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

[MrSmith]

@StatisticalOutlier Strangely, I would actually put the effort into finding the owner of the camera. I suppose it's probably the difference in how I perceive the intrinsic value of the camera versus the intrinsic value of email. And maybe my unwillingness to help with misdirected email partly stems from my career being in IT.

[ABay]

Having gone into bad credit card debt a long time ago, and taking 5 years to get clear, I now pay off the balance every 2 weeks on payday. Because of vet bills and car repairs, there are a lot of Fridays when I'm standing in line at the credit union to get cash from my savings account so I can take it across the street to deposit in my checking account. This Friday will be one of those days. 

Here is my pet peeve about paperless bills--I would happily change from paper to electronic bills but every freaking company and utility requires a separate password to access the account and check the amount due and I just can't do it. 

[MrSmith]

16 minutes ago, ABay said:

Having gone into bad credit card debt a long time ago, and taking 5 years to get clear, I now pay off the balance every 2 weeks on payday. Because of vet bills and car repairs, there are a lot of Fridays when I'm standing in line at the credit union to get cash from my savings account so I can take it across the street to deposit in my checking account. This Friday will be one of those days. 

Here is my pet peeve about paperless bills--I would happily change from paper to electronic bills but every freaking company and utility requires a separate password to access the account and check the amount due and I just can't do it. 

I solved this problem in two ways. First, I created a separate password (and variations on it) to use for those accounts. My social media, email, and other accounts all use different passwords. The second thing I did was to log into the account and let the browser save the username and password for me. Chrome is excellent about this. I would expect Firefox is, too, but I don't use it. This lets me just click "Log in" and then submit the log in form and I'm into the account. If you need to know the password in the future, Chrome lets you go into settings and view the passwords. Firefox will probably also have this option.

That all said, I can understand if this is still more than you can handle. Everyone's pain thresholds are different in this regard. This is about as painless as I can help to make it, if you choose to try giving online billing a go.

[StatisticalOutlier]

I've used FF's password manager for years, but more and more websites are using some kind of floaty log-in screen that doesn't save the user name and password.

[ennui]

On 7/18/2017 at 10:44 AM, StatisticalOutlier said:

I had $70,000 in cash to deposit into a commercial account at Bank of America.  It was in those bundles of bank-issued $100 bills.  I went into the bank and set it on the counter and said I needed to deposit it into a commercial account.  They said they had to see my social security card. 

Because any time you walk into a bank with that kind of cash, the IRS wants to know about it. I believe the limit is $9,999 -- anything over and the bank has to file forms with the IRS.

[Moose135]

4 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

If my messages were getting mis-delivered, I'd be extremely grateful if someone would let me know, so I always do that.  It's no big effort on my part, and might save the other person(s) a lot of grief. 

A number of years ago, I got to the office one morning and found a resume and cover letter on the fax machine, only it wasn't for a job at our company.  I called the phone number on the resume and got the guy's wife. Told her what happened, and that he should probably resend it, checking that he dialed the correct number.

[MrSmith]

48 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I've used FF's password manager for years, but more and more websites are using some kind of floaty log-in screen that doesn't save the user name and password.

Well, HTML5's specifications make it so you can disable the caching of those input fields. I can understand why, but it's still a pain in the ass. And I'm a web developer.

3 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

A number of years ago, I got to the office one morning and found a resume and cover letter on the fax machine, only it wasn't for a job at our company.  I called the phone number on the resume and got the guy's wife. Told her what happened, and that he should probably resend it, checking that he dialed the correct number.

This is also something I would have done. I'm putting my intransigence when it comes to misdirected email down to the perceived intrinsic value. So, I suppose I can't claim I wouldn't do it for any email; if I received a misdirected email that appeared important or of high value, then I would probably do something to let people know it was misdirected.

[walnutqueen]

13 minutes ago, ennui said:

Because any time you walk into a bank with that kind of cash, the IRS wants to know about it. I believe the limit is $9,999 -- anything over and the bank has to file forms with the IRS.

Yes - many years ago I fell into that hole when my employer decided to sell a bunch of retired police cars to their Mexican counterparts.  So these armed dudes showed up with CASH (mostly $20s & $50s ... hmmm) which my employer was not able to process.  It fell to me to take them to my credit union & trade all that cash for a cashiers' check.  My employer wrote a letter to the Treasury Department explaining the circumstances, lest I be investigated for money laundering, drug dealing, or even worse, tax evasion.  :-)

[StatisticalOutlier]

19 minutes ago, ennui said:

Because any time you walk into a bank with that kind of cash, the IRS wants to know about it. I believe the limit is $9,999 -- anything over and the bank has to file forms with the IRS.

I understand that.  But they insisted on seeing my social security CARD.  I told them I knew the number, but they insisted they had to see the actual card, which doesn't even exist.  Furthermore, a different branch of Bank of America, a few miles away, didn't need to see the CARD and didn't need any verification of my social security number other than what I told them it was out of my own mouth.

[ennui]

25 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I understand that.  But they insisted on seeing my social security CARD.  I told them I knew the number, but they insisted they had to see the actual card, which doesn't even exist.  Furthermore, a different branch of Bank of America, a few miles away, didn't need to see the CARD and didn't need any verification of my social security number other than what I told them it was out of my own mouth.

Well, that's incredibly sloppy banking at BofA.  If they're accepting verbal SSNs, that explains all the SS fraud. I was once told that three different people were using my SSN -- I have the card, so I guess someone was accepting verbal SSNs and anyone can rattle off nine digits.  

Btw, if you had $100 bank bundles, how did they know you didn't rob a bank somewhere? 

Edited July 19, 2017 by ennui

[riley702]

14 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

 I'm not all the young, but seriously? I'm trying to figure out how that would actually work.

Re: counter checks. They had blank lines to fill in your name and account number. No routing number needed, since they were only good for that bank where they were provided.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, ABay said:

Having gone into bad credit card debt a long time ago, and taking 5 years to get clear, I now pay off the balance every 2 weeks on payday. Because of vet bills and car repairs, there are a lot of Fridays when I'm standing in line at the credit union to get cash from my savings account so I can take it across the street to deposit in my checking account. This Friday will be one of those days. 

Here is my pet peeve about paperless bills--I would happily change from paper to electronic bills but every freaking company and utility requires a separate password to access the account and check the amount due and I just can't do it. 

When was the last time you checked out electronic bills?  90% of my bills just show up as an alert on my online banking page.  I didn't have to do anything but enter all my utilities into the bill pay page on my bank's website.  It was a pain in the ass to set up initially but now I just log into the bank website once a week and schedule payment on everything new.

[Zola]

When I used to work full-time for a company, more often that not I would take the cross-city train rather than suffer continual traffic jams on the road. 

But typically you're waiting on the platform for your train to arrive, and being the rush-hour the platform is becoming ever-more populated with other commuters. And when the train does finally arrive (usually late), you have to hope the train doors stop more or less where you're standing; and even then when the doors do open, there's no courtesy waiting to let passengers get off the train first. Instead its everyone for her/himself, and not for the first time I've been pushed, prodded, elbowed, even punched onto the train and hope to get a seat.

Once on-board the carriage is crammed out with people tightly packed down the aisles. Old-style manners of letting women sit in a seat are long gone. Not that that really bothers me. But I recall one conversation between a sitting guy and a standing woman. The woman saying something like "would you be so kind to let me have your seat?" and the guy said "No way! you wanted equality and empowerment. Well go live with it!" And then an argument broke out. But it was my stop next so I don't know what happened on that score.

But the real issue I have with packed trains is personal hygiene! If you're all standing in the aisle, arms in the air hanging onto the overhead grab-rails, it is very noticeable - especially on hot sticky days - how "smelly" some people are! Now I don't want to make a sweeping generalisation here because there can be any number of reasons why  a person may give off BO - perhaps their particular deodorant wasn't very good or long-lasting;  or perhaps they just forgot to put some on that day? But all the same it's not all that pleasant, especially when you can see people's sweaty pit areas on their shirts and blouses. 

Oh, and another irritation with crammed trains is the guy who "rubs" up against you under the pretext of everyone being squeezed together on a rocking & swaying train. I won't go into details, but it really is annoying to have to put up with this. I could challenge the guy and tell him off, but he'll just play dumb and sometimes shuffle off elsewhere.

I don't bother with trains quite so much these days, and I certainly don't miss it either.

[MrSmith]

3 hours ago, Only Zola said:

Oh, and another irritation with crammed trains is the guy who "rubs" up against you under the pretext of everyone being squeezed together on a rocking & swaying train. I won't go into details, but it really is annoying to have to put up with this. I could challenge the guy and tell him off, but he'll just play dumb and sometimes shuffle off elsewhere.

So don't be nice. Instead, just accidentally introduce your knee to his groin and say, "Oh, sorry! The train's so crowded and with all the rubbing up against me you were doing, I figured you wanted to get a little more intimate."

[StatisticalOutlier]

21 hours ago, ennui said:

Well, that's incredibly sloppy banking at BofA.  If they're accepting verbal SSNs, that explains all the SS fraud. I was once told that three different people were using my SSN -- I have the card, so I guess someone was accepting verbal SSNs and anyone can rattle off nine digits.  

Btw, if you had $100 bank bundles, how did they know you didn't rob a bank somewhere? 

Because I wasn't covered with exploding ink?  Besides, it's not their job to question where a customer gets the money he's depositing.

This was the only time in my 60 years on this planet that someone required that I produce my social security card.  Which is a good thing, because it doesn't exist; all the kids in my family had their social security numbers on a card in a Rolodex, and that's what we used.  In fact, I took the S.A.T. using my brother's social security number by accident--all our numbers differ only in the last four digits.  But it got sorted out, and I like mine better than his anyway.

The thing is, I have a driver's license and a passport.  I have bought a house, I've bought cars, I've been to college, I've had jobs (including for the government).  I've had I don't know how many bank accounts and credit cards.  Not once for any of this did I ever have to show my social security card, especially just to make a bank deposit. 

I'm not sure what kind of social security fraud you're talking about.  I know that people without social security numbers will use someone else's when they get a job.  That can be by agreement (since the wages get credited to the account of the person whose social security number is used), or maybe by stealing it.  But I don't think the actual card enters into it.  I've never had to show mine for any job--I just had to have the number. 

I do know that to sign up for Medicare, you don't have to show your social security card, even though it's predicated on the work history associated with that number. 

So accepting "verbal" SSNs is the way the world runs, and this branch of Bank of America was dishing out some serious bullshit in requiring me to present mine, with the consequence that I had to walk out of there after being seen putting piles of cash into my coat pockets.

[MrSmith]

@StatisticalOutlier I'm going to say you put the "outlier" in "statistical outlier" today! I'm 45 and I have had to present my actual social security card for every job I have ever worked, starting at McDonald's in 1988. I don't have a passport and so I don't know if it would be required now. I know it wasn't required for my driver's license, even when I first got it @ 16. I know that utilities like to get your SSN and that they will take whatever number you tell them. I dislike giving them this and force them to use the alternative. (I forget what the alternative is, but there is an alternative. It's been several years since I've had to set up new utility service.)

Edited to add: Why didn't the company you were working for at the time have any bank bags for you to use? All the companies that I've worked for that required me to make deposits had bank bags I was required to use. Those bags locked and prevented anyone other than a bank employee from opening them and removing their contents.

Edited July 20, 2017 by MrSmith

[ennui]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Not once for any of this did I ever have to show my social security card

Well, your SSN is one of the acceptable forms of ID for E-Verify, proving that you are eligible to work in the United States. If you decide to get a job with a company that uses E-Verify and you choose to use your SSN as identification, you will need to produce the card. 

Honestly, I fail to see why this is such a big deal. 

I've had to show my card a few times in my life, so I'm not sure where S.O. lives.

Edited July 20, 2017 by ennui

[SusieQ]

I've had a state job and a federal job (where I had to get security clearance and fill out a form like Jared K) and no one asked for my SSN card. But then again since they did a background check on me it would be easy to find out if I was lying.

I've opened up financial accounts and again no request for the actual SSN card. 

I've had a relative get his Medicare card in the last year and all they asked for was the number, name and DOB. No card.

Asking for the actual card has never come up in any applications that I or my family have made. Driver's licences and or passports are used for most stuff. We're in the Northeast. 

[MrSmith]

@SusieQ The passport must be standing in for the social security card, then. I know there are alternatives to providing the SS card. I just don't know what they are, other than to know that I don't have any of them. LOL

[Bastet]

35 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

The passport must be standing in for the social security card, then. I know there are alternatives to providing the SS card. I just don't know what they are, other than to know that I don't have any of them. LOL

Way back when, before I had a passport, I used my social security card for I-9 purposes upon starting a new job, but I could have used my birth certificate instead (the card was just easier; I had that at home, but the certificate was with my parents).

I think those are the only times I've ever produced the card, rather than just filling in the number.  And I'm very "Why do you need that?" with my SSN if it's not clear to me; it was designed for a limited purpose, and then all these entities started trying to use it as a means of ID for things that have nothing to do with that purpose.

[tribeca]

Here is a strange one but I have heard this s lot lately and find it pretty rude. 

     When someone mentions something's from the past points to a younger person and says you don't remember this then points to another person and says well you definitely do.  I hate that so much especially when it's something mentioned that is either iconic that most would remember or it's not something from my generation.  So basically you just want to point out that I am older. 

   One day shopping with my mom fourties music was playing in the store.   An man came up to my mom and said "isn't it great hearing the music we grew up with ".   Since my mom wasn't even born in that era she wasn't amused.  Since is polite she just said yes 

[StatisticalOutlier]

19 hours ago, riley702 said:

Re: counter checks. They had blank lines to fill in your name and account number. No routing number needed, since they were only good for that bank where they were provided.

Actually, I was talking about at places like grocery stores.  You'd fish through the various books and find the one for your bank, and put your name on it and the amount.  This would have been in the 1960s.  Can't really see something like that happening these days.  To say the least.

[peacheslatour]

5 hours ago, MrSmith said:

@StatisticalOutlier I'm going to say you put the "outlier" in "statistical outlier" today! I'm 45 and I have had to present my actual social security card for every job I have ever worked, starting at McDonald's in 1988. I don't have a passport and so I don't know if it would be required now. I know it wasn't required for my driver's license, even when I first got it @ 16. I know that utilities like to get your SSN and that they will take whatever number you tell them. I dislike giving them this and force them to use the alternative. (I forget what the alternative is, but there is an alternative. It's been several years since I've had to set up new utility service.)

Edited to add: Why didn't the company you were working for at the time have any bank bags for you to use? All the companies that I've worked for that required me to make deposits had bank bags I was required to use. Those bags locked and prevented anyone other than a bank employee from opening them and removing their contents.

I've never had to present my SS card in my life. I memorized the number in high school and promptly lost the card. No one has ever asked to see it. I have a passport, several bank accounts and have had a few jobs in my day. Never had to show a SS card to anyone.

[harrie]

14 hours ago, Only Zola said:

Oh, and another irritation with crammed trains is the guy who "rubs" up against you under the pretext of everyone being squeezed together on a rocking & swaying train. I won't go into details, but it really is annoying to have to put up with this. I could challenge the guy and tell him off, but he'll just play dumb and sometimes shuffle off elsewhere.

 

10 hours ago, MrSmith said:

So don't be nice. Instead, just accidentally introduce your knee to his groin and say, "Oh, sorry! The train's so crowded and with all the rubbing up against me you were doing, I figured you wanted to get a little more intimate."

A related move that I've done is to "accidentally" step back and make sure to step on the guy's foot good and hard. Bonus points if you have heels on.  Acting surprised and saying "Oh, excuse me" or "sorry" is fine and sometimes can head off a confrontation if the offender is a real jerk. I may be overly militant on this topic, but there is absolutely no reason to feel like you have to put up with that shit. 

[Zola]

6 hours ago, harrie said:

 

A related move that I've done is to "accidentally" step back and make sure to step on the guy's foot good and hard. Bonus points if you have heels on.  Acting surprised and saying "Oh, excuse me" or "sorry" is fine and sometimes can head off a confrontation if the offender is a real jerk. I may be overly militant on this topic, but there is absolutely no reason to feel like you have to put up with that shit. 

Sounds like a plan! Although I don't generally wear heels when I know I'm catching a train for fear of genuinely stepping on someone's toes (male or female). 

On the rare occasions I do catch trains these days I can't help but people-watch on crowded carriages, and the way that some guys will try to stand behind a short woman and try to peek down her blouse. I am always in the moral quandary as to whether to speak up and say something? I never do  because I don't really have hard proof, and it could all get out of hand if I did. (I don't generally have that problem myself given that I'm 5ft 10 in my flats)

[DeLurker]

Someone should invent a coat that has dye pack stuff in it.  If too much force is applied, it releases dye or maybe some sort of residue on the offending body part.

[MrSmith]

13 hours ago, harrie said:

 

A related move that I've done is to "accidentally" step back and make sure to step on the guy's foot good and hard. Bonus points if you have heels on.  Acting surprised and saying "Oh, excuse me" or "sorry" is fine and sometimes can head off a confrontation if the offender is a real jerk. I may be overly militant on this topic, but there is absolutely no reason to feel like you have to put up with that shit. 

I don't think you're overly militant. If you are, then we're a matched pair. I would love to be able to get one those assholes arrested for some kind of sexual assault or whatever the police could think of that's appropriate. I have a memory from when I was about 10 years old (circa 1982/83) of my father actually doing something similar (in my opinion, actually worse). We were in New Orleans on vacation walking down what I suppose was probably Bourbon street on a sweltering day. A man and a lady were walking up the sidewalk toward us. I don't know if they were married or what, but they were definitely a romantic couple because I remember they were holding hands. Anyway, she was wearing just a bra (could have been a bikini top or other apparel intended as an outer garment) and my dad grabbed her breast as we walked by. To this day, I'm surprised that neither she nor her significant other did anything about it. And I have never understood the mentality that made (and still makes, for some men) acceptable. To me, the mentality that makes that action acceptable is the same one that justifies rape based on what a woman is wearing (in particular) or any other reason (generally).

[MrSmith]

6 hours ago, Only Zola said:

Sounds like a plan! Although I don't generally wear heels when I know I'm catching a train for fear of genuinely stepping on someone's toes (male or female). 

On the rare occasions I do catch trains these days I can't help but people-watch on crowded carriages, and the way that some guys will try to stand behind a short woman and try to peek down her blouse. I am always in the moral quandary as to whether to speak up and say something? I never do  because I don't really have hard proof, and it could all get out of hand if I did. (I don't generally have that problem myself given that I'm 5ft 10 in my flats)

This is one of those things that I feel like there is never a hard-and-fast, always "right" answer. I generally would say something, even without hard proof. However, that still depends on the situation and, I would think, that's especially true for a woman. I say that because there are still so many men who really have no qualms about threatening or outright assaulting a woman and your own safety is always the first priority. So, I would say that if you catch a guy doing this and don't feel he's likely to get aggressive with you when you exit the train, go ahead and say something. If you have any reason to suspect your safety would be jeopardized, I would stay quiet. If there's a police officer nearby, especially if you and the offender both exit at the same stop, then I would say it's ok to get the police involved. This, again, is up to your own judgment, though.

29 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

Someone should invent a coat that has dye pack stuff in it.  If too much force is applied, it releases dye or maybe some sort of residue on the offending body part.

Better yet, equip a bra with laser pointers. Turn them on when you get on the train (or the elevator or wherever) and blind perverts trying to exploit natural gaps in clothing.

[walnutqueen]

You don't need a high heel - it's where on the foot you stomp (hard).  If you imagine running your heel down the shin to the upper foot - that's the sweet spot.  A sharp elbow to the solar plexus of the offender behind you also works wonders (almost, but not quite, as satisfying as a backwards dick punch).

[Zola]

1 hour ago, walnutqueen said:

You don't need a high heel - it's where on the foot you stomp (hard).  If you imagine running your heel down the shin to the upper foot - that's the sweet spot.  A sharp elbow to the solar plexus of the offender behind you also works wonders (almost, but not quite, as satisfying as a backwards dick punch).

Sounds like the voice of experience, lol. I don't think I would have the nerve to resort to physical retribution unless some guy tried to put his hand up my skirt or something equally intrusive. 

And talking of crowded trains,  another bugbear is people who talk out loud on their mobile phones; even putting it on speaker so that everyone can hear!

[walnutqueen]

28 minutes ago, Only Zola said:

Sounds like the voice of experience, lol. I don't think I would have the nerve to resort to physical retribution unless some guy tried to put his hand up my skirt or something equally intrusive. 

And talking of crowded trains,  another bugbear is people who talk out loud on their mobile phones; even putting it on speaker so that everyone can hear!

Yeah, sorry about that.  I was raised in the era of nasty men, and fended off more of them than I fucked (hey, it was also the "Love Generation"!!!).

[Moose135]

On 7/20/2017 at 3:02 PM, MrSmith said:

The passport must be standing in for the social security card, then. I know there are alternatives to providing the SS card. I just don't know what they are, other than to know that I don't have any of them. LOL

I worked the 2010 Census, managing the Admin group for my local office, and we processed all the employment applications for our area - over 2K of them.  When filling out an I-9 form for employment eligibility, there were three document types, A, B, and C.  A-documents establish both identity and employment authorization - a passport was an A-document, along with Permanent Resident and Alien Registration cards, and a few other types of ID for immigrants.  B-documents establish identity only, and include state driver's license, government issued photo ID cards, Voter Registration Card, or military ID.  C-documents establish employment authorization, and include the Social Security Card, birth certificates, and a few other forms of ID.  When you complete the I-9, you need either one from the A list, or one each from both the B list and C list.  So a passport alone would work, or a driver's license and SS card.

[StatisticalOutlier]

I've been asking people I grew up with about counter checks, and one of them remembers them in the church pews.

I hit my peeve bone the other day when getting my hair cut at Great Clips.  Well, Great Clips--that's a peeve of its own.  Could there BE more unflattering light?  I understand they need to see what they're doing (not that you can necessarily tell from the results, of course), but man, that overhead fluorescent lighting on a face more than 25 years old is harsh, and you're sitting there looking straight at yourself in the mirror.  And nobody looks good with lank wet hair hanging there in the first place.  I honestly thought I'd rather be trying on bathing suits.

Anyway, the lady calls my name and as we go to the chair, she extends her hand for a handshake.  Oh, okay.  But it's one of those limp things that I just don't know what to do with.  (Many many pages ago, I complained about the overhand handshake, and that's pretentious but at least it's something.)  The thing is, it's Great Clips, FFS, not the G7 Summit.  We don't have to shake hands, and most people don't.  So if you're going to initiate it and not give me a choice because your hand is sticking right out there--what am I going to do, ignore it?--at least have a real handshake.

[ABay]

Today's pet peeve is actually a long-standing one: not being able to download or otherwise get access to everything I want to see, no matter how old, no matter the country of origin. There is no technological reason for DVDs to be region-coded, or videos to be geo-locked. If a series has been put on DVD, it can be uploaded. The beauty of the digital world is that everything can be available everywhere. Charge me a reasonable fee to see what I want and I will pay it (as long as you accept Paypal), I swear. I would much rather do that than hunt through Youtube or scour Amazon Spain* for what I want. I'm a fan--when I obsess, baby, I obsess. In a very real and scary way. Please, exploit my pathology for your monetary gain.

*As it turns out, a foreign Amazon had something I wanted on DVD, and even with postage it was a quarter of what Amazon US had it for. Ole.

Edited July 22, 2017 by ABay

[bilgistic]

@StatisticalOutlier, I'm reminded of this:

Edited July 22, 2017 by bilgistic

[StatisticalOutlier]

I am literally wiping tears from my eyes looking at that ^^^^.   That is exactly how I felt.

Edited July 22, 2017 by StatisticalOutlier

[MrSmith]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

So if you're going to initiate it and not give me a choice because your hand is sticking right out there--what am I going to do, ignore it?--at least have a real handshake.

Just say you don't like being touched by people any more than necessary. Or go for the Howie Mandell fist bump.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Since she's going to be rooting around all over my head, I wouldn't want to put her off by saying I don't like being touched.  She just needs to fix that sorry excuse for a handshake or (preferably) stop offering it.  And I can't picture myself fist bumping; I don't even high-five.

Actually, I've noticed in watching lots of French movies that people shake hands a lot there, even friends who are meeting, as opposed to the hugging that's so prevalent in the U.S.  I'd much prefer shaking hands with pretty much everybody unless there's a special reason for a hug.

Maybe it's the gender disparity bothering this feminist.  On Shark Tank, when a woman contestant gets a deal, the shark hugs her, whether the shark is male or female.  When a man contestant gets a deal, male sharks will shake his hand (and occasionally do the ridiculous shake-hug thing) and female sharks hug him.  It bugs. 

[bilgistic]

10 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Maybe it's the gender disparity bothering this feminist.  On Shark Tank, when a woman contestant gets a deal, the shark hugs her, whether the shark is male or female.  When a man contestant gets a deal, male sharks will shake his hand (and occasionally do the ridiculous shake-hug thing) and female sharks hug him.  It bugs. 

The gender inequality in that (and other things on that show) bothers the shit out of me. Who hugs someone they just met, anyway? Well, my mother does, but that's kind of a Southern thing after you've talked with someone in an informal setting for a while. It's completely inappropriate in business, though. The hugging on Shark Tank is like hugging someone after a job interview. It's just wrong.

The assholes I work with are "surprised" I like watching Shark Tank. Yes, I like watching shows about entrepreneurs who don't have to work for a stifling company anymore. Imagine that.

[StatisticalOutlier]

6 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

Who hugs someone they just met, anyway?

People who declare, "I'm a hugger!"  Guck off.  [Heh--that was a typo, but I like it.]

[Quof]

To which one replies "And I'm a groper" while grabbing a boob.  What? Is that less appropriate?  They both involve touching someone without asking permission first.

[StatisticalOutlier]

And the hug involves boobs, only less obviously.

[MargeGunderson]

@bilgistic, thanks for reminding me I have a haircut scheduled this week!

[auntlada]

3 hours ago, bilgistic said:

@StatisticalOutlier, I'm reminded of this:

That is one of the times when it is advantageous to be very nearsighted. I can't tell what the hairdresser is doing. It's very relaxing.

[JTMacc99]

Dealing with people is exhausting, frequently disappointing, occasionally heartbreaking, sometimes rewarding, and all around confounding on a regular basis. 

Can't everyone just do what I want them to do?

[Quof]

JTMac99, I am running for Queen of the World (I hope I can count on your support).  Omnipotence comes with the role.  I promise to use my power only for good, but it will involve making people do I want.  

[JTMacc99]

I can think of no finer all powerful benevolent leader @Quof  

You have my support and I'm preparing my list of people that perhaps you will agree need some direction for the better good of all humanity (but mostly me.)

[annzeepark914]

Ain't it grand to be able to vent here?  I can't think of anything right now to vent about (that doesn't mean there are no pet peeves in my life - hah!) but wanted to express appreciation for this forum :>)

[auntlada]

 Wish restaurants would not attach the booth tables to the wall. I don't mean the tables meant to be attached to the wall. I mean the ones with a center pedestal hat is what is holding the table up. It's nice to be able to adjust it because people like to have different amounts of space between them and the table. Of course, it works better to sit at a table, but some restaurants don't have many tables or don't like to sit smaller groups at tables because bigger groups can't sit at booths.

[ennui]

On 7/20/2017 at 11:10 PM, Only Zola said:

On the rare occasions I do catch trains these days I can't help but people-watch on crowded carriages, and the way that some guys will try to stand behind a short woman and try to peek down her blouse. I am always in the moral quandary as to whether to speak up and say something?

You would only embarrass the victim, so it's best not to say anything. The guy will be "Who, me? You're imagining things." 

If someone is too close, cough, sneeze, blow your nose in their direction. 

If you don't want to shake hands with someone, say you have a cold and don't want to share your germs.