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

[Katy M]

44 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Well, this is not me, though I will tell you why it doesn't working some instances (putting a dinner plate flat across the top rack of the dishwasher because what in the hell? I did laugh at that all night though. Or just deciding that dishes go in any old cabinet as opposed to where they've always been). I do think that it's a bit immature to summarily employ an "if you want it this way, do it yourself" attitude when you are sharing a home though.

I was talking about specifically picky things.  There are people out there that get really upset if you don't put the toilet paper on the roll with it opening to the outside, or vice versa. And, of course, things have to go where they belong.  But, then there are some people, if they have a vase of flowers in the center of the table and you clean off the table and put the vase back two inches to the left, they'll freak out.  In a situation such as this, I can see why a partner would be hesitant to actually do anything.  If you're going to get yelled at anyway, you may as well get to goof off instead.  And, again, I'm not accusing you of any of this. 

[TattleTeeny]

Oh, no--I didn't mean to sound like you were being accusatory! I do also have things that I would rather do myself (my laundry, for one. I'll do his if I see it needs to be done and he's not home, but mine is trickier and I'd never ask or expect him to do it just because I do his). I've also been diagnosed with some "low-grade" (not a medical term) OCD, so I know I can get "nutty" here and there. I think he fancies himself a bit of an anti-authority type sometimes; he'll go against what he's told for no real reason (seems like work if the thing you're going against is really not that important to you). But I don't want authority over my own BF and wish he'd see past that to what I am really asking and why. Sometimes just making your partner happy is a good enough reason to take a different approach, I think.

[DeLurker]

7 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

Furthermore, yes that can go in the dishwasher; it's from the very same set of plates I've had since before I even met you--the "octuplet sibling" of the plate you asked me the same thing about just last night! Come on-- just try to, like, know your own home a little bit. Please. 

A belated thought on this:  Next time he asks, tell him he needs to wash those ones by hand. 

[Hanahope]

4 hours ago, Katy M said:

My point was just that some people, and I'm not saying that the OP is one of them, are just ridiculously hard to please.  If someone else makes the bed it in a reasonable manner, that ought to be the end of it.  If you want it done a certain way, you should do it yourself instead of telling someone else they did it all wrong.  Hospital corners are not a necessity to making a bed.  If you have to have them, make your own bed. 

Or, if they change the toilet paper on the roll, and gasp, put it on the wrong way, and you yell at them about it.  Expect to never have the toilet paper roll changed again.

Does it really matter which way the toilet paper roll faces?  I've never cared one whit (I'm a woman).  As long as there is paper on the roll, I can tear it off whatever way it faces.

[JTMacc99]

36 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

Does it really matter which way the toilet paper roll faces?  I've never cared one whit (I'm a woman).  As long as there is paper on the roll, I can tear it off whatever way it faces.

Yes. Yes it does. Because the other way is wrong. 

[auntlada]

I had a thought this afternoon, @TattleTeeny, you know, probably when I should have been thinking about work. What is his relationship with his mother like? Is she hard to please? Maybe his fear (if it is fear) of doing things predates you.

[Katy M]

52 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

Does it really matter which way the toilet paper roll faces?  I've never cared one whit (I'm a woman).  As long as there is paper on the roll, I can tear it off whatever way it faces.

Not to me.  Actually the two people I've known in my life who did care were both men.  I actually heard the stories from other people, so it didn't really affect my life any, but, I was like who cares? 

[TattleTeeny]

She's pretty great and laid-back, actually, and from what I hear, kind of always has been. He gets along well with her and so do I--but I can see a bit of protective Mama Bear in there sometimes. Honestly, I think he's a person who takes things for granted, not out of entitlement but out of...obliviousness, maybe?

He got one cat into the carrier but (after watching and laughing for a while), I ended up having to step in for the other, who was, to be fair, being a real dick about it!

As for toilet-paper direction, if I had a partner who did care for whatever reason, I'd just put it that way; it makes no difference to me, so I may as well follow his lead. I tend to take an "...if it means that much to you" attitude about lots of things (even if I sound like a stickler in some other ways).

Edited June 13, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[MargeGunderson]

@TattleTeeny, I can totally relate. My husband is similar, possibly even less motivated than yours, especially when it comes to things he's never dealt with before. Apparently I have innate knowledge of home repair, housekeeping, cooking etc. and should therefore be in charge of all of it. That leaves him with cleaning the litter box, doing laundry and calling for takeout. Supposeely he lived successfully by himself for several years before we got married but I have my doubts. When I divorce him I will probably have to find him a lawyer?

[TattleTeeny]

Ahahahhahaaaa! And when I throw mine out, I'll do it only after I find him a place, have his cable set up, and forward his mail! He also lived on his own for years before me--and he's a really hardworking and dedicated employee at his job (plus a disciplined working musician) so what in the hell goes on here at home sometimes, man?!

Also thank you, everyone, for your insights and replies--it helps to vent to the non-judgy folk! I have no interest in not being with him (he's generally pretty awesome) but, oof, some days my patience wears thin.

Edited June 14, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[backformore]

9 hours ago, MrSmith said:

FMLA is a very poor implementation. Sure, you can have six weeks off when you have a baby or adopt a child. Most of that is unpaid. And if the parents both work for the same employer, they only get six weeks between them - not each. So I wouldn't go around bugling about how great FMLA is because it is really, truly, and completely utter shit as a policy. It's the absolute least that can be done for new parents, other than giving them no time off at all.

I wasn't "bugling" about FMLA being great. I was replying to someone saying that only women get maternity leave.

FMLA is a huge improvement to what we had 30 years ago, which was basically quit your job when you have a baby.

Edited June 14, 2017 by backformore

[MrSmith]

10 hours ago, backformore said:

I wasn't "bugling" about FMLA being great. I was replying to someone saying that only women get maternity leave.

FMLA is a huge improvement to what we had 30 years ago, which was basically quit your job when you have a baby.

That's true. It is better than what we had. Sorry, I just get a little salty about it because I feel like it's just lip service paid by politicians to appease voters and it's a slap in the face to people who become parents. It's shameful that we choose, as a country, to do so little for people regarding an issue that is so important. (Note: I have no children and we are not adopting. So there is no self-interest being served. Not that I think anyone is accusing me of that, either. I just wanted it known.)

[TattleTeeny]

So, at my job, we now have “legal people” reviewing some of the copy in our print media…which, fine, whatever, that's not abnormal. But these people insist on changing things that are of no legal consequence--like, say, arbitrarily taking out hyphens (which can alter the meaning of a compound modifier) and serial commas (only a matter of legality in official names or if its placement is creating a legitimate error). Plus, not being actual copy editors, they don't realize that whatever word/phrase they just "corrected" or deleted (A) may appear elsewhere and now we have inconsistencies, and (B) may alter or confuse previous or subsequent information (like if they wipe out, say, the first instance of a name or pertinent descriptor. Then when a reference to the deleted bit appears later, it makes no sense). And they're not even careful! When they delete stuff, they don’t seem to notice that they’re also removing the spaces between the words!

Honestly, sometimes I think non-editors tasked with "editing"* get some kind of power-mad charge out of it.
(* We'll just call it editing to feed their egos; it's actually usually just proofreading!) 

[DeLurker]

Overly loud people who hold long cell calls while sitting ina public space.

Getting my car serviced at the dealer, so me and 10 +\- people waiting.  Reading, using cell or tablet, watching tv...and one incredibly loud man has to chronically call people to talk (at an ear shattering volume) after sitting himself centrally in the waiting area.

[MrSmith]

8 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

Overly loud people who hold long cell calls while sitting ina public space.

Getting my car serviced at the dealer, so me and 10 +\- people waiting.  Reading, using cell or tablet, watching tv...and one incredibly loud man has to chronically call people to talk (at an ear shattering volume) after sitting himself centrally in the waiting area.

I am sensitive to this because I dislike having my conversations being overheard. I tend to talk quite quietly in public because of this. I ride the bus with a woman with whom I have become friends. She has a tendency to speak very loudly, which just makes me cringe the entire time because I know everyone around us is able to hear what she's saying. What makes it worse is that she'll complain about or criticize other people on the bus from the time to time and will do so in her very loud voice. It makes me want to hide. LOL

[theredhead77]

16 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

Yes. Yes it does. Because the other way is wrong. 

I have to have it on the roll the wrong way otherwise the kitten-cat takes that as an invitation to unravel it all.

[DeLurker]

4 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

What makes it worse is that she'll complain about or criticize other people on the bus from the time to time and will do so in her very loud voice

Not a fan of loud people in general either, but if she feels free to critique total strangers, why do you continue to sit with her?  The presence of another person gives her some form of validation that clearly isn't warranted and it gives others a wrong impression of you through your association with her.

[Qoass]

I'm dealing with this now that summer has finally come. I have my windows open and am not yet used to people speaking as they go by my house. I want to admonish them to use their indoor voices. But they're not indoors. I am. And I can hear them.

I am not a crackpot.

[MrSmith]

Just now, DeLurker said:

Not a fan of loud people in general either, but if she feels free to critique total strangers, why do you continue to sit with her?  The presence of another person gives her some form of validation that clearly isn't warranted and it gives others a wrong impression of you through your association with her.

Well, I'm usually the first one on the bus and I'm not really inclined to give up the front seat because it gets me off the bus quickly and I only have her taxing my "bus disembarkation patience". I suppose I could tell her to sit somewhere else. I don't because that feels rude. When she critiques people, I try to be the voice of reason and articulate any alternative perspectives that exist, as best I can. If I were more of a friend to her (that is, we socialized outside of the bus ride), then I would definitely say something to her about it. Hopefully, people realize I am "bus friends" with her only.

[DeLurker]

That does present an awkward problem for you.  My sympathies for the daily commute.

[Hanahope]

3 hours ago, MrSmith said:

That's true. It is better than what we had. Sorry, I just get a little salty about it because I feel like it's just lip service paid by politicians to appease voters and it's a slap in the face to people who become parents. It's shameful that we choose, as a country, to do so little for people regarding an issue that is so important. (Note: I have no children and we are not adopting. So there is no self-interest being served. Not that I think anyone is accusing me of that, either. I just wanted it known.)

One of the (many) problems with FMLA is that it only applies to employers with over 50 employees.  Both times I got pregnant it was for smaller businesses, so yeah it was a 'here's some severance, collect unemployment, don't bother coming back when you go on maternity leave (which at least was provided via a short term disability policy that paid 2/3 my salary for 5 weeks).

[MrSmith]

5 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

One of the (many) problems with FMLA is that it only applies to employers with over 50 employees.  Both times I got pregnant it was for smaller businesses, so yeah it was a 'here's some severance, collect unemployment, don't bother coming back when you go on maternity leave (which at least was provided via a short term disability policy that paid 2/3 my salary for 5 weeks).

That is so terrible. I'm sorry this happened to you. So much for all that "loyalty" small businesses supposedly show to their employees. I can see this from the business owner's perspective, too, but I would just expect a small business to be able to weather a birth or adoption and still have a place for that employee when she or he returns to work. In my opinion, if they cannot, then they probably aren't as profitable as they should be.

[Hanahope]

2 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

In my opinion, if they cannot, then they probably aren't as profitable as they should be.

Thanks.  Interestingly, in both instances, the business cut back as well.  Both were lawfirms.  One went down from a 3 person firm to a 2 person firm (the other guy retired) and while they replaced me for a time (as a paralegal at that time), they eventually let that person go.  The second (when I was an attorney) had two offices, and actually closed the one I had worked at about 8 months after I left.

I did finally find a good firm to work for with a family-friendly boss that also lets me work from home when I need to.  Been here now 9 years.

[MrSmith]

1 minute ago, Hanahope said:

I did finally find a good firm to work for with a family-friendly boss that also lets me work from home when I need to.  Been here now 9 years.

I'm glad.

[TattleTeeny]

47 minutes ago, forumfish said:

@TattleTeeny, I can empathize. When I worked for a government agency, I dreaded having people outside of our communications dept. proofread. One guy was known for not even picking up a document unless he had his red pen in hand. Another group would make changes just because they had the opportunity, they never caught errors or made improvements. I think you may have something here:

We (the writing and design professionals) started labeling proofs with the phrase "fatal flaw review" and let the readers know that it was too late for re-writes; they were not being asked to edit, but were only tasked with finding actual errors that would cause problems if they were not corrected. That eliminated some of the "vanity edits" and back-and-forth punctuation changes. Of course, there were always people who ignored that, and they were usually much higher up on the food chain, so what can you do?

One of my since-let go bosses used to love, love, love to grab a red pen and edit regardless of that fact that she was not good at it. She'd leave notes like "Is this a word?" (the answer was always "yes"!) or just randomly circle something with no note as to what she thought was wrong with it. She'd also rearrange huge chunks of text without understanding that we'd then have to go back and do rewrites to other sections of the copy. Because she was in charge, I often had to use her "corrections" in print whether they were semantically/grammatically sound or not. So I started leaving (and sometimes even adding) minor errors into copy for her review just to give her the satisfaction of finding something without having to mess up anything. It worked too, and I'd just fix those as soon as I sent her the doc, so no follow-up for me (unless she found an actual mistake).

Then there's the defensiveness and resistance to being corrected (mainly from amateur authors, I'd say; "real" ones want you to do it!). I don't see this happening with, say, the accounting department or even the designers in my department! I think people feel vaguely dumb knowing that they are not 100% perfect in their native language or something, while not being able to do graphic design isn't "shameful" or some shit--hence the defensiveness. And do not even get me started on the people who find an error that I missed! Holy god, their sense of accomplishment is wildly inflated after that! Sometimes I have to remind my BF that he does not know how much time a book's editor had, or how many other things s/he did catch. Not to mention that desktop publishing and even just Word or Google docs give people the impression that a real person isn't needed for editorial purposes. 

It's just so strange--like, this is my job; I am well trained and you hired me to do it. So let me do it. Being a higher-up doesn't necessarily mean you need to be better at something than your underlings. No one's judging you for not being an editor...but when you force yourself into the editorial process, and then make elementary-level errors, we might be.

Edited June 14, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[KittyMom4]

On 6/12/2017 at 10:27 PM, ParadoxLost said:

This is definitely a generational thing.  My grandmother didn't think any woman could do "men's work".  My mom has been convinced that she can't do "men's work" but is getting better about it.  I know I can.  But a lot of time I choose not to just because every DIY project comes with such a learning curve.  Since it wasn't something that was taught when I was a kid I always end up with having to learn how to do it, then go buy all the tools (usually for something that is a one time thing) and then go do it. Most of the time I just hire someone because of the startup cost and time requirement.

Same here, when I got divorced my mother and father both demanded I sell my house and get an apartment since I wouldn't be able to maintain a whole house as "a woman".  17 years later I am still in my house and it is very well-maintained.  If I can't do it myself I have a list of experts that I can call, but I've learned  to do a lot of things on my own so unless it's a major issue I will figure it out.  My dad is amazed and my mom has finally stopped telling me I need a man to take care of me.  

[riley702]

On 6/13/2017 at 7:19 PM, JTMacc99 said:

Yes. Yes it does. Because the other way is wrong. 

 

9 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I have to have it on the roll the wrong way otherwise the kitten-cat takes that as an invitation to unravel it all.

Unless your kitty figures out how to unroll it either way. I had one who could. He eventually got tired of it.

[BookWoman56]

8 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

One of my since-let go bosses used to love, love, love to grab a red pen and edit regardless of that fact that she was not good at it. She'd leave notes like "Is this a word?" (the answer was always "yes"!) or just randomly circle something with no note as to what she thought was wrong with it. She'd also rearrange huge chunks of text without understanding that we'd then have to go back and do rewrites to other sections of the copy. Because she was in charge, I often had to use her "corrections" in print whether they were semantically/grammatically sound or not. So I started leaving (and sometimes even adding) minor errors into copy for her review just to give her the satisfaction of finding something without having to mess up anything. It worked too, and I'd just fix those as soon as I sent her the doc, so no follow-up for me (unless she found an actual mistake).

Then there's the defensiveness and resistance to being corrected (mainly from amateur authors, I'd say; "real" ones want you to do it!). I don't see this happening with, say, the accounting department or even the designers in my department! I think people feel vaguely dumb knowing that they are not 100% perfect in their native language or something, while not being able to do graphic design isn't "shameful" or some shit--hence the defensiveness. And do not even get me started on the people who find an error that I missed! Holy god, their sense of accomplishment is wildly inflated after that! Sometimes I have to remind my BF that he does not know how much time a book's editor had, or how many other things s/he did catch. Not to mention that desktop publishing and even just Word or Google docs give people the impression that a real person isn't needed for editorial purposes. 

It's just so strange--like, this is my job; I am well trained and you hired me to do it. So let me do it. Being a higher-up doesn't necessarily mean you need to be better at something than your underlings. No one's judging you for not being an editor...but when you force yourself into the editorial process, and then make elementary-level errors, we might be.

Back when I was doing instructional design work, we always dreaded the part of the process where we had to send our training materials to an internal client (generally some department head) for review. Invariably, the feedback was not about critical issues, such as getting a process slightly wrong, but instead consisted of what we called the "change glad to happy" edits; that is, based on nothing but personal preference, change some random word to another word, with zero improvement in clarity or accuracy. 

Similarly, many years ago when I was in publishing (assessments, not books), there was a saying of "Never bring the client to a press check." This was back in the days when we sent test booklets out to printing companies to print and bind them. For very large/expensive projects, we sometimes had to go to the printing company and see a prototype of the finished publication before they would proceed with doing the entire print run. Way the hell too many people have seen movies where there is a "Stop the presses!" moment, and clients who did go to a print check were apt to discover that they wanted some minor change and demand that the print job be halted. Sorry, no. You only get to stop the presses if there is an actual showstopper issue, such as the pages are in the wrong order, printed upside down, etc., unless you are willing to lose your spot in the printing queue, which might delay publication by a week or two unless you also want to pay rush charges. When there were not press checks, though, the printing company would send us a blue-line and we had to get internal/external client approval. We had running jokes about some individuals who seemed to regard the blue-line as just another editing step, when it was also supposed to be reviewing only for fatal flaws in how the piece was printed and bound. At that point, the focus is whether all pages are present, in the correct order and orientation, etc., not wordsmithing something.

In my work now as a tech writer, it's a little different. I write some materials but edit a lot as well. I work with a group of mathematicians/statisticians, only one of whom is a native English speaker, and a few project managers whose first language is English. The only person resistant to being corrected is the math dude who is a native English speaker, because having a doctorate in math evidently makes him an expert in everything. Everyone else is always grateful for me to find their mistakes and improve their writing. My manager does fall into the category of people who are thrilled with themselves if they catch an error I missed. However, my standard response is usually that I was given roughly 2 days to review and edit a 400-page document, instead of the week or so that I was supposed to have, so if I missed that subject-verb error on page 375, that's too damn bad. She has come to accept that if I don't get sufficient time to review materials, I'm not going to catch every single error and shouldn't be expected to. On the negative side, she is also prone to change happy to glad, and I just accept the change unless it actually alters the meaning. 

[bilgistic]

9 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

It's just so strange--like, this is my job; I am well trained and you hired me to do it. So let me do it. Being a higher-up doesn't necessarily mean you need to be better at something than your underlings. No one's judging you for not being an editor...but when you force yourself into the editorial process, and then make elementary-level errors, we might be.

Bolded for emphasis. I have struggled with this in every job I've had. As my team's marketing manager, I am actively kept out of the proposal process on my team now because of egos--the guys I work with refuse to let me review the material and correct mistakes. I usually find one or two major issues if I can get my hands on the final draft. The client's name was miscapitalized on the last one. They were ready to print and send.

They'd rather send error-laden materials to the client instead of accepting that they aren't strong writers, much less spellers, punctuaters, capitalizers, etc. They are finance guys. Math is not my strength, so I ask them for help on that. I don't get my feelings hurt.

[ShellSeeker]

10 hours ago, MrSmith said:

That is so terrible. I'm sorry this happened to you. So much for all that "loyalty" small businesses supposedly show to their employees. I can see this from the business owner's perspective, too, but I would just expect a small business to be able to weather a birth or adoption and still have a place for that employee when she or he returns to work. In my opinion, if they cannot, then they probably aren't as profitable as they should be.

I can see it from both sides too. My husband runs a very small business (fewer than 10 employees) and about 10 years ago, one of the guys working for him blew out his knee one weekend (I think he did something stupid while drunk at a party). He had to have his knee replaced and was not able to work for a few months -- it's a machine shop, so requires being on your feet every day. My husband and his boss (the owner) kept him on the payroll and the company insurance even though he wasn't working at all, because otherwise without insurance and being unable to work he would have lost his house and probably would have had to file for bankruptcy. It was a huge outlay of cash for such a small business. He finally got the OK to start working half days, which he did for a few weeks, and then quit without so much as a thank you to them for continuing to cut him a paycheck every week and letting him keep his insurance while he wasn't able to do anything -- other than look for another job, apparently. 

It's got to be hard for a small business owner. There are people who will be eternally grateful when you go out on a limb for them, but also people who will crap all over you without a second thought.

[Maharincess]

On 6/10/2017 at 2:50 AM, Quof said:

StatisticalOutlier, you and I need to hang in real life.  I don't even start with "please."  And it's never a request.  

"You need to turn your phone off."  "Your child needs to be quiet."  "You need to stop pissing me off."

For some reason, I think you two would be great friends. 

[MrSmith]

8 hours ago, ShellSeeker said:

I can see it from both sides too. My husband runs a very small business (fewer than 10 employees) and about 10 years ago, one of the guys working for him blew out his knee one weekend (I think he did something stupid while drunk at a party). He had to have his knee replaced and was not able to work for a few months -- it's a machine shop, so requires being on your feet every day. My husband and his boss (the owner) kept him on the payroll and the company insurance even though he wasn't working at all, because otherwise without insurance and being unable to work he would have lost his house and probably would have had to file for bankruptcy. It was a huge outlay of cash for such a small business. He finally got the OK to start working half days, which he did for a few weeks, and then quit without so much as a thank you to them for continuing to cut him a paycheck every week and letting him keep his insurance while he wasn't able to do anything -- other than look for another job, apparently. 

It's got to be hard for a small business owner. There are people who will be eternally grateful when you go out on a limb for them, but also people who will crap all over you without a second thought.

Yeah, that employee was an asshole. I suppose the blowing out his knee while stupid-drunk turned out to be a good indicator. Either way, your husband did the right thing and that's what's really important. That time he did it for someone who turned out to be an ungrateful asshole. Next time, he may end up doing it for someone who is incredibly grateful and does everything they can to reward that kindness and loyalty.

[TattleTeeny]

9 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Bolded for emphasis. I have struggled with this in every job I've had. As my team's marketing manager, I am actively kept out of the proposal process on my team now because of egos--the guys I work with refuse to let me review the material and correct mistakes. I usually find one or two major issues if I can get my hands on the final draft. The client's name was miscapitalized on the last one. They were ready to print and send.

They'd rather send error-laden materials to the client instead of accepting that they aren't strong writers, much less spellers, punctuaters, capitalizers, etc. They are finance guys. Math is not my strength, so I ask them for help on that. I don't get my feelings hurt.

You don't even know how loud and clear I hear you on this!

[Katy M]

9 hours ago, ShellSeeker said:

It's got to be hard for a small business owner. There are people who will be eternally grateful when you go out on a limb for them, but also people who will crap all over you without a second thought.

I am the only employee where I work.  I have no illusions about what would happen if I had to miss more than a couple of weeks for injury or illness, or childbirth (not an issue).  And, I'm OK with that.  I know my boss can't afford to pay one person to sit at home doing nothing, while paying another one to actually work.  I also know that there's no point in training someone for a month or two.  there's a lot that goes into this job and a lot of details, and things changing daily. You're going to want someone for the long-haul.  If there were a law forcing him to pay me for leave and/or hold my job for me, well, IMO, that would not be fair to him.

[MrSmith]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

I am the only employee where I work.  I have no illusions about what would happen if I had to miss more than a couple of weeks for injury or illness, or childbirth (not an issue).  And, I'm OK with that.  I know my boss can't afford to pay one person to sit at home doing nothing, while paying another one to actually work.  I also know that there's no point in training someone for a month or two.  there's a lot that goes into this job and a lot of details, and things changing daily. You're going to want someone for the long-haul.  If there were a law forcing him to pay me for leave and/or hold my job for me, well, IMO, that would not be fair to him.

I can understand what you're saying. My feeling is that this is the cost of doing business. If he doesn't want to deal with that kind of stuff, then he needs to use robots. Robots never have to take days off, don't need to spend time with their families, and never have anything unexpected or conflicting happen to them. (I suppose you could argue that when they occasionally break, then that would be unexpected. However, that is not the correct context here because you expect them to break eventually; the only unexpected part is that you can't know exactly when.) When you're dealing with people, it's different. You have to expect things like this to happen and you have to be able to weather it. I feel like if you're going to fire someone because they need time off after having a baby or because they require extended recovery time from an illness or injury, then you deserve all the curses that will be heaped upon you.

[TattleTeeny]

Jeezalou, it doesn't end in this godforsaken place, I tell you! We go to print today, and at some (borderline too late) point, someone decided that a whole bunch of stuff has to be added to the pages. Enter spreadsheet with tons of missing product info. Said spreadsheet is sent to me by a designer (not my superior) with the note "Please fill in any missing info." Number one, not my job; said info should be in there already from the person or persons who jumped in late in the game to add this nonsense. Number two, start over without that command, ditzy* designer...who, when asked by me when this last-minute info was sent to her, said...

"Only a couple of days ago."

ONLY?! DAYS...plural?! (Boy is it fun to have to continually remind people that you work here too!)

* The annoyance is slightly offset by the fact that she sent this spreadsheet separately to two other people to update concurrently. Have fun looking at three of them instead of just one while you're in a rush! Too bad! AND...I have never been so glad to have a doctor appointment; it's happening at the same time as the employee-appreciation lunch. GOOD! Shut up, appreciators!

Edited June 15, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[ennui]

(small voice) I think some of these pet peeves belong in the 'vent your work spleen' section?

So, after my rant about Goodwill not accepting donations, yesterday I received a giant plastic bag in the mail, from Goodwill, soliciting donations. Fill the bag, take it to the donation center. They are requesting clothes, shoes, books and jewelry. Has the right hand met the left hand?

[FormerMod-a1]

My pet peeve is week day karaoke starting so late.  Why 9pm?  It seems to be some standard because it starts at 9pm everywhere and on every day they have it.  I'm getting old and I have to work at 8am tomorrow.  If I want to torture people at all with my attempts at singing I'll only get 1-2 songs in before I have to leave.  Even if I just want to socialize and not sing it'll only be an hour.  Or should be.  It often ends up being more with me being sorry in the morning.  And yet, I go.  In fact, I'll be going tonight.  I leave in an hour.  

[TattleTeeny]

Well, have fun anyway. What will you sing? 

Edited June 16, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[FormerMod-a1]

Probably Barbie Girl.

[bilgistic]

Is that a joke? Because I hope it's a joke.

One morning last week, the morning radio crew had a Taylor Swift song playing during a break. That damn song haunted me the rest of the day. I sang it nonstop. That is what we should be using to torture our enemies.

[ABay]

That has to be a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

[MrSmith]

My peeve for today is Google Docs. I have come to hate Google Docs. So much so that it is nearly inarticulable. We had a developer leave our team at the end of April and he made me the owner of around 100 documents. I haven't stopped to actually count them, but the list of documents is horrendously long. There's no good way to organize the documents, either, even though I can create folders. There's no way to keep someone from copying a document you create once they can read it. Finally, it seems like creating a document is just kind of a throw-away activity; people think nothing of creating more and more documents and then seem to never go back and clean up the ones they don't need. This makes it impossible to find anything. So, those are the reasons I can think of as to why I hate Google Docs.

[FormerMod-a1]

You can link Google docs to your Windows Explorer and tracking and inventory become a breeze.  As for anyone copying or creating new ones, that's true with any file system.  People do that all the time with our shared drives (i.e. on our own servers) - the duplication is crazy, and maddening.

[TattleTeeny]

I recently did a freelance book edit with Google Docs. And while in many ways it was fine (not too different from Word), in other ways it was a shit-show! Maybe I am dumb but is there no way to get to a specific page without either scrolling (and scrolling...and scrolling) or having to remember a word unique to the general area you're trying to get to, and typing it into the search field? And oh my goodness, its "did you mean?" corrections suggestions are even more absurd than Word's!

Edited June 16, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[TattleTeeny]

Now I'm fighting the urge to go back and review mine.

Still though, typos on a message board are a far cry from errors in print/online media and work stuff (and I will say that it's rare to find a publication without a mistake or two in it. It used to bug me until I started doing this job). 

(Also, in a Google search, I just typed "ungly" when I meant "ugly.")

Edited June 16, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[MrSmith]

1 hour ago, aquarian1 said:

You can link Google docs to your Windows Explorer and tracking and inventory become a breeze.  As for anyone copying or creating new ones, that's true with any file system.  People do that all the time with our shared drives (i.e. on our own servers) - the duplication is crazy, and maddening.

I suppose this is all true. I haven't used Google Docs for tracking and inventory. That actually sounds quite nice and helpful. I'm hoping I'll have time in the next couple of weeks to start paring down the files a bit. The other developer on my team is like "Just use the search function." Problem is that my searches end up polluted with all these unrelated files that happen to mention my search terms because another application touches the one on which I work.

[TattleTeeny]

Oh my goodness, exactly! And if you're ever mocking bad grammar/usage/spelling on Facebook, you best be sure you are typing sheer perfection, haha! I have a very know-it-allish friend who went off (seriously, it was so bizarrely venomous!) on FB about those who misuse semicolons. And guess what she did in that post?

You know what I do all too often? Start typing really fast with my fingers to the left of where I mean them to be. I end up with sentences with not one thing spelled right! 

Side note: I almost never get involved in that kind of thing on FB, even though I am often accused of "correcting people." It's that weird defensive thing again! I will do it if someone is being a dick, whether about grammar, etc. or something unrelated. That's petty, I know, and I am certain it doesn't help my case for not doing that, but whatever. And I'll do it when someone asks for help. 

[auntlada]

As long as you know the rule, you can break it, @forumfish. It's those people who think they know the rules and don't who are the problem.

[auntlada]

@stewedsquash, shouldn't that be "words with which not to begin sentences" in that link?

New (old and possibly recently covered) peeve: If it's not your sad news on Facebook (like a death in the family), don't post about it the day it happens. Let the family announce it. But also don't post about an "unspoken prayer request" (that's one where you let people know you'd like prayer, but you don't want to say what about) for "a dear family." You do not have to let everyone know that you knew something first, and that's all you're doing. You're just showing off and gossiping. Stop it. If you are serious about asking for prayers for someone, get off the computer and get on the phone and call the people you actually know well enough to do that. (If you don't have their phone numbers, you don't know them well enough.) Especially do this if the death -- or other sad situation -- is one that is likely to be in the news. Just let people find out that way if they don't know the family well enough to be told by the family. You are not the town crier.

(All "yous" in this post are editorial.)