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

[Moose135]

15 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And I'll add this--if one cannot bother to punctuate and continue to type like you're an uneducated buffoon, I will not engage.

Once, on a different forum I frequent, this topic came up.  One poster said he didn't have time to check spelling or write in complete sentences.  I told him if he couldn't spend 30 seconds making sure his post was in proper English, I wasn't going to spend any time trying to figure out what he was trying to say.  Of course, I'm the guy who uses complete sentences and proper punctuation in text messages.

[Wings]

19 hours ago, riley702 said:

On 10/24/2017 at 2:30 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

I tried, I tried, I really, really, really tried. But I can't! I have to VENT or my head will explode!

It's Of COURSE, not of coarse. What are you trying to say? That a yes/agreement is a rough brillo pad?

It's sometimeS, not some time.

It's outweigh, (one WORD) NOT out way when talking about whether one matter has more weight than the other. Like, the pros of purchasing an anti-virus/anti-malaware, etc., outweigh the cons (price) because it reduces the risk of me being hacked, or a worm destroying my computer. NOT out way. And what does that even mean???

And it's ROLE when one is talking about a position in a company, or an actor's character, or fucking role playing. NOT ROLL.

And again, it's should HAVE, could HAVE, would HAVE, not should of, could of, would of. I don't CARE that it SOUNDS like "of," that's not the way it's fucking spelled! Or use the contraction version: should've, could've, would've. DAMMIT.

Will you marry me? Since it's hypothetical here, genders don't matter.

Polygamy works in this situation too, may I join the wedding?  

[bilgistic]

22 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

Once, on a different forum I frequent, this topic came up.  One poster said he didn't have time to check spelling or write in complete sentences.  I told him if he couldn't spend 30 seconds making sure his post was in proper English, I wasn't going to spend any time trying to figure out what he was trying to say.  Of course, I'm the guy who uses complete sentences and proper punctuation in text messages.

This is why I love you. Well, that and the serial killer joke.

Edited October 25, 2017 by bilgistic

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

GHScorpiosRule, you and I have had this discussion before (I believe you even proposed, but I've never seen a ring).   

I refuse to engage with people who type in Bingo rather than English (B4, CU).  Type in real words, or I don't want to talk to you.   I also refuse to communicate with those who type LOL more than once a day.  Use your words.

Yes, yes we did and I recall you asked if I was “rich.” Or it might have been “wealthy,” and sadly I am not, so I didn’t think I had a chance.? So I gave up. How’s this? ?

1 hour ago, Moose135 said:

Once, on a different forum I frequent, this topic came up.  One poster said he didn't have time to check spelling or write in complete sentences.  I told him if he couldn't spend 30 seconds making sure his post was in proper English, I wasn't going to spend any time trying to figure out what he was trying to say.  Of course, I'm the guy who uses complete sentences and proper punctuation in text messages.

Same here! I write in complete, declarative sentences. Except when I am reacting to idiots like the twit who can’t tell time and doesn’t think her watch has numbers.?

1 hour ago, wings707 said:

Polygamy works in this situation too, may I join the wedding?  

The more, the merrier! And I forgot to quote @riley702, but my answer is YES!?

[Quof]

I said rich OR cute. Although I prefer both.

[bilgistic]

Have I told you all that my downstairs neighbor smokes pot? Maybe I haven't told you 100 times. He's smoking again. He's early tonight. I called the cops. I'm 87. The problem is that by the time they get here, he's done smoking.

I managed to cut myself on a butter knife while putting it in the dishwasher--further proof that I don't belong in the kitchen.

ETA: The cops came and actually talked to the guy instead of just knocking and leaving. We shall see what happens. I fully expect to have a flaming bag of poop on my doorstep soon.

Edited October 26, 2017 by bilgistic

[riley702]

3 hours ago, wings707 said:

Polygamy works in this situation too, may I join the wedding?  

Fine by me!

3 hours ago, Moose135 said:

Once, on a different forum I frequent, this topic came up.  One poster said he didn't have time to check spelling or write in complete sentences.  I told him if he couldn't spend 30 seconds making sure his post was in proper English, I wasn't going to spend any time trying to figure out what he was trying to say.  Of course, I'm the guy who uses complete sentences and proper punctuation in text messages.

Me, too! Umm, how do you feel about theoretical polygamy?

8 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

Adding to your list:

It's flesh out not flush out when you are talking about adding detail to your project plan.

It's in other words not another words when you are clarifying something  you have already stated. 

And it's "for all intents and purposes", not "for all intensive purposes".

[spiderpig]

noo-klee-er noo-klee-er noo-klee-er noo-klee-er noo-klee-er

(that is all)

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

I said rich OR cute. Although I prefer both.

???????

[Moose135]

1 hour ago, riley702 said:

Me, too! Umm, how do you feel about theoretical polygamy?

The more the merrier!

[ratgirlagogo]

9 hours ago, Moose135 said:

This conversation reminds me of a line from an old Mel Brooks movie:

"The peasants are revolting!"
"You're telling me, they stink on ice!"

Well yes, but it's from an old  (1960's)  comic strip before that:

https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/03/22/they-are-revolting/

and it does seem like the kind of joke that would be much older than that.

[Moose135]

I remember reading “The Wizard of Id” as a kid.

[riley702]

1 hour ago, Moose135 said:

The more the merrier!

Hey, guys! We're a quad now. Kewl.

[Mindthinkr]

On this multiple marriage...I'm feeling left out. I'd bring mad cooking skills to the marriage. Could I please be considered? 

[JTMacc99]

Good lord. Seems like ONE spouse is more than enough in my experience.

[Qoass]

Amen, although I'll always be in search of that person who is a compulsive cleaner.

I hate when I have to stop reading mid-sentence to be a responsible human. I was reading Thanks, Obama in bed this morning. It's a book by one of the former president's speechwriters about working in his administration. Anyway, the alarm went off and I had to get up and hit the shower even though the last thing I read was:

But there was another voice as well, with a nasal gruffness that suggested its owner had begun chewing a steak in 1997 and was not yet through the gristle. Harvey was on the line.

That would Weinstein and it will have to wait until my lunch break. Argh.

[DeLurker]

On street (1 or 2 words?) parking that park directly across your driveway.  The streets here are normal width for a residential area, but if you park directly across from someone's driveway, it seriously cuts down on their ability to negotiate pulling out there car without getting thisclose to hitting yours.

The neighbor across the way is having some work done, although I am not sure what, and this has been going on all week.  The neighbor has been pulling his car out so they can park in the driveway, but apparently each member of the crew drives separately so there is still overflow.  And for people pressure washing driveways and working on gutter repairs, they drive nice ass cars.  In addition to your typical work van, there is at least one BMW and one Mercedes.  When I first saw them, I was thinking the neighbor must be meeting with potential realtors to put the house on the market.

[Mindthinkr]

@DeLurker I have neighbors that do the same thing. I like to back my car up my driveway into the garage. Otherwise it takes me two turns to get my car backed out. When the neighbors have company or workers I have to pull in forward and then it's a pain to get out. I find it annoying but my neighbors are so nice that I can't complain. BMW's and Mercedes? It's not only the initial cost to buy one but it's costly to keep them serviced as well. I guess I chose the wrong profession! 

[TattleTeeny]

On 10/24/2017 at 5:30 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

I tried, I tried, I really, really, really tried. But I can't! I have to VENT or my head will explode!

It's Of COURSE, not of coarse. What are you trying to say? That a yes/agreement is a rough brillo pad?

It's sometimeS, not some time.

It's outweigh, (one WORD) NOT out way when talking about whether one matter has more weight than the other. Like, the pros of purchasing an anti-virus/anti-malaware, etc., outweigh the cons (price) because it reduces the risk of me being hacked, or a worm destroying my computer. NOT out way. And what does that even mean???

And it's ROLE when one is talking about a position in a company, or an actor's character, or fucking role playing. NOT ROLL.

And again, it's should HAVE, could HAVE, would HAVE, not should of, could of, would of. I don't CARE that it SOUNDS like "of," that's not the way it's fucking spelled! Or use the contraction version: should've, could've, would've. DAMMIT.

Lately, I see a lot of "atleast," "bestfriend," "eachother," and "moreso." Oh, and "apart" when someone means "a part" (which is, essentially, the exact opposite). And "diffuse" for "defuse."

[KittyMom4]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

@DeLurker I have neighbors that do the same thing. I like to back my car up my driveway into the garage. Otherwise it takes me two turns to get my car backed out. When the neighbors have company or workers I have to pull in forward and then it's a pain to get out. I find it annoying but my neighbors are so nice that I can't complain. BMW's and Mercedes? It's not only the initial cost to buy one but it's costly to keep them serviced as well. I guess I chose the wrong profession! 

My neighbors also frequently park in the street, and add to that a man who rides his bicycle around our small subdivision street several times (it's a mile loop, he must be doing at least 5 on the bike), and he rides at very fast rate of speed with no helmet. The speed is only an issue because my house is close to a curve, one morning (before I started backing into my driveway), he came flying around the curve as I was attempting to back out and scared the living daylights out of me, I would have hit him had I not double checked that there were no cars coming. Now I back in to save myself the stress of hitting cars or crazy fast bicyclists!

[PradaKitty]

 Re: But there was another voice as well, with a nasal gruffness that suggested its owner had begun chewing a steak in 1997 and was not yet through the gristle. Harvey was on the line.

That would Weinstein and it will have to wait until my lunch break. Argh.

 

THat sounds more like Harvey Fierstein...

[JTMacc99]

2 hours ago, DeLurker said:

On street (1 or 2 words?) parking that park directly across your driveway.

This is one of those things where I'm less annoyed by when somebody does it to me than I am super cautious not to do it myself.

Because that's a fine way to get a giant dent in the side of your car.

[Mindthinkr]

12 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Because that's a fine way to get a giant dent in the side of your car.

It will happen anonymously in the middle of the night too! 

[peacheslatour]

We had a spelling test every Friday when I was in seventh grade. The last on the test was "a lot" TWO SWORDS DAMMIT YOU STUPID BRATS! Actually she was a really cool teacher.

[DeLurker]

2 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

Because that's a fine way to get a giant dent in the side of your car.

Based on the number of dents on the side of the the offending vehicle, they clearly have tested that theory.

[Hanahope]

6 hours ago, DeLurker said:

On street (1 or 2 words?) parking that park directly across your driveway.  The streets here are normal width for a residential area, but if you park directly across from someone's driveway, it seriously cuts down on their ability to negotiate pulling out there car without getting thisclose to hitting yours.

I agree.  However, sometimes there's just no choice and the person exiting the driveway has got to be careful and do the best they can. 

On my street, there's hardly any 'side yard', the housing plots are fairly narrow., and every 2 houses share a driveway (and depending on how the driveway ends, a house has 1 or 2 parking spots in the back).  Even with offsetting the driveways, there's perhaps 1 small spot per house to park in front  that is relatively 'safe enough' from someone else backing up out of their driveway.  If someone's having a party, or more than one guest, and especially if the guests are driving big SUVs, its a real challenge.  My street is narrow so it really can be problem (I have to weave back and forth sometimes when driving on my street due to the wide parked cars - if two are parked across from each other, I'm inching my way between them).  I have more than once just driven on mine and my neighbors front yards until I found a spot to get out onto the street.  Luckily, we have very low curbs.

[riley702]

9 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

On this multiple marriage...I'm feeling left out. I'd bring mad cooking skills to the marriage. Could I please be considered? 

Ooh, drool. Sure! 

[backformore]

10 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

Lately, I see a lot of "atleast," "bestfriend," "eachother," and "moreso." Oh, and "apart" when someone means "a part" (which is, essentially, the exact opposite). And "diffuse" for "defuse."

How about "dillusional" for delusional?

[TattleTeeny]

Maybe it means to see two illusions at once, hahahahaha! 

[Mindthinkr]

42 minutes ago, backformore said:

How about "dillusional" for delusional?

Or that your pregnancy hormones are so over the top that you need a dill pickle stat. 

[spiderpig]

Any sports fans who enjoy watching professional athuhleets?  Mr. pig enjoys them alot.  He's so mischeeveeus.

[Zola]

Tonight is the end of British Summer Time, which means having to turn the clocks back one hour to GMT.

The upside is an extra hour in bed

The downside is having to change all those manual clocks they don't automatically update. The cooker is one, as is the central heating, dash-cams and the car radio,

Definitely a First World niggle, but I can almost guarantee there will be at least one clock I will have overlooked. 

[Quof]

Barrista     Person who serves coffee:   Here's your vanilla latte.

Me: Well, that's lovely, but I ordered pumpkin spice.

PWSC:  Yeah, that's what I meant, here's your pumpkin spice.

Me: Really?  It smells like vanilla, and look, it tastes like vanilla too.

PWSC:  I don't know how it could be vanilla.  I'm sure I made pumpkin spice.

Me:  Well, you were clearly thinking vanilla, and I can see the vanilla syrup right beside the pumpkin syrup.  And it tastes like vanilla. Are you really going to argue with me about this? 

[BookWoman56]

Right now I’m feeling not just peevish but genuine anger at irresponsible pet owners. Fairly late last night my daughter was driving on the highway to her boyfriend’s house to study for an upcoming major test. A large dog (Siberian husky) ran onto the highway in front of her, and despite her slamming on brakes and swerving, she hit the dog. She was horrified, and since the BF’s house was only about 5 minutes away, went and got him to help her look for the dog. It was still alive at that point, and on the trip to the vet hospital she was hopeful because it could still move its legs and tail, so there was nothing obviously broken. However, it had internal injuries and died about 30 minutes after they got it to the vet hospital. To say she is distraught would be a major understatement. (This is not helped by the fact that she is bipolar.) So of course she is extremely upset because the dog died as a result from being hit, and on top of that, the dog did not have a collar/tags and was not microchipped, so she’s freaked out that the owner(s) will have no way of knowing what happened to the dog. It was not a stray; its nails had obviously been trimmed within the past 2-3 weeks, so somebody owned the dog but didn’t bother to have any ID for it. I know that huskies are notorious for escaping from confinement, but damn it, if you’re going to have a dog that likes to escape, upgrade your fencing or whatever, and FFS at least put a fucking collar and tags on your dog so someone can notify you if it runs away and ends up injured or dead.  Finally, this incident brought up some bad memories for me as well, because my mother worked with someone whose daughter was killed in a similar situation. She was driving on the highway, a dog ran out in front of her, she swerved and lost control of the car, hit a tree and was killed on impact. I’m sure there are many other accidents, fatal or not, caused by this sort of thing. And while I understand that other wild animals such as deer or whatever may also run onto the road, IMO there’s damn little excuse for a dog that is obviously someone’s pet being loose like that.  Yes, accidents happen; a few days ago, our 7-month-old puppy escaped out the front door when I answered the doorbell, and he’s not yet trained enough to always come when called. So the person at the door chased him down the sidewalk for about 20 feet before he decided to let himself be caught and then come back to the front door again. But the fact that this dog was loose close to a highway and had no ID makes me think there was just a pattern of carelessness there.

[bilgistic]

I'm so sorry. It's so traumatic. That's completely the owner's fault, and not your daughter's. I know it'll be hard for her, but try to impress that upon her.

I was in a similar accident 10ish years ago with the then-boyfriend. The dog was killed pretty instantly when she came out of the woods from the left and ran in front of his SUV. There was no time to stop. The owner came out of the house (it was in front of his house on a long, winding road) and he said, "She was a good dog." SERIOUSLY? So why didn't you have her in the house or otherwise restrained? I was hysterical and laid in the floor sobbing into the former boyfriend's cat's fur when we got to his house.

I'm so sorry for your daughter and for you. It's such a horrible experience.

[StatisticalOutlier]

3 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

So of course she is extremely upset because the dog died as a result from being hit, and on top of that, the dog did not have a collar/tags and was not microchipped, so she’s freaked out that the owner(s) will have no way of knowing what happened to the dog. It was not a stray; its nails had obviously been trimmed within the past 2-3 weeks, so somebody owned the dog but didn’t bother to have any ID for it.

I'd conclude that the owners don't care what happened to the dog if they didn't bother to made it identifiable, so your daughter shouldn't feel guilty about that part, anyway. 

Back to the previous comments about smells, to refresh:  I gag when I'm near seafood departments in grocery stores, and can't even go into most Asian grocery stores and Chinatown can be difficult, and was surprised that Seafood City Asian supermarket had a bunch of fish sitting out on top of ice and it didn't smell the least bit fishy.  I wondered if Pike Place Market would smell fishy--I'd always avoided the fish parts in the past.

Well, I was there yesterday, and yuck.  There were I think three fish markets along one side, including the one where they throw the fish around, and it definitely smelled, and I don't want to hang out near there.  I don't know what Seafood City does that they can have that amount of fish out and have them not smell.  Some of the fish in Pike Place Market were sitting on ice like that, but they smelled.  A puzzle.

I took the train to get there, and I've always loved mass transit.  Or, rather, it has become clear that I love the idea of mass transit.  But damn, the people!  Two-person seat with a white middle-aged man sitting next to the window, with his backpack in the seat next to him.  I (middle-aged (or elderly, if they're calling Jackie Chan "elderly" in his new movie--yikes!) white female) stood about 5 feet in front of him through several stops.  I know he saw me. 

After about 20 minutes, we got to a stop where there were quite a few people on the platform, and as we slowed down, he pulled his backpack toward him and motioned for me to take that seat.  Actually, I saw him doing it but pretended not to, and he kept at it until I looked over there.  When I declined, he put the backpack back on the seat.  Why have me stand for 20 minutes, and then offer me the seat?

Then I realized that his offering me the seat coincided with our transition onto Martin Luther King Way, and I can't help but think he didn't want anybody sitting there, but when the prospect that some undesirable with a pushy attitude would want that seat, he decided I was a better choice. 

Then two stops later, a white man was getting on, and this guy moved his backpack and motioned for him to take that seat, and he did. 

Hey, I get it--I would prefer nobody sits next to me, either, and I'd love to be able to pick and choose who does, but that's just not how it works.  Unless you're a dick.

Plus, in the seat right beneath me was an early-20s girl with a big suitcase (train came from the airport) and she sat in the aisle seat, with the suitcase in the aisle, and kept her head down the entire time looking at her phone.  I guess I could have asked her if I could crawl over her to have that window seat, but I was actually more interested in seeing how her situation would play out.  She could have sat in the window seat and put the suitcase in the foot area  of the aisle seat, and if she'd done that, then a person could have sat sideways in that seat, at least.  Or she could have just sucked it up and stood, since the other option was taking up two seats and still having her suitcase in the aisle.

And then on the way back, we were delayed because some kids around 17 or so were poking their heads out the doors, and the doors kept re-opening.  This went on for a bit, and then the conductor said, "Sorry folks, we're on a hold because those young men are playing with the doors."  Ha!  The public shaming worked, and they stopped and the doors closed, but then the conductor said, "Now we have a two-minute delay because the signal isn't working.  I'll pull ahead when I can, to try to trigger it."  So we sat, and then he pulled ahead a little and we sat there again, and then he pulled ahead a second time and that triggered it and we were on our way. 

Why can't people just be on the damn train and sit there, and share if necessary?

[Sun-Bun]

19 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Why can't people just be on the damn train and sit there, and share if necessary?

Because unfortunately, many people are assholes. Sad but true. It's those frustrating moments stuck on trains, planes and automobiles when you really see people loudly displaying their assholery. 

[ParadoxLost]

I still have a clock that automatically sets time from the era before they changed the weekends daylight savings occurs.

I just realized its one hour closer to the weekend being over than I thought. 

[Random Noise]

1) Re: Pet owners:

A couple years ago I had a problem with a cat trying to get into my garbage. When I saw it come around another night I started to suspect it was homeless so I left a bowl of cat food outside. During the winter I came to realize I had at least 7 or 8 cats coming to eat. Some are definitely ferile, but others are very tame and affectionate and always come running for some attention when they see me outside which makes me wonder why the hell don't their owners bring them indoors. Especially during winter when there's snow on the ground, what the hell are they supposed to hunt for?

Then I started discovering the cat food bowl out in the yard at night. Turned out that at least 3 neighborhood dogs wander the area at night and found a nice feeding spot at my place, so I had to build a box that the dogs couldn't get into so I could leave food out for the cats in the area.

2) Store clerks:

I popped into a convenience store a while ago, made a quick purchase, and was ready to leave. The clerk said "You know, when someone does something for you, it's good manners to thank them for it." I was so stunned at the moment that all I could do was reply "thank you." Then the clerk says "didn't hurt, did it?"

I headed out the door thinking WTF? What happened to the days when the clerk was thanking me for buying something at their store so they could have a job?

3) Store clerks, bank tellers, etc.

I think this one particularly annoys me because it first happened after hospitalizing my 89 year old mother with pneumonia and the doctor said she had maybe weeks to live at most.

I stopped at the bank to take care of some business and this young woman comes up who I didn't know at all and says "Hi. How are you today?" I wasn't sure how to respond to that since I was having a really crappy week. Do I lie and say "Oh, I'm really good thanks!" or do I say, "Well, actually ...."

Obviously it's supposed to be some kind of greeting or conversation starter, but I find it incredibly fake. The teller could care less what kind of day I was having. I also find it happening more and more at various places I go to. I'll typically respond with a "hanging in there" or to quote Data from Star Trek "still operating within specified parameters"

[TattleTeeny]

So here's a giant peeve: being laid off from your job of 15 years, on Friday morning before even taking your jacket off because your position as the only trained copy editor is suddenly "unnecessary" in a business with not only at least 24 print catalogs per year, but multiple copy-heavy websites and tons of advertising/event-related e-mails, all written by amateur "authors."

Edited October 30, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[BookWoman56]

52 minutes ago, Random Noise said:

I popped into a convenience store a while ago, made a quick purchase, and was ready to leave. The clerk said "You know, when someone does something for you, it's good manners to thank them for it." I was so stunned at the moment that all I could do was reply "thank you." Then the clerk says "didn't hurt, did it?"

I headed out the door thinking WTF? What happened to the days when the clerk was thanking me for buying something at their store so they could have a job?

 

WTF? The clerk is getting paid to ring up your purchase, not doing you some random favor out of the kindness and generosity of his/her heart.  When a sales clerk thanks me for a purchase, I will reply, "You're welcome," but that's about as far as I go with the purchasing ritual. The grocery stores close to me have trained their cashiers to open the conversation by asking customers if they found everything they needed, which does in fact occasionally prompt me to remember that no, I didn't find item ABC, and the clerk will send the bagger to go retrieve that item, or apologize for not having it in stock.  I rarely go to convenience stores other than to put gas in my car, and I will pay at the pump unless their system is down, but most convenience store clerks I've interacted with have nothing to say other than asking me if my card is debit or credit after they've rung up my total purchase. I try not to vent with employees, but one who tried to shame me into thanking him or her for condescending to do his/her damn job would likely get an earful. 

As a follow-up to the unfortunate event in which my daughter hit a dog that ran onto the highway in front of her car, I need some advice. We went and looked at the area in daylight and figured out the neighborhood where the dog most likely came from. I'm debating whether to put up flyers in the entrance to the neighborhood, advising anyone who lost a Siberian husky on or around that date that the dog was unfortunately struck on the highway and died after being taken to the vet hospital and treated.  (Obviously, no contact info would be listed, because I can easily imagine some asshat calling to harass either my daughter or me about the dog's death.) I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, if it were my dog, I'd want to know what happened, even if that news is painful, rather than wonder about it. On the other hand, the owner might prefer to believe, or if there are children in the household, might prefer that the children believe that the dog was found and taken in by somebody else.  Suggestions? I will freely admit my motivations are less about concern over the owner(s)' situation and more about helping my daughter get past the guilt she is feeling about this accident. 

ETA:  @TattleTeeny, that fucking sucks.  I share your frustration; I was once laid off for similar reasons (although not after 15 years) because the idiots in charge couldn't understand that their highly paid experts could barely string a couple of sentences together, and their writing was in fact so bad that it made the company look bad. Within a year or so, some of the materials these people had written for internal audiences accidentally got leaked to the public, and various customers (most of whom were highly educated professionals) began calling to complain about how bad the writing was and how it embarrassed them that they were customers of an organization with such shoddy writing. That incident forced them to rethink their attitudes on the need for trained writers and editors, and was part of the reason the VP over the area ultimately was forced to resign, but I realize the outcome of that scenario is not always going to repeat itself. 

Edited October 29, 2017 by BookWoman56

[Random Noise]

23 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

So here's a giant peeve: being laid off from your job of 15 years, on Friday morning before even taking your jacket off because your position as the only trained copy editor is suddenly "unnecessary" in a business with not only at least 24 print catalogs per year, but multiple copy-heavy websites and tons of advertising/even-related e-mails, all written by amateur "authors."

I honestly feel sorry for your predicament. Unfortunately that kind of stuff goes on more than we care to realize.

I worked 20 years as a part-time paramedic for a government operated ambulance service. We had an immediate superior who was milking the system to get 6 week paid vacations in places like Australia, among others. At one point I learned from 3 of my female co-workers that they had been sexually harassed by this person. I took the moral ground and reported him. I quickly learned how internal politics works when it comes to the higher echelon because they turned the situation around and were threatening me with charges. I was finally given the option of resignation or termination. Circumstances at the time just didn't allow me to continue the fight so I resigned.

On the brighter side, I landed a nice gig doing websites and make double the money I did before.

[Random Noise]

18 minutes ago, BookWoman56 said:

As a follow-up to the unfortunate event in which my daughter hit a dog that ran onto the highway in front of her car, I need some advice. We went and looked at the area in daylight and figured out the neighborhood where the dog most likely came from. I'm debating whether to put up flyers in the entrance to the neighborhood, advising anyone who lost a Siberian husky on or around that date that the dog was unfortunately struck on the highway and died after being taken to the vet hospital and treated.  (Obviously, no contact info would be listed, because I can easily imagine some asshat calling to harass either my daughter or me about the dog's death.) I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, if it were my dog, I'd want to know what happened, even if that news is painful, rather than wonder about it. On the other hand, the owner might prefer to believe, or if there are children in the household, might prefer that the children believe that the dog was found and taken in by somebody else.  Suggestions? I will freely admit my motivations are less about concern over the owner(s)' situation and more about helping my daughter get past the guilt she is feeling about this accident. 

 

Personally, I'd probably feel out the situation by driving around the neighborhood and ask someone out walking or mowing the lawn if they know of such a dog. You could casually mention that you saw it running on the road or something and not make an actual confession.

Someone will probably know the dog and can tell you whether the owner is a real anal orifice and the dog has been a problem, or maybe the dog manages to escape at times and the owner is a decent person. You can decide from there how far you wish to pursue the matter.

[bilgistic]

@BookWoman56, the flyer idea is very kind. I like the idea of saying that the dog was taken to the vet and passed there. More info wanted? Call vet. (While you ensure the vet doesn't give out your info, but I doubt they would.)

@TattleTeeny, did this happen to you? Will you take to work thread so we can thoroughly destroy your workplace?

As for cashiers, I went to Target yesterday for various sundries, and upon going to check out, the cashier muttered not one word to me. No, "How are you?" No "Did you find everything you needed?" No "I hate this job." Nothing. Just a half-hearted attempt to reach for the basket that was at most a foot from her on the belt, and then she began to ring up my items.

I mentioned at the beginning of the transaction that I had a gift card. Did she ask for it after hitting the "total" key. No, no, she did not. I said again, I have a gift card. It was emailed to me, so I held up me phone with the barcode displayed. She scanned it. Still no words spoken from her. I paid with my Target debit card and left, saying in a slightly louder than conversational tone, "Thank you for shopping at Target; please come again!"

I KNOW how much it sucks to work retail and deal with the public. I hated it so much. I still managed to say, "Hi; how are you? Did you find everything you needed?" and "Thank you!" That's just part of being a cashier. I'm try to be very nice to people who have to work with the public because I've been there. I get if you are having a bad day, but it seems that the standard of service has steadily declined over the years.

My local Rite Aid cashiers are SUPER nice, so that's something. They VERY cheerily chirp, "WELCOME TO RITE AID!" when anyone crosses the threshold. They're an exception, for sure, but I appreciate it.

[TattleTeeny]

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ETA:  @TATTLETEENY, that fucking sucks.  I share your frustration; I was once laid off for similar reasons (although not after 15 years) because the idiots in charge couldn't understand that their highly paid experts could barely string a couple of sentences together, and their writing was in fact so bad that it made the company look bad. Within a year or so, some of the materials these people had written for internal audiences accidentally got leaked to the public, and various customers (most of whom were highly educated professionals) began calling to complain about how bad the writing was and how it embarrassed them that they were customers of an organization with such shoddy writing. That incident forced them to rethink their attitudes on the need for trained writers and editors, and was part of the reason the VP over the area ultimately was forced to resign, but I realize the outcome of that scenario is not always going to repeat itself. 

You do not know how much I wish for this scenario. 
 

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On the brighter side, I landed a nice gig doing websites and make double the money I did before.

I'm hoping. I don't think I can get my salary anywhere else (at least not right off the bat) but it will be nice not to have to pull teeth every day just to do my work or even get questions answered. I think my salary was actually the real reason for my unceremonious booting. 

 

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@TATTLETEENY, did this happen to you? Will you take to work thread so we can thoroughly destroy your workplace?

Yup, it was me. I'll wander in there soon. Right now, I'm just fighting a weekend-long nauseated stress-belly. I'd really like a drink but this knot in there will not quit.

Edited October 30, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[TattleTeeny]

Oh, Book Woman, how awful! I wouldn't know how exactly to proceed either.

[Random Noise]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

 

 

As for cashiers, I went to Target yesterday for various sundries, and upon going to check out, the cashier muttered not one word to me. No, "How are you?" No "Did you find everything you needed?" No "I hate this job." Nothing. Just a half-hearted attempt to reach for the basket that was at most a foot from her on the belt, and then she began to ring up my items.

There's one place I dislike going but on occasion need to. I watched a cashier log onto her till one time and at the top of the screen it said "Smile and greet customer" Seriously, they actually have to tell them that now.

One of the reasons I don't like going there is that when it's slow, the cashiers will leave their till and group around one of the other cashiers and engage in conversation. I'll get to the check-out and 2 lanes will be abandoned because the cashiers are at the 3rd talking, so when I get to that lane I have to wait until they've finished their discussion. Worse yet is when they keep talking while the cashier blindly scans the items I'm purchasing. I always need to check the receipt after that because they miss sale items or double-scan others.

Edited October 30, 2017 by Random Noise

[ParadoxLost]

2 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

As a follow-up to the unfortunate event in which my daughter hit a dog that ran onto the highway in front of her car, I need some advice. We went and looked at the area in daylight and figured out the neighborhood where the dog most likely came from. I'm debating whether to put up flyers in the entrance to the neighborhood, advising anyone who lost a Siberian husky on or around that date that the dog was unfortunately struck on the highway and died after being taken to the vet hospital and treated.  (Obviously, no contact info would be listed, because I can easily imagine some asshat calling to harass either my daughter or me about the dog's death.) I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, if it were my dog, I'd want to know what happened, even if that news is painful, rather than wonder about it. On the other hand, the owner might prefer to believe, or if there are children in the household, might prefer that the children believe that the dog was found and taken in by somebody else.  Suggestions? I will freely admit my motivations are less about concern over the owner(s)' situation and more about helping my daughter get past the guilt she is feeling about this accident. 

Seriously, don't do this.  What if the family has kids and that is how the kids find out their dog is dead? 

I understand your desire to stay anonymous to protect your daughter but blindsiding the owners by putting all of that on a flier because you don't want to risk them making contact (and I get that) is likely to make matters worse for them in a variety of scenarios.  Honestly, I would probably find a way to track down the identity of the person that hit my dog if I had a kid and they found out their dog was dead on a flier (because of the flier and not the dog).

Can you check if the neighborhood has an HOA and then find a way to anonymously email the HOA or send a letter with no return info?  At least you tried and know you'll be limiting the audience to adults.

Edited October 30, 2017 by ParadoxLost

[Random Noise]

On further thought, I would suspect a concerned dog owner would be posting fliers asking if anyone has seen it. Maybe the best place to start would be checking the area for any posters or fliers anywhere.

As a final thought, if there are any stores, a post office, maybe a cafe nearby that would have a community bulletin board, that would most likely be the best choice in starting. A local shopping mall near me has a bulletin board where people post pictures of missing dogs and cats, or found dogs and cats seeking the owner.

Edited October 30, 2017 by Random Noise

[BookWoman56]

As noted, I have mixed feelings on the subject, for a variety of reasons, and the possibility of the owner's hypothetical kids seeing the news on a flier is one reason I'm hesitant to post a flier at all. I will look to see if there are any "lost dog" fliers or posters in the neighborhood that match the dog's description.  There's no place close that would have a community bulletin board; there is a gas station/convenience store on one side of the entrance to the neighborhood and a fast food place on the other side. It's just I feel that this is a no-win situation. In addition to not wanting to be harassed, I don't want the owner thinking that I am seeking reimbursement for the vet costs, which I think would be one natural reaction if I put contact info on a flier. Nor can I see turning the flier into some version of "Please contact me for info about your dog," because that would make the owner believe the dog was alive.  And I sure as fuck do not want to have to relate the details of the dog's treatment at the vet hospital, up to and including the moment when they asked my daughter if they should continue CPR on the dog after it quit breathing. However, I can't muster much sympathy for the owner who did not have a collar/tags or microchip for the dog, despite the fact that our city requires dogs to be microchipped.  Per the vet, this appeared to be a purebred Siberian husky, which around here sell for several hundred dollars, so it's not like I can delude myself that this was the pet of some family that simply didn't have the money to get the dog microchipped.