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

[zxy556575]

Bureaucratic peeve: I've been getting social security for 9 months and got a notice from them today that they've been underpaying me by $40 a month. They sent me $360 and are increasing my monthly benefit. Okay, but really? They have my danged earnings statement back to 1966 -- how did they make such a mistake in the first place? Are horses doing the calculations by pawing their feet in the sand and one of them was tired that day?

You know if SSA had been overpaying they'd make me pay it back, just like those veterans being forced to repay their past enlistment bonuses.

[Maharincess]

I once had Social Security cut 200 dollars out of my check because I told them that my daughter brings me pizza once a month.  They said the amount would cover a years worth of pizza. 

Edited October 29, 2016 by Maharincess
Because covet and tears are different words than cover and years.

[DeLurker]

That is total bullshit.  It isn't relevant because your disability amount is based on some formula tied to the amount of income you were making (I think they do an average of the three highest income years).  I get disability and they pay no attention whether I live in a high cost area, low cost area, etc...

[BooksRule]

Quote

 

I have to buy nails - for the first time in several decades on this planet.  As far as I knew, nails magically appeared in every house I've ever lived in.  The house must be defective.

On top of that, I have discovered there are a zillion different types of nails.  Whenever I needed one before, I just went into the garage and choose from the random selection that was there - big one?  small one?  medium?  All there.

 

That sounds like my house.  I have a couple of jars of assorted nails, but have no memory of ever buying nails.  I am kind of joking, though.  I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure that my dad gave me a jarful when I bought my house, since he always had a bunch of every size/shape possible.  I sorted them out by size a few months ago, but I'll bet if I went looking for them, they would magically have gotten all mixed up again.

My 'haven't bought this/these in years' moment was today when I had to have two house keys made.  I had a couple of made when I bought my house about 17 years ago, but I probably haven't had to have a key made since then.  I even had to think about it for a few minutes before I figured out where I could have them made.  I went to Wal-Mart a few minutes ago to pick up a few things and stopped first at the sporting goods department to have the keys made and the clerk actually trusted me to hang on to those two little keys and pay for them with my other items at the front checkout line.  I know they were cheap ($1.78 each), but  cynical me thought that I would be asked to pay right then and there in case I slipped those valuable items into my purse and skipped out without paying for them.  (If I had thought ahead, I could have picked up everything else and paid for everything right at that counter.  It would have saved me a lot of time--I forgot it was the Saturday before Halloween and the few checkout lines they had open were super busy--but I realized later that I couldn't have done that, since I had fruit that had to be weighed.)

[bilgistic]

I have an Altoids tin that barely closes because it's so full of nails and screws I've somehow accumulated over the 23 years I've lived on my own. I don't know how, where or why I got them all. Like snowflakes, no two nails or screws match.

[Maharincess]

46 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

That is total bullshit.  It isn't relevant because your disability amount is based on some formula tied to the amount of income you were making (I think they do an average of the three highest income years).  I get disability and they pay no attention whether I live in a high cost area, low cost area, etc...

It is bullshit and two years later I'm STILL in appeals. I don't know if the idiots that did it thought I was on SSI instead or what happened but my case worker didn't understand it either.  It really sucks that these people can pretty much do whatever the hell they want and there isn't much we can do about it. 

[Blergh]

OK, here's a first world prob pet peeve: just came back from by vacation and noticed that now in SUPER first class, there are now PODs for individual folks -as opposed to the usual sardine seating for us plebes. Not that I'd pay the extra cash anyway because the cost of one of these pod seats would easily be more than the REST of my vacation budget combined. BUT what gets me is that at least the ones I saw had the window seats facing BACKWARDS. So what's the point of paying megabucks for a pod that one can ONLY see where one's already been?

[Bastet]

I'll get even more first world and say my peeve is that those pods are getting worse with each redesign.  They're comfortable as beds, and the privacy is definitely nice, but they're on the verge of uncomfortable as seats on some aircraft because of how narrow they're getting. 

[Maharincess]

4 hours ago, Blergh said:

OK, here's a first world prob pet peeve: just came back from by vacation and noticed that now in SUPER first class, there are now PODs for individual folks -as opposed to the usual sardine seating for us plebes. Not that I'd pay the extra cash anyway because the cost of one of these pod seats would easily be more than the REST of my vacation budget combined. BUT what gets me is that at least the ones I saw had the window seats facing BACKWARDS. So what's the point of paying megabucks for a pod that one can ONLY see where one's already been?

What is a POD?

[DeLurker]

12 minutes ago, Maharincess said:

What is a POD?

A first class world problem.

[Bastet]

Heh; I like DeLurker's answer.  But it's basically your own little cubicle on the airplane.  You have a seat (that turns into a bed), a little table, your entertainment center, etc. and it's all encased in some sort of partial "wall."  Lots of different configurations, depending on airline/aircraft, but that's the general idea.  I like the fairly simple one on Virgin Atlantic.

[Maharincess]

Thanks for answering my stupid question. 

[Moose135]

This started in the Holiday Commercials thread, but since it isn't TV related, I'll bring it here.  In the car tonight, I heard a promo on Sirius radio that their holiday music channel - yes, 24/7 holiday music - will start this coming Wednesday...as in November 2, almost 2 months before Christmas!  They have been starting earlier and earlier each year, and as in the past, rather than replacing some obscure, little-used channel or airing it on one of their "limited run" channels, they are replacing one I listen to all the time.  Last year, I actually went to their web site and sent a message to their customer service folks saying "Please make it stop!" but all I got back was a canned reply thanking me for my message.

[bmasters9]

5 hours ago, Moose135 said:

This started in the Holiday Commercials thread, but since it isn't TV related, I'll bring it here.  In the car tonight, I heard a promo on Sirius radio that their holiday music channel - yes, 24/7 holiday music - will start this coming Wednesday...as in November 2, almost 2 months before Christmas!  They have been starting earlier and earlier each year, and as in the past, rather than replacing some obscure, little-used channel or airing it on one of their "limited run" channels, they are replacing one I listen to all the time.  Last year, I actually went to their web site and sent a message to their customer service folks saying "Please make it stop!" but all I got back was a canned reply thanking me for my message.

Why does Sirius, when it comes to holiday music, insist on replacing a channel that's your favorite with that music, instead of using one of their others that doesn't get listened to all that much?! 

[backformore]

It's the day before Halloween.  So, today is a good day to buy Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters.   I always wait until 1) I know what the weather report is and 2) my town gives the official t-o-t hours.   Some years we've had as many as 100 kids come to the door, some years only 20.   Since the hours will be from 1-8, and it's not going to rain, I can estimate that we may get a lot of kids.   It's not unreasonable to wait to buy candy!  (besides, if I bought it a week ago, I would have eaten it by now)

So - pardon me, but it is still OCTOBER.  Why is half of the seasonal aisle taken over by Christmas stuff?  Is anyone really buying wrapping paper and Christmas candy/cookies already at the grocery store already?   I get, maybe, going to the mall and getting gifts before the department stores are inundated with the cheap crap they sell for Christmas.   But the grocery stores? can't we let Halloween be over first?

Edited October 30, 2016 by backformore

[zxy556575]

8 minutes ago, backformore said:

Since the hours will be from 1-8, and it's not going to rain, I can estimate that we may get a lot of kids.

What, again? Do you live in Stars Hollow? Do a lot of towns have trick-or-treating during the daytime now? And announce the hours?

Confused, but thinking I may want to schedule a vacation to such a neat and organized place.

Edited October 30, 2016 by lordonia

[bilgistic]

I turn out the lights, batten down the hatches and hide from everyone (kids) on Halloween.

[ABay]

I waited until this morning to buy Halloween candy, too, and got the last bag of assorted KitKats and stuff. There were no bags of Hershey miniatures left,. Only a corner of a shelf had Halloween candy but there were lots of bags of Reese's mini-cups wrapped in Xmas color foil. 

My front step lights only goes on when you're very close to the house and I have a long driveway, so the place doesn't look inviting. Just for safety's sake, I'd rather people not risk the walk over uneven paving and lawn in the dark, but kids on the trail of candy will not be denied, so I get 1-3 groups each year.

@bilgistic, you're missing a glorious opportunity to do something disgusting but not fatal to the little punks who run around your building. Get a bag of candy that comes in little boxes and fill the boxes with something else like cat litter. I'm sure others here could come up with more clever ideas. You just have to buy something common so they can't tell for sure who gave it to them.

[backformore]

I don't mind giving out candy.  I sure won't be doing it for 7 hours.  It will start when I'm home and ready.    My kids went trick-or-treating, and I appreciated the neighbors who played along, so I feel I owe the universe. 

27 minutes ago, lordonia said:

What, again? Do you live in Stars Hollow? Do a lot of towns have trick-or-treating during the daytime now? And announce the hours?

Confused, but thinking I may want to schedule a vacation to such a neat and organized place.

Yes, a lot of towns announce the hours.  This is the Chicago suburbs,  and the "rule"  is that if you want trick-or-treaters, you turn on your porch light.  If you want them to skip your house, turning off outside lights is the signal.  We turn off the lights for a bit if we want to eat in peace, but they ring the doorbell anyway.  I give out candy, because my husband will have the attitude that "we have to get rid of all this candy"  and give out handfuls to the first few kids.  I'm more of a mind to give them 2 pieces, make sure we don't run out before the older kids come around. 

We put out a string of pumpkin lights around the front door, and  one of those bigger lighted pumpkins.  fewer decorations than we used to have, when the kids lived here.

Now, I got an invite to an internet group called "next door"  or something like that.   I hesitated, but signed up anyway. boring stuff, requests to recommend a plumber, does anyone want a used swingset? stuff like that.   So yesterday, someone asks people to sign up to be on the "list"  of houses giving out candy - to let kids know which houses to go to.  Excuse me?   Its a neighborhood of single family homes, let the kids go door-to-door, not have a list of houses!  Some parents just take this stuff too far. 

[Moose135]

17 minutes ago, ABay said:

@bilgistic, you're missing a glorious opportunity to do something disgusting but not fatal to the little punks who run around your building. Get a bag of candy that comes in little boxes and fill the boxes with something else like cat litter. I'm sure others here could come up with more clever ideas. You just have to buy something common so they can't tell for sure who gave it to them.

 

Saw this posted yesterday:

[Jaded]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

I turn out the lights, batten down the hatches and hide from everyone (kids) on Halloween.

That's what I'll be doing too. People bring their kids from other neighborhoods here to TOT. My cat also tries to dart out sometimes and I wouldn't want to risk it on a night like Halloween especially because he's black with one eye. He and I will be hiding in my room away from the knocks and noise. 

Edited October 30, 2016 by Jaded

[Bastet]

I've never heard of trick-or-treating during daylight.

I disable the motion detector so my porch light won't go on, and for extra measure I don't hang out in the front room of the house (so it's dark) -- I do not do Halloween.  I don't like kids, so I have no interest in spending an evening giving candy to random ones.  I'll be out in my game room watching football.

[bilgistic]

Love it! My apartment door is inside the building, though, so I'd have to put the "treats" outside on the walkway. Plus, I don't usually get home from work until 7, which is dark now. Was last night "fall back", or is that next week? How do I not know this?

Those little shits were inside the building AGAIN yesterday running around and screaming. I SO BADLY want to stop at the bus stop one morning and tell their parents what their little preciouses are doing. If you can't stand at the bus stop alone, you can't run around the neighborhood alone. I'm INCENSED that the management won't do anything about it.

ANYWAY! Back to Halloween talk!

[Jaded]

4 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I've never heard of trick-or-treating during daylight.

Some of the kids with their parents started doing this in my neighborhood a few years ago. It's annoying and means I head back to my room earlier then I'd like.

[Blergh]

38 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

Saw this posted yesterday:

       I'm tempted to do that to anyone who shows up wearing a scary clown costume.  I actually LIKE regular clowns but these are just downright annoying and have become an unoriginal idea. 

[backformore]

Parents take their little ones around early in the day, but most will wait until 4 or so.  Older kids and kids whose parents are working, come later.   

The parents who make me crazy are the ones who DRIVE to my block, let the kids out, then the parents stay in the car, driving slowly, stopping by each house, watching their kids go up to each door.  Those kids always seem sad to me.  Come on parents! Either go with your kid and enjoy the experience together, or stay home and let them go around (your own) neighborhood.  

[bilgistic]

If I had a dollar for every Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad) costume I've seen on social media, I could retire right now.

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

Love it! My apartment door is inside the building, though, so I'd have to put the "treats" outside on the walkway. Plus, I don't usually get home from work until 7, which is dark now. Was last night "fall back", or is that next week? How do I not know this?

Because you are probably like me.  I have on 'automated' clock that is still on the pre-Bush time change week.  Under that schedule its one hour earlier than it actually is as of today.

I ust had to move my time zone into the ocean so I'm not late for work tomorrow.

[bilgistic]

52 minutes ago, backformore said:

Parents take their little ones around early in the day, but most will wait until 4 or so.  Older kids and kids whose parents are working, come later.   

The parents who make me crazy are the ones who DRIVE to my block, let the kids out, then the parents stay in the car, driving slowly, stopping by each house, watching their kids go up to each door.  Those kids always seem sad to me.  Come on parents! Either go with your kid and enjoy the experience together, or stay home and let them go around (your own) neighborhood.  

That reminded me of what happened on Halloween 2004. At the time, I was dating a pharmacist who lived in a nice, wealthy-ish surburban neighborhood in a three-bedroom house. People drove their kids to his neighborhood to trick-or-treat because "nice houses equal good candy".

I was at his house and we were hiding from kids. I went to leave in my then-new car that I'd had all of about a month. He was standing out there making sure I wasn't hitting any children, and I was also looking furiously for kids as I backed out of his short driveway...and hit the dark minivan parked directly across the street from the end his driveway. By the sound, I thought I hit a rubber city trash can. I had hit the rubber runner thing on the side of the minivan with the very edge of my bumper.

We went to the house where the minivan was parked and told them I'd hit it. They said that wasn't their vehicle. We had to leave a note.

The woman got in touch with me later that evening, and said she'd "have to talk to her husband", which...okay. They ended up getting a ridiculous trumped-up insurance payout. I'm a menace on the streets, y'all. I was just glad I hit a vehicle and not a greedy kid whose own neighborhood's candy wasn't good enough.

Edited October 30, 2016 by bilgistic

[bmasters9]

Just my opinion, but you want to know what disgusts me about NASCAR?! The fact that, while other sports (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) only focus on the teams that make it to the playoffs (those who do not do not play), with NASCAR, all drivers race in Chase races, even those who are not in the Chase and have no chance of winning the title. They need to change it to where only the 16 drivers who are in (some may be in on points if fewer than 16 win races during the season) race against each other, and leave the other cars out of it!

[StatisticalOutlier]

But with only 16 cars, how are they going to get enough crashes to bring the safety car out to bunch up the field?

[DeLurker]

40 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

I was dating a pharmacist who lived in a nice, wealthy-ish surburban neighborhood in a three-bedroom house. People drove their kids to his neighborhood to trick-or-treat because "nice houses equal good candy".

I used to live in an area where kids were driven in too, but not because it was wealthy-ish.  It was a modest neighborhood but the houses were maintained, we had sidewalks and decent street lighting.  A lot of the surrounding areas lacked sidewalks and decent lighting.  I used to have some of my friends from work come over with their kids and we'd all go out together.  They had the same situation where they lived - they weren't bad neighborhoods, just not quite as easy to walk kids around in the dark.

[BooksRule]

Quote

I turn out the lights, batten down the hatches and hide from everyone (kids) on Halloween

I don't usually, but I'm going to this year.  I've got a very busy week coming up, and I need tomorrow evening to get some things done around the house.  Not having my front porch light on is the signal that I'm not available for candy treats, but just to be on the safe side, I'm going to turn out the light in the living room and hide out in the back part of house where the computer is located.  I'll either play on the computer or read while I do a few chores (the ones that don't involve the living room).  I've been so busy, I didn't even put up any decorations.  I got the boxes out, but they sat on the floor until a couple of days ago and I put them back in the closet.  I'll try to do better next year.  I usually love Halloween, but I didn't even get out any of my favorite scary movies to watch this year.  

[harrie]

I don't like kids and we don't have any, but we love to decorate for Halloween, and this year we can't.  We live in a condo and the front porch is undergoing the final stage of some repairs/reconstruction, so it is currently roped off.  Usually Mr. Bones the skeleton stands on the porch, surveying the neighborhood with his trusty vultures perched nearby.  Tomorrow night we're planning to sit him down in a lawn chair in the driveway, where he'll help us pass out candy.  We're both feeling very Scrooge-y with the porch situation, but trying to have at least some fun this year. 

[auntlada]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

I've never heard of trick-or-treating during daylight.

We start when it's still somewhat light because the boy is only 5, 7:30 p.m. is bedtime, and 7 p.m. is time to brush teeth, put on jammies and read books before bed. Sunset is at 6:30, so if we wait for full dark, there's no time. We go only in our neighborhood, though: up the street three blocks and then the next block or two west of us, depending on how many houses we've stopped at and how long it takes.

While we're gone, we put a bowl of candy on the front porch, and everyone is on the honor system. Most kids around here are pretty good at not taking all the candy.

I'd rather have trick or treaters before dark than after 9 p.m. One year, when I lived in a not-so-great neighborhood, I had no trick-or-treaters all night, until about 9:30 p.m. when some couple showed up with their younger-than-1-year-old child who should have been asleep, not asking for candy she was too young to eat. (Not that she was probably going to get it. I'm sure the parents were going to eat it all.)

[Wiendish Fitch]

I get annoyed when people call you "no fun" when you admit you're not dressing up for Halloween. Uh, first off, you're a judgmental assbag. Second, I live in an apartment, so I don't get trick-or-treaters, I haven't been invited to a costume party, I work as a vendor so a costume would be an encumbrance to my job, and while dressing in a costume in the privacy of your home is your right, it's also a wee bit pointless, IMO. Third, I'm too cheap to buy a costume, and I can't sew and make a costume, and I freeze up whenever I try to imagine a costume I could make, and I'm already wracked with self-doubt, why should I add "self-loathing about my lack of creativity and crafting skills" to the list? I have a cousin who is a goddess when it comes to creating and making her own Halloween costumes; no joke, she wins costume contests nearly every year, and if she doesn't win, I'm positive she at least places. I can't compete with that!

[NutMeg]

In my building, it's very random whether there will be any trick on treats, some years I had nothing prepared but awesome outfits showing up for treats (that year I gave them raisins, only thing I had in individual package that allowed me to not send them empty-handed, years later I think my son still cringes at the thought), other years I had awesome treats on hand and nobody showed up :( This year, I have fun themed treats, Halloween lights and deco, hopefully we'll get some takers. 

[Qoass]

My rules for trick or treating:

1.  I don't get home until 5:30 or so and I will want some time to change my clothes, go through my mail, etc.  When I'm ready for guests, I will put on my porch light.  Don't ring my bell if that light isn't on.

2.  If you have secondary sex characteristics, you're too old to be trick or treating.

3.  I will give candy to your child.  Mom and/or dad, if you want candy too, buy your own.

4.  A football jersey is not a costume.

5.  The porch light goes off at 8 pm.  If you're still out by then, you're too old.

6.  I will give you one piece of candy.  Do not reach into the basket to grab a fistful.

7.  My opinion of children will rise slightly if you say thank you without prompting.

I guess this shows I'm a hard-ass and old because those were pretty much the rules for me when I was a kid.  Now that I live in a town with a Halloween parade and early trick or treating at the Main Street stores and church parties and heaven knows what-all-else, I  don't feel like Halloween is the organic holiday it used to be.  We used to trick or treat for Unicef in the afternoon then go around for candy as soon as it got dark.  We felt sorry for the kids with store bought costumes because that indicated that their mothers weren't crafty.

I guess this year, I'm going as an old fart.

[PradaKitty]

I usually get a TON of trick of treaters, most of them brought in vans by mothers from other neighborhoods.  I hand out goodie bags (they usually consist of 2 pieces of candy, a small toy, a stick on tattoo and a rubber creepy crawly). Since Halloween is on Monday (A SCHOOL NIGHT), I only made up 80 bags.  After they're gone, that's it.    On years when Halloween is on weekend nights I get up to 120-30 of the little costumed beings.

The advantage to being a generous "hander outer" is that the kids leave my house alone the rest of the year.  Other neighbors may have problems with neighborhood hoodlums, but not me!

[Qoass]

And there's something so wrong about that.  I have no children and I feel blackmailed into participating in hopes my house won't get egged.  That happened one year and it did not help me to look kindly on (what I assume were) middle schoolers.

[DeLurker]

I just went to the store to buy candy - there was plenty to choose from.  I buy a mixed bag of chocolate things (think this year's has M&Ms, Twix, and Snickers plus a non sweet treat in snack bags (Cheetos).  That way kids who don't care for chocolate (they exist) still have something to choose.

I just chose stuff that my kids and I like so if there is extra, we will have it as snacks. 

[AgentRXS]

My area of town is considered the LGBT capital of my county. This town apparently considers Hallloween the "Gay Christmas". Every year the local Pride Center hosts an all night block party. I've lived here 3 years now. The first year I wasn't aware of how popular it is---I had people parking on my side lawn and and front lawn, peering through my windows, playing their radio and talking loudly until around 5am. The 2nd year my ex rented a hotel for us so I could get the hell out of Dodge. This year, I wanted to rent a hotel with my friend and have a girls night out but she literally just came down with the flu, so that's out. I don't feel comfortable going anywhere by myself, with all the crazies out, but so I guess I will just shut off the lights, turn up the TV and try to drown out the noise. I did buy "Caution" tape and wrapped it around the perimeter of my yard so hopefully that will deter folks. Another bonus is that's its cloudy and windy so I am praying for rain.

My pet peeve is that I don't understand why the commitment to have this party EXACTLY on Halloween, regardless of whether it is a weeknight or not. Just have the parade on the weekend closest to the date and be done with it. Why inconvenience those of us who don't celebrate/have to work tomorrow by closing off streets and partying till 3am (that's when the block party ends).

I don't like holidays at all, but I especially find it pathetic to be an adult and dress up for Halloween if you don't have kids. I find adult costumes nothing more than a waste of money. And not to body shame anybody, but when driving home on Saturday night, I saw a lot of people in "sexy"  costumes 2-3x smaller than their actual size. No one wants to see an overweight "Harley Quinn" with shorts riding up their fat ass; and people definitely don't want to see Ariel with w/a huge gut spilling over the bottom. Sorry. I'm overweight myself and I know their are things that aren't meant for my size and I dress accordingly.

[Sun-Bun]

22 hours ago, bilgistic said:

If I had a dollar for every Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad) costume I've seen on social media, I could retire right now.

Here's an extra dollar from yours truly then!

Yes, my husband and I were the SS versions of Joker  and Harley. Yes, we knew there'd be excessive and likely much better-executed versions of this duo out there this year. Yes, I proudly cop to wearing the basic bitch outfit of the year---sometimes I embrace a random trip to the land of basic.

In my weak defense, we had three party invites and since I wasn't about to bring myself to do any expensive/crowded last minute costume shop runs, I still wanted a couple costume that was fun, current, and easy to recreate: hence our rationale to simply don the eye-rollingly common costumes of the year.

I've been told by a few kind folks that I already resembled Margot Robbie's Harley, so I figured it was a super fun excuse to paint my pigtails, grab a bat and rock a fab old punk jacket, don my skankiest fishnets/platform boots/hotpants and make chicks half my age nod in admiration: for a homemade but popular costume, we still looked damned cute and rocked it, and even placed in the neighborhood block party costume competition---I was especially proud of the hair/makeup job I did on my Joker, who also proudly embraced his youthful spirit. And then as the night wore on and we went downtown to gawk at other revelers, we had a blast laughing at all the pathetically half-assed/drunk/generic/fat versions of Harley Quinn((mad props especially to the drunk guy who kept shouting at me, "Miley Cyrus! Miley Cyrus! Show me yer tongue!!")). Our pics from Saturday night were a big hit on Facebook and the whole look probably ranks up there as among our fave Halloween outfits yet. So there's that.

I'm gonna say that most of this year's slew of Harley Quinn's were either fans of the recent flick, comic-loving chicks, or gals like me who simply embrace "Slutoween" and just got desperate for a fabulously fun/easy-but-sexy costume. 

On another note: I love all these folks here who gladly admit to not liking children. I like them when they're well-behaved and raised to not act like complete assholes, but it gets harder to differentiate as the years go on. Halloween seems to bring out the asshole in many children, I've noticed. I remember handing out candy to trick-or-treaters as a teenager and being super annoyed with the kids who didn't even say "trick-or-treat" to me when I answered the door, just sat there staring in a daze like morons---so I was the asshole teen who would then tell them, "Excuse me, but no one here gets *any* candy until I hear you all say 'trick-or-treat' and 'thank you' after I decide to give you candy."

Edited October 31, 2016 by Sun-Bun

[DeLurker]

The best Halloween costume IMO was worn by a neighbor we had in California about 10-11 years ago.  The parents dressed up to hand out treats, but they dressed up as Mr & Mrs. Incredible.  He was the out of shape Mr. Incredible, but in his super hero outfit and she was Mrs. Incredible, also in outfit.  It was hilarious.

[ari333]

I  hate it when cashiers and baggers in the grocery comment on my purchases. Am I bitchy?

"Wow.. you like mushrooms"

"having a party?"

"Um.... no..."

[DeLurker]

Not bitchy, but back in the dark ages when I worked as a grocery cashier for a summer job, we were very strongly encouraged (with penalty of firing) to chit chat.  Being a barely functional human, my efforts were pretty dreadful.  I apologize upon behalf of all those similar not-small-talk types required to do so. 

I would have been tempted to reply:

"Wow.. you like mushrooms"

"having a party?"

"Um.... no...wrong kind of 'shrooms."

[backformore]

OK -  I am so out of touch, I had to google "Harley Quinn"  to see what you were all talking about.

I don't dress up.   I used to dress up my kids, even dressed up my dog once or twice, when the kids were little and we all went trick-or-treating together.  (After the second year, she chewed up her costume, so we were done.)   But as an adult with grown kids, I hand out candy until I get tired of  doing it, or until the candy is gone.  This year, I even bought a bag of wrapped DOVE chocolates for me and hubby to have so we don't eat the TOT candy. 

[backformore]

45 minutes ago, ari333 said:

I  hate it when cashiers and baggers in the grocery comment on my purchases. Am I bitchy?

"Wow.. you like mushrooms"

"having a party?"

"Um.... no..."

 

16 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

Not bitchy, but back in the dark ages when I worked as a grocery cashier for a summer job, we were very strongly encouraged (with penalty of firing) to chit chat.  Being a barely functional human, my efforts were pretty dreadful.  I apologize upon behalf of all those similar not-small-talk types required to do so. 

I would have been tempted to reply:

"Wow.. you like mushrooms"

"having a party?"

"Um.... no...wrong kind of 'shrooms."

Yeah, I don't mind chit-chat, I just don't want comments on my purchases.  It feels judgmental.  My husband bought a bunch of the cloth re-useable grocery bags that we bring in to the store - navy and orange with Chicago Bears logos.   I get annoyed when I'm at the store and the cashier or bagger takes that as a cue to converse with me about football.   I HATE football.  I don't know how the Bears are doing and couldn't care less.  When the bags start to rip, I'm tossing them out and getting generic cloth bags. 

On the other hand, hubby and I like to comment, (to each other, in the car)  about  customers we see at the grocery store, with weird/funny combinations, and imagine what they are up to. 

[janestclair]

34 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

Not bitchy, but back in the dark ages when I worked as a grocery cashier for a summer job, we were very strongly encouraged (with penalty of firing) to chit chat.  Being a barely functional human, my efforts were pretty dreadful.  I apologize upon behalf of all those similar not-small-talk types required to do so. 

We used to have to do that too in the store where I worked.  I hated making idle chit chat with the customer.  I was quick, accurate, and routinely topped the store stats, which is why they always put me on the express lane.  That's part of the reason why I now go to the self-checkout lane if one is available.  As a customer, all  I really want is to get out of the store as quickly as possible, and for my purchases to ring up at the correct prices.  I do not need to know what the cashier thinks about the ice cream I purchased. 

[Qoass]

Well, they have express lanes-- can't they have no chit chat lanes?  I would really like to go for a dental checkup or a haircut without having to engage in conversation but I'm afraid I'll come off as rude.  As for store clerks, if they could just greet me with, "Let me know if you need my help." that would suffice.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Qoass