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

[Cloud9Shopper]

Oh boy. I just got back from a work event three hours from home, so I have a few.

-Construction season featuring traffic jams and detours every 12 feet, making you feel like your trip will never end. 

-Drivers who think the double yellow line is a passing lane.

-Hokey team building games with random coworkers you will never see again and teach you nothing. Why do we have to line up in alphabetical order by first name? To prove we know how to alphabetize? Thanks, Linda in HR, but I learned this in first grade. (They claim it’s to “use your communication skills!”)

-When you go to a venue for anything and the DJ music is turned up to 100 so you spend the whole event practically screaming at people to talk and going “What?” every second sentence. Could we at least wait until after lunch for the DJ or play the music at a lower volume? Like cocktail hour type of stuff? 

Edited September 19 by Cloud9Shopper

[oliviabenson]

Always needing something for my house. I’m tired of spending $$$.

[supposebly]

I had to take the car to work this morning. With all the construction around campus, what takes me usually 10-15 minutes on my bicycle, it took me more than half an hour to get home. Never again. No downpour is worth this stupidity. Never even mind the 20 bucks I had to pay for parking.

[Absolom]

I have one this morning.  My noisiest neighbor.  He really isn't that bad normally.  He's retired and he likes to garden and putter around so he makes some noise every day.  I'm used to it and if we didn't have such delightful weather with doors and windows open so often, I wouldn't hear half as much noise.  However, the past three mornings he has run the air compressor in the driveway for several minutes at a time constantly.  He's pumping up a tire before leaving the house.  I know he knows the solution is replace the tire before he has an accident due to this tire.  I'm trying to think kind thoughts that his chosen tire place had to order the new tire.  He owns another car though.  Why not just drive the other car?  Perhaps when he left a bit ago it was to get the new tire.  

[Mindthinkr]

I just went shopping for the first time in two weeks. I needed a lot of staples. My peeve is that I ask them very nicely not to pack the bags so that they are too heavy. I’d rather make an extra trip or two rather than struggle or have the bag rip/handle come off. Of course the lady packing didn’t listen to me. One bag developed a hole in the bottom (I got it in just in time so that things didn’t fall through and break) plus my back hurt from lugging. Who puts 10 lbs of apples in a flimsy bag? 

[annzeepark914]

4 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I just went shopping for the first time in two weeks. I needed a lot of staples. My peeve is that I ask them very nicely not to pack the bags so that they are too heavy. I’d rather make an extra trip or two rather than struggle or have the bag rip/handle come off. Of course the lady packing didn’t listen to me. One bag developed a hole in the bottom (I got it in just in time so that things didn’t fall through and break) plus my back hurt from lugging. Who puts 10 lbs of apples in a flimsy bag? 

I've just about given up trying to get them to not cram so many things in one bag. I take 3 totebags into the store. Why can't they divvy up the stuff? When I know the bags will be heavy, I take the cart to the trunk where I have more bags and lighten the load in each of the ones they've packed. 🙄 

[Browncoat]

I walked to a store once upon a time (office supplies, not groceries), and bought an even number of everything so that each of two bags could be packed identically -- for example, I got six spiral notebooks and four three-ring binders, and so on -- so they would weigh the same and thus be easier to carry.  I explained to the checker that I wanted things divided evenly between my two bags.  I thought I explained it clearly, but nope.  90% of the heavier things went in one bag, and all the lighter stuff went in the other bag.  I very pointedly and ostentatiously repacked the bags before I left the store.  I may or may not have rolled my eyes while I did it.

[meep.meep]

Bagging - I'm about to revert to what I did during the pandemic which was to say leave it all in the cart and bag it when I got back to my car.  I'm picky.

You know where they have great baggers?  The Army commissary at Ft. Leavenworth!  We lived there for a year when I was a kid and my dad was stationed there.  The baggers are all prisoners from the penitentiary who are working for tips.  They're happy to be out in the world and want to please.  My mother would turn herself into a pretzel to keep her body between them and us kids though.

[Mindthinkr]

35 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I may or may not have rolled my eyes while I did it.

I laughed because no matter how we ask or explain anything, they never do it the way we hoped for. 

[fairffaxx]

In my state, we're limited to either bringing our own bags or purchasing those supplied by the store.  If there's no self-checkout available & I'm at the mercy of a checker, I decline to buy their bags & just ask to have everything put back in the cart, from which I then deploy the contents as I please.  I find that less annoying than trying to deal with the stupidity/intransigence of the average bagger.

[Mindthinkr]

I have bags…I just forgot to bring them. Also as they are big, they usually pack them so heavy I have trouble carrying them into the house. 
Tip: I found that the cardboard box a case of cat food comes in (like Fancy Feast brand) fits perfectly in the bottom of most reusable bags. They help to stabilize the contents, keep the bottom from bulging, and the bags last longer. 

[EtheltoTillie]

We just pack our own bags. We bring IKEA bags. The checker pushes everything down the conveyor belt and we pack ourselves. Bonus it takes much less time. 

Edited September 20 by EtheltoTillie

[annzeepark914]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

I have bags…I just forgot to bring them. Also as they are big, they usually pack them so heavy I have trouble carrying them into the house. 
Tip: I found that the cardboard box a case of cat food comes in (like Fancy Feast brand) fits perfectly in the bottom of most reusable bags. They help to stabilize the contents, keep the bottom from bulging, and the bags last longer. 

I was leaving the check out area one day at Wegmans and heard a cashier ask a couple if they had bags. The man said, "We left them in the car. Does that count?" 😆 I loved that!

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

Tip: I found that the cardboard box a case of cat food comes in (like Fancy Feast brand) fits perfectly in the bottom of most reusable bags. They help to stabilize the contents, keep the bottom from bulging, and the bags last longer. 

First thought: that’s a brilliant idea, but then I couldn’t fold my bags up into a neat little pile. Second thought:  what do I care, I just throw them all into the back seat anyway. 

Off to start saving Fancy Feast boxes!

[Quof]

A large grocery chain in Canada (the one I hate because their express lane signs say "25 items or less") sells large plastic bins with handles.  They fit perfectly in their carts.   You empty the bins at the checkout, then put everything back in the bins to take home.   If you order grocery pickup, they pack everything in new bins and take the empty ones you bring with you. 

It's the only thing they do right. 

[Browncoat]

4 hours ago, Quof said:

A large grocery chain in Canada (the one I hate because their express lane signs say "25 items or less") sells large plastic bins with handles.  They fit perfectly in their carts.   You empty the bins at the checkout, then put everything back in the bins to take home.   If you order grocery pickup, they pack everything in new bins and take the empty ones you bring with you. 

It's the only thing they do right. 

And in an ideal world, you would never forget to bring the bins back, and you would never end up with a guest room full of bins from the store.  🤣

[PRgal]

5 hours ago, Quof said:

A large grocery chain in Canada (the one I hate because their express lane signs say "25 items or less") sells large plastic bins with handles.  They fit perfectly in their carts.   You empty the bins at the checkout, then put everything back in the bins to take home.   If you order grocery pickup, they pack everything in new bins and take the empty ones you bring with you. 

It's the only thing they do right. 

That is NOT an express lane.  Express is 10 or fewer.  25 or fewer (or "less" as most grocery chains use) is non-existent in my part of town.  Maybe it's a suburban thing?  And if the chain is a franchise, they might be allowed to do that just because corporate has no say for that.  

[Dimity]

Funny this subject of "X and fewer items" has come up as I was just commenting to my husband that this is something that seems to have disappeared from any of the stores we patronize.  I was speculating that this is because they have far fewer lanes open because they're trying to force us to use self checkout.

[tearknee]

Photobucket's automated Scunthorpe Problem is really pissing me off right about now.

It blocked this screen capture from an episode of the old British comedy "The Goodies" as a TOS violation:

[Anela]

27 minutes ago, tearknee said:

Photobucket's automated Scunthorpe Problem is really pissing me off right about now.

It blocked this screen capture from an episode of the old British comedy "The Goodies" as a TOS violation:

Photobucket kept photos from me, that I had uploaded years ago, because I wouldn’t pay them for access, since I’d uploaded them when it was free. 
I use Imgur.com. 

[tearknee]

11 minutes ago, Anela said:

Photobucket kept photos from me, that I had uploaded years ago, because I wouldn’t pay them for access, since I’d uploaded them when it was free. 
I use Imgur.com. 

Thank you ((hope and care)).

[CasseroleQueen]

3 hours ago, Dimity said:

Funny this subject of "X and fewer items" has come up as I was just commenting to my husband that this is something that seems to have disappeared from any of the stores we patronize.  I was speculating that this is because they have far fewer lanes open because they're trying to force us to use self checkout.

Around here they're closing the self checkouts or limiting the number of items to fewer than 20 (I think Target's limit is 10, but they don't always have it open, and only schedule 1 cashier 🤬) I think it's because there was too much theft going on

[Dimity]

11 minutes ago, CasseroleQueen said:

Around here they're closing the self checkouts or limiting the number of items to fewer than 20 (I think Target's limit is 10, but they don't always have it open, and only schedule 1 cashier 🤬) I think it's because there was too much theft going on

This is what happened at the Walmarts near us.   The grocery stores and pharmacies around me though are still placing their bets on limiting staffed checkout lines and increasing the self checkout.  It will be interesting to see if they end up following Walmarts example.

[PRgal]

Speaking of bagging assistants, 30 years ago, when I was living in Bermuda, stores often hired teenagers to bag groceries.  They'd often wear their school uniforms rather than store issued uniforms.

[tearknee]

Gone the way of the Paper Boy/Girl, I'd wager...

[DrSpaceman73]

This is my latest pet peeve :  surveys.  You can't do anything without being asked to do a survey to rate it. Yes companies should track and monitor customer satisfaction but if you do it with everyone all the time it can become annoying and meaningless. I don't want to rate my salsaritas experience every time I go.   If people want you leave comments let them but really even visit everywhere 'rate me'

 

It really made me mad with my continuing medical education for my medical license. OK yes i should be doing continuing education it's important. But then on top of answering the questions about the topic I now have to RATE every single cme activity. And not just a single question how good was this.  But like 10 questions or more in different categories and then comments.   You don't do it you dont get credit.  The survey rating the activity literally takes longer than the questions you answer on the topic. 

 

I'm done doing surveys.  No I dont want to go online and rate my oil change experience. 

Edited September 20 by DrSpaceman73

[RealHousewife]

My sleep debt. If I had been able to sleep one hour more last night, I wouldn't feel like my Friday was ruined. I don't have energy for anything. 

I really envy people who can easily sleep. When people talk about getting 8 hours every night, I'm so amazed. I feel lucky if I get seven. 

[chitowngirl]

When we put a tech ticket in at work, when it’s completed we are asked if we want to do a survey. I could see that if we outsourced tech, but it’s in-house 🙄

Edited September 21 by chitowngirl

[Dimity]

4 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

I really envy people who can easily sleep. When people talk about getting 8 hours every night, I'm so amazed. I feel lucky if I get seven. 

I think I am probably averaging about 7-8 hours but the problem for me is almost every night I end up waking up, usually around 2 or so, and struggle to fall back to sleep.  Even with that 7-8 hours in total I am not feeling rested!

[Browncoat]

If I sleep five hours in a row, uninterrupted, I consider that a really good night.  Anything more than that is a bonus.  On an exceptionally bad night, I struggle to fall asleep, then wake up every hour on the hour all night.  Fortunately, those nights are not common.  I can usually get two rounds of 2-4 hours uninterrupted.

[Yeah No]

On 8/29/2024 at 10:06 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

Today's peeve:  Pump bottles that don't work.  At least one third of the time, they won't open.  You know the ones for soap where you're supposed to twist the spout to open so it pops up.  Some of them never work.  It drives me nuts.  I have two right now.  I will have to decant the liquids into older containers. 

I am waaaay behind on this thread but I was actually coming here to post my peeve about this very subject. 

I just had an incident with a pump bottle from a specialty pharmacy that dispenses my rosacea cream. It turns out that Medicare doesn't cover the specific cream that really works so my dermatologist suggested having it mixed with another cheaper but still effective type of cream by a compounding pharmacy with good prices. So instead of $200 out of pocket per bottle it would be only $60, which is fine with me because I only need it on the apples of my cheeks so a bottle lasts a few months.

Well, the cream works and the first bottle gave me no issues. The second bottle was fine up until there was about 25% of the cream left. Then the cap somehow decided to come loose so I started reattaching it which only worked for a week or so after which I was unable to get the cap on in a way that would dispense the cream. The suction mechanism with the spring was sticking out of the bottle but I was unable to move it to get at the cream. I was busy at the time getting ready to go on vacation so I just refilled the cream rather than deal with it.

So anyway the third bottle was fine and got me through my vacation until after I came back. A couple of weeks later when about 75% of the product was left, that cap also came loose and I went through the same BS trying to get it back on to work, which this time didn't work at all. So I once again tried to get the spring mechanism out hoping maybe this time it would be different. Well, the plunger or straw actually fell into the bottle exposing the cream but I was only able to get to it with a Q tip.

Exasperated, I decided to call the company to see if they might be able to do something for me. I got a nice woman who referred me to the actual pharmacy that handled it, which was somewhere in the Mountain time zone. 

I couldn't believe the attitude of the "customer service" rep. After I explained the problem I described above, she started off by correcting me that it wasn't a plunger or a "straw" but something else. I said OK but asked her what difference that made that was relevant to my problem. No answer.

Then she started telling me I was doing something wrong or mistaken because she was reading the physician's instructions which call for a monthly refill and I was obviously using the same bottle for over a month. Now I've never needed to refill it once a month even using it twice a day as directed. I'd have to slather so much of it all over my face to do that it would be ridiculous. So she accused me of not using the product properly. I said I did mention earlier that it works fine the way I'm using it so maybe the doctor didn't realize that I didn't need it refilled that often, and what difference does that make anyway? Then she said their policy is only to replace an item within a month of filling it. I told her it only happened outside that time because I was still using the product after a month and again, what difference does that make? If the thing broke on two different bottles and I can't use them properly or at all don't they kind of owe me something anyway? I mean, even Ebay honors returns on "no return accepted" items if they are defective and it's outside the return period. So WTF? All I got was, "Well, I'm just telling you what our policy is". UGHHHH.....😠

I then explained to her that I'm not covered under Medicare for those creams so I'm paying out of pocket for them and so it matters to me more that this is happening. Then she reluctantly told me that they would send me a new one free "as a one time courtesy" but in the future they would not honor that if it was outside the one month period. Gee thanks! 

Anyway, I was pretty upset with her by this time. I told her that maybe it would have been more constructive and less insulting to lead off with telling me that she was sorry I was having trouble with the product and that they were happy to replace it for me rather than tell me there was something wrong with what I was calling it and doing with it, or continue to dig her heels in about what their "policy" was. I told her that in all my years of working with the public I would not have had my job very long if this was the way I treated customers. I told her I didn't care what the "new normal" was regarding that and that I'm not going to keep my mouth shut when I think I've been treated poorly anymore. I told her I didn't care whether it's now considered OK for customer service reps. to insult customers because those aren't the rules I operate by. I still operate by the "old" rules. I also told her that if she thinks that makes me a "crazy old lady" so be it. She was quiet for a while, then gave me a not-so-sincere apology. I'm still considering whether I will complain about her to the management of the company. And BTW I have NEVER made such a complaint!

On 8/30/2024 at 9:17 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

I'm definitely in the turn the bottle upside down group.  Or for things like dishwashing liquid I will add some water to get all the soap out.

Yeah, me too, although I dilute my dishwashing liquid with water even when mostly full on a regular basis. Most of it is ultra concentrated anyway.

[PRgal]

7 hours ago, Browncoat said:

If I sleep five hours in a row, uninterrupted, I consider that a really good night.  Anything more than that is a bonus.  On an exceptionally bad night, I struggle to fall asleep, then wake up every hour on the hour all night.  Fortunately, those nights are not common.  I can usually get two rounds of 2-4 hours uninterrupted.

Same here.  I've tried to convince my husband to get a sleep study done but he's not up for one.  I've slept in a different room before - when I was recovering from surgery and during his second bout of covid this summer - but that's not really a permanent solution since we live in a two bedroom condo and that will require my son to stay with my parents!

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/19/2024 at 8:26 PM, Mindthinkr said:

I have bags…I just forgot to bring them. Also as they are big, they usually pack them so heavy I have trouble carrying them into the house. 
Tip: I found that the cardboard box a case of cat food comes in (like Fancy Feast brand) fits perfectly in the bottom of most reusable bags. They help to stabilize the contents, keep the bottom from bulging, and the bags last longer. 

 

On 9/19/2024 at 9:39 PM, SoMuchTV said:

First thought: that’s a brilliant idea, but then I couldn’t fold my bags up into a neat little pile. Second thought:  what do I care, I just throw them all into the back seat anyway. 

Off to start saving Fancy Feast boxes!

Well, fiddlesticks.  I buy two different kinds of cat food by the case.  One box is too small for my reusable bags, and the other is too big.  I did discover that just a sheet of cardboard (like the back of a legal pad) is just right, and gives the bags enough stability to make them easier to fill.

[Ohiopirate02]

21 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

This is my latest pet peeve :  surveys.  You can't do anything without being asked to do a survey to rate it. Yes companies should track and monitor customer satisfaction but if you do it with everyone all the time it can become annoying and meaningless. I don't want to rate my salsaritas experience every time I go.   If people want you leave comments let them but really even visit everywhere 'rate me'

 

It really made me mad with my continuing medical education for my medical license. OK yes i should be doing continuing education it's important. But then on top of answering the questions about the topic I now have to RATE every single cme activity. And not just a single question how good was this.  But like 10 questions or more in different categories and then comments.   You don't do it you dont get credit.  The survey rating the activity literally takes longer than the questions you answer on the topic. 

 

I'm done doing surveys.  No I dont want to go online and rate my oil change experience. 

The worst part about those surveys is how corporate uses them. The only acceptable response is 5 stars or a 10 out of 10 or the highest possible using whatever metric the company decides which makes them meaningless for the store and the corporation. They will also keep track of any survey that mentions employee names and add those to their files. And yes, these companies will use the actual negative responses and the other "negative" responses when evaluating employees for raises, promotions, and even termination. So you really should not be doing surveys unless you are prepared to give a glowing 5 stars across the board. 

[ginger90]

1 hour ago, PRgal said:

I've tried to convince my husband to get a sleep study done but he's not up for one.

Let him know this internet stranger says a sleep study is as easy as easy can be. 🤣

Among other things, undiagnosed sleep apnea can lead to hypertension, heart disease, and stroke.

[PRgal]

4 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Let him know this internet stranger says a sleep study is as easy as easy can be. 🤣

Among other things, undiagnosed sleep apnea can lead to hypertension, heart disease, and stroke.

Thank you.  And based on his health (pre-diabetes, obesity, etc), he is at high risk.  

[oliviabenson]

After my breakfast I was still so exhausted that I slept for extra 3-4 hours. Any time I try to nap I actually sleep for a few hours. I don’t think a nap is supposed to be that long. Idk. Well if I can I sleep. It’s my favorite hobby nowadays. 

[Yeah No]

On 8/30/2024 at 2:03 PM, Dimity said:

I keep seeing memes contrasting life today with what it was like in the 70s and 80s.  I think they must be appealing to people who either (a) did not actually live through the 70s and 80s or (b) people with extremely selective memories. 

The one I found most offensive was the one that made it seem  like 70s life was an idyllic walk in happy time park.  Because it's not like there was a war going on or an energy crisis or airline hijackings or whatever.  There is no time in the history of the world where life was perfect.

Again I am still way behind but I just have to reply to this topic.

Yep, I know all about this tendency among among young people to try to make it look like they had it worse than we did, meanwhile it's nothing but a skewing of facts and history to fit a grievance mentality. And what gets me is the vitriol they spew about it like we had anything to do with the forces at work that control these things. We've been just as much at the receiving end of the financial and global forces that affect the economy, etc. They give us way more power than we have over such things. Like we're bad mommy and daddy who ruined the world for them. It's in my opinion a very short sighted and immature view of things.

Anyone who has read me on other threads and even this one knows I could go on and on about how untrue this is by a long shot. I graduated college at a time of double digit everything - unemployment, inflation and interest rates. Salaries were crap. None of my friends could afford even a condo. without help from their parents. The cost of living was through the roof. Then I heard the complaint that inflation was computed differently back then and today's inflation would be higher, but when I checked that out the recent spike in inflation was shorter lived and again still not as high even using the old methodology according to several respected financial experts. It's again all about skewing facts and statistics to engage in this false narrative about the past.

On 8/30/2024 at 9:48 PM, annzeepark914 said:

I believe the people who think of the 70s & 80s as better than today are remembering a time when we didn't have all day/night news talk shows. There were awful things happening, but it wasn't in our faces all the time. We didn't have smartphones, iPads, etc., that we checked frequently for news, text, emails. We were able to be insulated from the constant barrage. Non-stop coverage of Vietnam, hijackings, protests, etc would have been overwhelming.

True. I also think all they see is the happy fun things on YouTube, movies and TV and wherever they see examples of the '70s and '80s so they again get this skewed view of it like it was the "Happy Days" TV series in real life, LOL, when it was anything BUT.

If they want to see the gritty, awful side of the '70s they need to watch Movies like "The 7-Ups", "The French Connection", "Foxy Brown" and many other movies made in the '70s in a similar genre that didn't sugarcoat reality.

Also how about reading and learning about history instead of cherry picking just the "evidence" that makes their grievance case? I guess that's not in style anymore.

On 8/31/2024 at 8:16 AM, Blergh said:

Yes, I agree! IMO, this is a direct result of many folks in the older generations  in the last few decades not bothering to teach younger generations manners or consideration (and I've seen it for myself). Yes, civilization DEFINITELY needs civility to endure! I know that there have always been rude and solipsistic folks around but at least in the past, those behaviors would be discouraged instead of (in some cases) idolized by others.

EXACTLY! And I think civics needs to be taught in school again. Although I don't have much hope of that.

On 8/31/2024 at 12:00 PM, Dimity said:

There is a meme going around:

Which is ridiculous.  Even in 1980 you weren't filling a grocery cart for $20.  And maybe some places had houses selling for $15000 but not many.  And sorry to further rain on their parade but a good salary back in 1980 was $20k a year.  But I guess logic and a sense of proportion have no place in fake nostalgia.

First of all, judging from that woman's clothing, hair and the packaging of the food in the cart, that photo was taken no later than the mid '70s, probably earlier.

I used to go grocery shopping with my mom back in the '70s and yes, even back then it was not possible to fill a cart with groceries for $20. A cart piled that high would have been more like $60. My mother and I would buy 3 paper bags of groceries and it would cost about $30 to feed 3 people in the early '70s. By the late '70s it would probably have been more like $50 for the same amount because of the incredible inflation we had. Remember the term "stagflation"? That was in the '70s. Young people have never experienced that.

Also this business about telling us we didn't have to pay for computers or cable, etc. We had other costs that young people today don't even have to spend on, like taking pictures or home movies which used to cost a fair amount and now are pretty much free with any cell phone. Not to mention the cost of the cameras and equipment back then that we don't need today. And the relative cost of any kind of electronic equipment was WAY higher than it is today. And forget about how much it would cost to make a long distance call back in the day!  The list goes on!

And I wouldn't call what this meme is trying to do "nostalgia". It is a warping, falsification and skewing of history to support that grievance mentality I talked about above.

On 8/31/2024 at 4:54 PM, isalicat said:

Actually I just looked it up and the average price of a home in the U.S. in 1980 was in the $60,000.s - so that meant many homes were available for much less, although probably not too many that were immediately habitable for $20,000! This whole trope actually works very well for the 1960s though. Besides all that, look at the crap food this lady is buying!...whatever she paid, her family won't be eating very well...😿

I think the average price of a home is not a great barometer of how much anything really costs. Home prices can vary a lot depending on the location. It's the cost of living that really tells the tale and that takes into account income levels vs. housing, food and other costs. Because that can vary quite a bit depending on the part of the country. That price seems low but what were the salaries like and the cost of living where houses cost that much?

I did a little analysis on another thread and found out that the condo. I was finally able to buy in 1991 at $178,000 in Norwalk, CT is now selling for about $525,000. Adjusting for inflation $178,000 would be worth $411,000 today. OK, it's less, but I got it right when real estate took a hard fall after the savings and loan crisis. AND interest rates were a lot higher when I bought. I got my mortgage for close to 10%. If you financed the $525,000 at today's rate of around 6.8% I would still have been paying more per month than that even with the lower purchase price. ($3,600 per month in today's money vs. $3,400 per month.)

And my husband and I made CRAP. We lived in the Bronx and took 2 and 3 jobs to save for a down payment. He did not have a college education (he tried but didn't get too far because he was dyslexic and didn't know it) so he worked in auto. service management and I was an admin. assistant at a university which didn't pay much either. I think the real difference is that we were willing to make big sacrifices to achieve ownership while young people today can't live without their devices and other things. The expectations are higher. I lived without a lot of things my peers had, although I didn't have to have my face rubbed in it every day on social media. So I think some of this is psychological because they have big FOMO based on seeing what "everyone else" is doing. I knew some of my peers were better off than I was but I didn't have to see it every day so it made living without what they had a little easier.

Even today I don't bother so much with social media because I don't want to get jealous about what my old classmates have that I don't. But a lot of younger people don't do that. They let it get to them. And then they blame their parents generation for having things they don't. Well, of course we do, we've had decades longer to achieve those things plus in many cases we had to struggle to get them.

And so what if things are bad right now? They're bad for us older people too! We're not immune to all the fluctuations. Our grocery bills are killing us right now too. We're not feeling financially secure in our retirement. In fact we aren't even retiring at all in many cases because of that - my husband still works at 68. But we also know that things always change and in a few years they might be better. But there are people online that skew statistics to make it look like doomsday is just around the corner and of course older people are responsible. In many ways my parents' generation after WWII had it much easier than I did but I never blamed them for that. I think even when I was young I had a better grasp on the many forces responsible for these things, most of which were out of their control. But I didn't have a bunch of people online messing with my head trying to make me believe something else.

[Caoimhe]

I hate naps because I know it means I’ll sleep even less the following night. I finally found some earbuds for side sleepers that are comfortable and wear them all night so while I still wake I turn on an audiobook every time and end up falling asleep again within the half hour I set the timer for. Otherwise my brain starts racing down the road of doom, gloom, hopelessness and every bad thing. Something about the dark makes everything feel worse.  

 

Edited September 22 by Caoimhe

[Writing Wrongs]

Pet Peeve: Overused phrases

I watch a lot of "reality" shows and YT videos, so I am hearing a lot of phrases and words that are new to my old ass. "Spilling the tea" is one. But the 2 that annoy me at the moment are "I see you" and "I appreciate you". The more I hear them used the more fake and condescending they sound. 

I also roll my eyes at YT apartment tour videos and how people of a certain age range all have the same Tom Ford coffee table book, coffee bar with the Chemex pour over coffee maker, "smart" everything and the requisite Hermes "H" blanket or pillow.

I have become a grumpy old woman and I'm only in my 50s.

 

Edited September 22 by Writing Wrongs

[tearknee]

"side-eye" is another I hate, if only because of its over-use by (usually) left-leaning poli-social activists (tbf, if you are an activist or a student of political and general news, you are not an ordinary average person).

[Yeah No]

On 8/31/2024 at 8:23 PM, PRgal said:

We lost A LOT of civility over pandemic.  That's why GenZ (and I'm generalizing here) doesn't know how to behave properly at work.  Alpha's (what my son is) going to be worse if we don't do anything.

I agree. I didn't really address the civility issue last night - I think part of the reason for this started before the pandemic but it got much worse because of it. The social graces are being lost because kids are growing up with less and less verbal and face-to-face contact with other real human beings. Instead they are having interactions online where it's either impersonal or often anything BUT civil, and if that's become their primary teacher for how to interact with people, we're all in deep trouble.

I've seen a lot of stuff addressing this on TV and in print but so far no one seems to have a solution. Unfortunately you need to grow up learning these things, not be thrown into them in adulthood like at work, and that means parents have to get involved, but now the parents and even some of the teachers of very young children are themselves the product of this effect to a lesser degree and might also suffer from being socially compromised enough not to be able to help their children avoid it. 

[Writing Wrongs]

3 hours ago, Caoimhe said:

I hate naps because I know it means I’ll sleep even less the following night.

I used to love naps on the weekends. I would set time aside to nap from after lunch until almost dinner time. I ended up quitting because I felt like I was wasting time sleeping when I could be doing something else.

Now that I'm older, I almost always fall asleep in my chair after dinner and miss all of my shows and wake up in time to go to bed. 🤣

[Yeah No]

On 9/12/2024 at 11:00 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

I have to fly later this year, and figuring out which flight was actually doable was a chore. For reasons only known to American Airlines, they kept on pushing for a 30 minute layover in Charlotte no matter which airport I was departing. I know the RDU-CLT leg does normally take less time than what is advertised, but I am not willing to risk it especially when it never fails that the two gates I need in Charlotte are in different terminals. There were multiple later flights from Charlotte to my destination, but the AA website and all other 3rd parties made me work to find that later flight with a longer layover. 

My husband and I flew in and out of Charlotte on American on our trip to Florida last Fall. He's connected there a few years in a row so he thought booking a long layover was a good idea and I think it was. We were able to relax in those rocking chairs and have a bite to eat. The one thing he didn't do right was booking our flight out of there on the return trip so late in the day. I was an executive assistant for 30 years and knew all about avoiding that as I booked air travel on a regular basis. Unfortunately by the time I noticed it, it was too late to change it.

So anyway on that return trip out of CLT our flight to Hartford kept getting delayed for maintenance and after about the 4th time over a period of a few HOURS it was getting close to there being no flights left to put us on if that flight didn't depart. The airport was getting emptier and the crowd was getting anxious so my anxiety rose as I worried about the airline rushing the maintenance and putting us at some kind of risk. Because you know that's where my mind goes in a situation like this! 😉 The airline employees kept telling us they would try to get us another plane if that one didn't work out but I didn't trust that that would actually work out. On top of that after all that time I was starving and tired and there was not even a self-service thingy open from which to get a snack.

So anyway, long story short, after much aggravation and having to listen to all these younger passengers bitch and moan loudly about the inconvenience (which was a shock to me - I hadn't flown in several years and this was not how I remember people acting), they finally found us a plane and a new crew because it was so late the other crew couldn't stay for us. It turned out to be a very nice flight, and a safe one thank goodness. One thing my husband did have the foresight to do was book us on the first row of first class - I had only flown first class once in my life after being upgraded so this was a real treat. I think he cashed in some miles to make the upgrade and it was worth it. After all we had been through that helped a LOT. We had extra leg room too. I was just happy we didn't have to check into a hotel. THAT would have been awful, I'm sure. That crowd would have stampeded over us. It's unbelievable how people act today but that's all part of the pet peeve here.

I traditionally have been the one to book our flights but after so many years of doing that in my career I am more than willing to let Mr. Yeah No do it now because he wants to, but of course he isn't aware of some of the things I am. And I hate to be that person that checks on him to make sure he's doing the "right thing", LOL. 😉

 

[DrSpaceman73]

2 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

Pet Peeve: Overused phrases

I watch a lot of "reality" shows and YT videos, so I am hearing a lot of phrases and words that are new to my old ass. "Spilling the tea" is one. But the 2 that annoy me at the moment are "I see you" and "I appreciate you". The more I hear them used the more fake and condescending they sound. 

I also roll my eyes at YT apartment tour videos and how people of a certain age range all have the same Tom Ford coffee table book, coffee bar with the Chemex pour over coffee maker, "smart" everything and the requisite Hermes "H" blanket or pillow.

I have become a grumpy old woman and I'm only in my 50s.

 

Lots of overused phrases bug me

Today years old. 

Anything that says 'the perfect (something ) doesn't exist and shows supposedly something perfect. 

Just a few

I also hate all the memes stating how great the old days were. Sure if you were a white male. But not just that no, I dont want to go back to pre internet / technology days.  No, tv wasn't greater in the 70s.  The world wasn't safer. People weren't tougher because they didn't wear seat belts or use helmets. They just died.  You can't ignore the survivor cohort. 

[Is Everyone Gone]

This is petty, but I HATE it when people "sing" the last word to a sentence. Like "so I am so hap-p-p-p-yyyyyyyyyeeeehhhh!!!" consistently. Like if you're truly excited I get it, but there's some vlogger I follow on YT who does that with EVERYTHING. "This is the dress I bought at Sh-e-eeeeee-iiiiii-nnnns" and singing "Sheins."

[Dimity]

My daily FB peeve: the stories that start with some heartrending or enraging scenario that is designed to catch your attention and leads to the sentence that always goes somewhat like "I devised a plan to teach her a lesson she’d never forget".  What is the everloving purpose of these fake drah-ma stories?  I've never opened one so have no idea.  I just know they annoy the hell out of me!

[Writing Wrongs]

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

No, tv wasn't greater in the 70s.

I think that depends on what you mean by "greater". I was a kid in the 70s and I do still enjoy and feel nostalgic about old tv shows. The shows I own on blu-ray are from that era (Charlie's Angels, Bionic Woman...). I do miss the simplicity of having only 3 channels to choose from and the family sitting down together to watch. But I also love being able to binge watch things and being spoiled for choice, too.

[Quof]

9 hours ago, Caoimhe said:

I hate naps

I regret every nap I passed up as a child. 

[Dimity]

2 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

. I do miss the simplicity of having only 3 channels to choose from and the family sitting down together to watch.

I miss looking forward to getting the TV guide in the week-end paper and then checking to see what was on for the coming week.