOPLE DID.

Edited September 23, 2016 by bilgistic

[ratgirlagogo]

13 hours ago, topanga said:

My mother is the worst. If I mention wanting to see movie that she's already seen, she'll say, "Is that the one where the wife turns out to be the killer?" Gee, thanks, Mom.

Are you saying she's a .......BLABBERMOUTH??????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92YQbNLnh_Q

[AgentRXS]

My pet peeve for today:

Trying to read a article online, and embedded in the article is a video with some no-name reporter blathering on the same information from the text, word for word. And the video automatically loads, so I have to wait for it load and pause it so I can concentrate on reading. This seems to be the latest trend as all the articles I've attempted to read lately include this type of video.  Its annoying.  I just want to read the news in peace. If I wanted to watch a video on the story, I would watch the news.  And don't get me started on those websites that have annoying advertisements that loudly play as soon as you click on the link. Ugh.

[Jaded]

My favorite prank call when I was young worked best if there were at least two people even better with three. We'd call the same number two or three times asking for someone. On the fourth call one of us would say we were whoever we'd asked for previously and ask the person if we'd received any messages.

[magicdog]

On 9/21/2016 at 4:30 PM, forumfish said:

 

My dad liked to tease my friends when they'd call,

 

My Dad did the same!  For years (even in the months before he passed) he's answer the phone with one of the following phrases:

"City Morgue.  You kill 'em, we chill 'em!"

and:

"City Morgue.  You stab 'em, we slab 'em!"

 

When I was in college, and before e-mail was a regular thing, I used to write letters to friends and family back home.  I used to buy joke envelopes that would be labeled things like "Pregnancy test results enclosed - Urgent!" or something similar.  People used to get a giggle out of them.

 

My pet peeve for the day:  that stupid news like "Brangelina" breaking up is interspersed between far more serious news stories and treated like some monstrous event!  When my own station reported the news, it was treated with the solemnity of an assassination! Then again, I hate how TV news has become so ridiculous in recent years ("infotainment" is an accurate term) and I prefer going online for anything relevent.

Edited September 23, 2016 by magicdog

[Moose135]

14 minutes ago, magicdog said:

My Dad did the same!  For years (even in the months before he passed) he's answer the phone with one of the following phrases:

"City Morgue.  You kill 'em, we chill 'em!"

and:

"City Morgue.  You stab 'em, we slab 'em!"

I haven't heard those in ages! Sounds like your Dad was a cool guy!
 

Quote

 

Then again, I hate how TV news has become so ridiculous in recent years ("infotainment" is an accurate term) and I prefer going online for anything relevent.

 

Sometimes I watch the local news, and as they show viral videos and other ridiculousness, I keep saying "That's not news...that's not news...that's not news..."

[magicdog]

Just now, Moose135 said:

Sounds like your Dad was a cool guy!

He was indeed.

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

Yeah, we had the same problem at a McD's.  My son HATED onions, especially those little diced onions McD's puts on burgers.  We always ordered one burger with "No onions".  And, it always came WITH onions (but they wrote "No onions"  on the wrapper).  If we were eating at home, I'd have to scrape the burger and bun, then add ketchup (because you can't scrape just onions).  At times, I'd had to throw out the bun and give him a piece of bread on top of the burger, because the hint of onion taste was still in the bun.  One day, the manager was at the counter, and I asked him why it was impossible to get a burger with no onions.   He very confidently assured me that it was no problem.   We ordered, and he called out to the kitchen to make sure that one burger was "no onion".  Ok - the food came, and he pointed out to me, in his condescending way, that one burger was marked "no onion", so that, see?  it was no problem!  Yeah, so I unwrapped the burger and pointed out to the little white things all over the inside, and asked him what they were.    Yeah, he had them make it over and gave us some coupons.    I pointed out to him that at his store, it was obvious that "no onions"  meant "regular burger with  the words no onion on the wrapper", because that was what we always got. 

Those tiny onions were the bane of my existence as a little kid! My mom insisted I couldn't possibly taste them, which was infuriating to me then (and, let's be honest, now!). We'd scrape them off but never get all of them, and by then, the soggy bun had their cloying essence all over it. It was horrid and my stomach just did a little twisty thing while I was typing. And, as an adult, I had to do the "Then what are these?!" thing to someone at Burger King!

A related peeve is menus that don't disclose onions in some options, especially when onions are indeed noted on others! It's like onions have become an innocuous garnish! If I see "onion" listed, I know to ask my server to keep it away from me or to order something else; if I don't see it, then I might not think to mention it. I have started to ask anyway, no matter what I'm ordering. Same with sushi (or "sushi," as a vegan); I need to make sure there are no chopped scallions rolled up in there! 

I also hate when servers ask if I'm allergic. OK, I get it, they're likely doing that to ensure my food is onion-free, which is good on them. But at the same time, isn't it enough that I, as the customer, asked nicely no matter what my reason? Because, no, you cannot just pick them off and proceed; everything is tainted with their potent scent!

My mom and dad swear that, as a little child, I would "eat onions like apples." I suspect that their pluralization is hyperbole and that maybe I did it one time (if ever!)...and--eureka!--therein is the root of this lifelong hatred.

Haha, once while drinking with friends, including one who was so motherly even though she didn't even have kids at the time, I accidentally ate something with onion in it. She saw my face and instinctively held out her hand! That's some real-deal "I've got your back" action! And, at my BF's mom's wedding reception, I took a delicious-looking appetizer from a tray and put it in my mouth before realizing there were onions in it. I had no napkin and there was no trash can that I could see (because, as you now know, I am not above spitting it right out) so I swallowed it whole just to avoid chewing and releasing the horror even further! The look on my BF's face...

Edited September 23, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[annzeepark914]

8 hours ago, Jaded said:

My favorite prank call when I was young worked best if there were at least two people even better with three. We'd call the same number two or three times asking for someone. On the fourth call one of us would say we were whoever we'd asked for previously and ask the person if we'd received any messages.

Oh...that's awful (but why did I burst out laughing?).  I'm still laughing.  Thanks for today's major chuckle.  For some reason, I'm thinking of a young Georgie Costanza and little Jerry Seinfeld doing something like this in their childhood ;>)

[DeLurker]

Going back to hearing loss and Dad's answering your phone - My Dad has some hearing loss in one ear from working on B 52s when in the Air Force*.  For whatever reason, he almost always answered the phone on that side.  When I got old enough to have boys calling me, he'd always call them by the wrong name.  Example:

Caller:  Hi Mr. DeLurker, may I speak with her?

Dad:  Hi George, I'll get her.

Caller:  It isn't George, it's... (gets cutoff by Dad)"

Dad: Oh, sorry Kenny!

Caller: It's not Kenny.

He swears it was not on purpose and I tend to believe him because when my girl friends called the same thing happened (except when it was Linda.  Linda's voice sounded "like honey" according to every male who ever heard her.  She also looked like Michelle Pfeiffer's younger, prettier sister.)

* B 52 work was short lived as mechanical skills were not Dad's forte.  He could read a technical manual and recite what needed to be done, but translating that to physical action was not a pretty thing.

Edited September 23, 2016 by DeLurker

[backformore]

I don't  like pranks when they are at the expense of someone - like humiliating someone, or having them think they are in danger.  like on the Ellen show, when people JUMP OUT to scare people.  Good thing I'm not a celebrity , I'd be crying and wetting myself.

[backformore]

What I do like is when people can "prank the prankster".  Or the scammer. 

My dad is 90.  There's a common scam where people call an elderly person and claim to be their grandchild.  Then they say they're stuck somewhere, and need money.  "I got mugged in Chicago, they took my wallet and phone."  They want him to somehow send them money through his bank card.   Dad seems to get a lot of these calls, and even more now that he lives alone.   Dad isn't stupid or senile.  He keeps the caller on the phone, chatting, "How's your sister doing? did she have her baby?"  "Why are you calling me instead of your loser father?"; "which grandson?  Mark?  the druggie? No, I never liked you;"  and the best one, "No problem, tell me where you are I'll come get you and bring you home."   His goal is always to get them to hang up on him. 

He also likes the one where they say there's a virus on his computer and they need him to read some  registry number.  ( I think there's some way they can steal your bank account info if you have it saved)   He takes his time, Let me get my glasses, where did I put them.  Ok, got the glasses, now I have to turn the computer on.  What was your name again?  Ok, yeah, Let me open that file, and get the number.   Here it is, I found it.   Let's see.  Do you have a pen?  are you writing this down?  Ok - looks like it starts with a 1.   Or is that a 7?  Dang it, I got the wrong glasses, let me go get my other ones. And on and on.    He's a hoot. 

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

when people JUMP OUT to scare people.  

I think this is funny to do and have done but there is a caveat: I am a skittish person and (as evidenced at least five times in my adult life with four different people on the receiving end) will punch you in the face. Sure, we'll laugh later (or at least I will) but you best consider the integrity of your nose before committing to this kind of antics. (Haha, a coworker and I actually have a game of this in our office. He hasn't gotten punched though--merely slapped. We are not mature.)

This is why I can't (not "won't"--I mean "cannot") go to haunted attractions. It sucks because I love spooky things and stories.

Edited September 23, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[rcc]

39 minutes ago, backformore said:

What I do like is when people can "prank the prankster".  Or the scammer. 

My dad is 90.  There's a common scam where people call an elderly person and claim to be their grandchild.  Then they say they're stuck somewhere, and need money.  "I got mugged in Chicago, they took my wallet and phone."  They want him to somehow send them money through his bank card.   Dad seems to get a lot of these calls, and even more now that he lives alone.   Dad isn't stupid or senile.  He keeps the caller on the phone, chatting, "How's your sister doing? did she have her baby?"  "Why are you calling me instead of your loser father?"; "which grandson?  Mark?  the druggie? No, I never liked you;"  and the best one, "No problem, tell me where you are I'll come get you and bring you home."   His goal is always to get them to hang up on him. 

He also likes the one where they say there's a virus on his computer and they need him to read some  registry number.  ( I think there's some way they can steal your bank account info if you have it saved)   He takes his time, Let me get my glasses, where did I put them.  Ok, got the glasses, now I have to turn the computer on.  What was your name again?  Ok, yeah, Let me open that file, and get the number.   Here it is, I found it.   Let's see.  Do you have a pen?  are you writing this down?  Ok - looks like it starts with a 1.   Or is that a 7?  Dang it, I got the wrong glasses, let me go get my other ones. And on and on.    He's a hoot. 

That reminds me of a scammer calling my mother saying that she had won the Australian lottery. My 80 year old mother said they were lying because she had never been to Australia. lol

[TattleTeeny]

Reminds me of the recent scam calls about your Windows-based computer needing work. I let the guy rattle on for a while with his pseudo-IT jargon and when he asked for my info, I said, "I have a Mac, you asshole."

[zxy556575]

This is a tiny mosquito pet, but a peeve nonetheless: when TV and movies try to pass off completely dissimilar looking actors as siblings from the same parents. Yes, yes, it happens in real life but just seems like casting laziness to me on screen.

[Wiendish Fitch]

10 minutes ago, lordonia said:

This is a tiny mosquito pet, but a peeve nonetheless: when TV and movies try to pass off completely dissimilar looking actors as siblings from the same parents. Yes, yes, it happens in real life but just seems like casting laziness to me on screen.

Oh, me too! Home Improvement and Everybody Loves Raymond were especially guilty of this. I'm hardly a Brady Bunch defender, but at least they made it a point having the kids look like their respective parents. And while Chris Columbus is rightly not hailed as a great artistic director, let's give the man credit for casting children who more or less plausibly pass as Robin Williams and Sally Field's kids in Mrs. Doubtfire.

Edited September 23, 2016 by Wiendish Fitch

[StatisticalOutlier]

I saw "Hell or High Water" the other day and noticed that the two guys playing brothers both had clear blue eyes, and I actually thought to myself, during the movie, that it made them more believable as brothers.  So I suspect it's a peeve of mine, too.

[Maizie131]

TAILGATERS!!!   Nope...not the ones partying their asses off @ sporting events (I love them!) -- I'm talkin' about the ones in their cars!  I'm stopped at a light and these assholes wanna be as close as possible to my rear bumper!  Oh.My.God.  I can't even see their car in my rear-view mirror they're so close.  In times like these I put "the pedal to the metal" to get the hell away from them ASAP!  I know in my heart it isn't ME, just their own compulsion (?) to be very close to the vehicle in front of them.  Why?  I've NO idea!!!! 

Which brings me to another "way too close" situation:

I walk into the ladies room @ a store/restaurant/hotel/airport...wherever, where there are many multiple stalls free.  Soon as I sit down to do my thing, a woman walks in & picks the stall right next to me, altho there are MANY to choose from!!!!!  WTF~!!!!!!  Cannot TELL you how much this pisses me off!  (No pun intended)....I just prefer a little privacy at such a private moment!)  Will somebody please explain this to me?  Do they wanna be buddy/buddy with me?  Will someone PLEASE give me the reason for this????!!!! 

[Moose135]

8 minutes ago, forumfish said:

...the company that makes the cameras gives them to the school districts "at no charge." Further digging revealed that the camera company gets 60% of the money from the fines; the rest stays in the city (not sure if the school district gets the money, I didn't research it that far). I think improving the safety of schoolchildren is a noble goal, I just have a problem with the way the news is being portrayed. Tell it like it is, a straight-up business venture.

Many of the red-light-camera programs are like that - an outside vendor installs the cameras, manages the program, and gives the local municipality a percentage of the fines.

[AgentRXS]

My peeves o' the day:

Trader Joes has died and gone to Pumpkin Spice Hell. O.M.G. I love Pumpkin Spice, but they ridiculous. What drove me over the edge was seeing the Pumpkin Spice tortilla chips with pumpkin-flavored "salsa". Blech and gross. And the cashier said this is just the beginning. They are expected to roll out even MORE ridiculous pumpkin-flavored items in late Oct/early Nov. Ugh.

As an animal control officer, I am driving around my county 40 hrs a week. It can be a high stress job. So it really, really irritates me when I drive to a isolated section of parking lot to relax and take my lunch when some asshole has to park right.next.to.me. and gawk at the truck before running their errands. Why? I purposely parked far away because I don't want to be near people.  Even worse is when they see you stuffing your face, and they still tap on the window to ask you: "Are you here about a dog?". Me: "No" (Does it look like I'm here about a dog?I'm clearly trying to eat.).  Person: Well, where I live there are a bunch of stray cats and they are annoying and the crazy lady down the street feeds them....blah blah blah".  Me:  Well, if you trap them, the county will send an officer to pick them up..  Person: I have to trap them?! I thought you would just come out and catch them. " And then I have to explain to a supposedly completely functional adult why trying to chase down feral cats who can run 4x as fast as me would be a waste of time. And in that time half of my unpaid lunch break is now over.

And lastly, everything about public restrooms irritates me. The inability for women to keep the ladies room clean, flush after use, or to not piss all over the seat.  The people that enter the stall next to you and do #2 and don't immediately flush it down (or at all), allowing the smell to permeate throughout the room.  The noisy ones that are talking loudly on the phone.  Sometimes the women's restroom is so beyond nasty that I just end up using the men's restroom.  It's disappointing that  people can't have a little consideration for the next woman to use the stall.

[StatisticalOutlier]

5 hours ago, Maizie131 said:

I walk into the ladies room @ a store/restaurant/hotel/airport...wherever, where there are many multiple stalls free.  Soon as I sit down to do my thing, a woman walks in & picks the stall right next to me, altho there are MANY to choose from!!!!!  WTF~!!!!!!  Cannot TELL you how much this pisses me off!  (No pun intended)....I just prefer a little privacy at such a private moment!)  Will somebody please explain this to me?  Do they wanna be buddy/buddy with me?  Will someone PLEASE give me the reason for this????!!!! 

There's one restroom I frequent where the doors on the stalls swing to the closed position even when unlocked, so the only way you know whether one is occupied is to push on the door to see if it opens.  So they might not know your stall is occupied, and have stall-selection criteria that is similar to yours. 

Or they might be doing the herd thing, which I likewise do not understand.  I practice defensive seating in movie theaters--I see a lot of movies, but always go to early shows on weekdays so there's hardly anybody there, and I stand in the back and let everyone sit down before I do, because if I don't they're all going to group around me.  I constantly see people in non-stadium-seating theaters who will sit directly in front of or, worse*, behind, someone else even when the show is so lightly attended that there aren't even going to be people in every row.  Why????????

*I say worse, because it's one thing to be inconsiderate and block someone else's view, but I just cannot for the life of me understand why someone would choose to sit behind someone whose head is going to block the view if there are lots of non-blocked seats available.  That's just incomprehensibly stupid. 

[rcc]

17 hours ago, Maizie131 said:

TAILGATERS!!!   Nope...not the ones partying their asses off @ sporting events (I love them!) -- I'm talkin' about the ones in their cars!  I'm stopped at a light and these assholes wanna be as close as possible to my rear bumper!  Oh.My.God.  I can't even see their car in my rear-view mirror they're so close.  In times like these I put "the pedal to the metal" to get the hell away from them ASAP!  I know in my heart it isn't ME, just their own compulsion (?) to be very close to the vehicle in front of them.  Why?  I've NO idea!!!! 

Which brings me to another "way too close" situation:

I walk into the ladies room @ a store/restaurant/hotel/airport...wherever, where there are many multiple stalls free.  Soon as I sit down to do my thing, a woman walks in & picks the stall right next to me, altho there are MANY to choose from!!!!!  WTF~!!!!!!  Cannot TELL you how much this pisses me off!  (No pun intended)....I just prefer a little privacy at such a private moment!)  Will somebody please explain this to me?  Do they wanna be buddy/buddy with me?  Will someone PLEASE give me the reason for this????!!!! 

Both of those are big pet peeves of mine too.