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

[Katy M]

18 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

It's been proven (I don't know by whom--by science, OK!) that hand dryers just make germs fly all over the bathroom. Poop germs, people. POOP GERMS.

I dry my hands on my pants.

But, if you wash your hands and then your hands are then clean, why would drying them make germs fly all over the bathroom.  Unless it germs that are just flying around anyway.  In which case odes it matter?  They're already floating in the air.  Let's all stay out of bathrooms.

[bilgistic]

Pre-existing poop germs in the bathroom, not what you washed off your hands.

Edited October 18, 2017 by bilgistic

[TattleTeeny]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

The cats get the zoomies from about midnight until 2am, and I no longer feel bad about it. It won't be so good when I'm working again, but right now, the girls can run their thunderous little hearts out.

Zoomies are the antipeeve. My two longhaired boys look so cute going fast--"pantaloons" a'billowin'!

[KittyMom4]

5 hours ago, Blergh said:

OK, I hate that it's getting harder to find public bathrooms with easy access paper towels instead of those electronic 'automatic' rolls that often don't work OR those 'automatic' blow driers that just blast hot air if they work at all. The latter especially are frustrating if one has to touch the door handle to exit and one has to use one's hands  ,geniuses ! ARGH!

I was just complaining about this on my vacation! The resort only had the hand dryers, so every time I went to open the door I had to touch it with my bare hands, YUCK! I like the dryers and realize they produce less garbage but I also know there are people do not wash their hands after using the facilities. There must be a happy medium some where!

1 hour ago, southpaw said:

I carry a dry washcloth in a baggie in my purse for just such situations.  Some people have rolled their eyes when they've seen me use it, probably thinking I must be one of those germaphobes they keep hearing about.  Until it's their turn to step up to the empty paper towel holder or broken hand-dryer.  

Thank you, I should have read further before I posted, this is a great idea. I keep a small bottle of hand-sanitizer in my purse to use in these situations. I hate it though because it dries out my hands.

[rcc]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

It's been proven (I don't know by whom--by science, OK!) that hand dryers just make germs fly all over the bathroom. Poop germs, people. POOP GERMS.

I dry my hands on my pants.

So do I, germaphobe that I am and proud of it.

[bilgistic]

43 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Zoomies are the antipeeve. My two longhaired boys look so cute going fast--"pantaloons" a'billowin'!

My late kitty girl was long-haired and therefore had pantaloons. For no good reason, I called them "los pantalones". I'm not as funny as I think I am.

Speaking of being an asshole, last week or the week before, I tweeted a picture of the recycling/trash can at my nearest Starbucks. It's supposed to have two bags in it--one for recycling in one half of the bin and another for trash in the other half. Well, it had one in the whole can. I tweeted the picture with the location to @starbucks and the note "You had ONE JOB!"

I just got coffee and the can has two separate bags. You're welcome, Mother Earth.

Yeah, they probably throw both bags on the dumpster, but let me live with my delusion, OK?

[TattleTeeny]

I'm convinced our cats really like it when we yell, "Go, go, fast cat!" at them as they zoom by. They want to be "fast cat"!

You and my BF would get along well, haha! He is pretty laid back generally but gets very peeved and vocal when people at our condo disregard the posted recycling instructions. 

Edited October 18, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[bilgistic]

OK, WTF. The guy next to me at a crowded Starbucks is FaceTiming with someone. This is why I stay home all the time.

[bilgistic]

In the continued saga of my exciting life, the washing machine tech came today and the issue was indeed a faulty lid switch. The washer is now working again, $160 later, which is still considerably less than a new washer. I do only about one or two loads of laundry a week, so even though it's 17 years old, I should get a good five or more years out of the washer (fingers crossed!). @Bastet, I need you for a neighbor (and friendship!). You knew what the problem was and how to fix it.

[Bastet]

If I was nearby, I'd have gladly come by and fixed it for you!  I'm glad that's what it turned out to be, allowing you to get it fixed rather than having to buy a new washing machine (particularly at a time when you really don't want to be hit with large, unexpected expenses).

I have a friend of a friend who's one of those "If it breaks, toss it" - regardless of cost, waste, or any other analysis as to whether repair or replace makes the most sense under the circumstances - people, and he happened to call just after I finished changing my lid switch to talk to me about the mutual friend's upcoming birthday party.  I like some things about him, but he winds up bugging me every time we interact.  So the conversation inevitably went:

-What are you up to?

-[Story of washing machine, focused on appreciation for parts manager staying late and thankfulness it's an easy fix]

-Why don't you just get a new washing machine?

-Because the lid switch is $50 and a new machine is ten times that.  Everything else about it works fine.  The matching dryer works fine.  

-I'd just replace them both.

-Yeah, and you'd probably put the old ones out for trash pick-up rather than giving them to someone in need.  Can we talk about the birthday party now?

Sorry for the trip down memory lane, but that's guy's a peeve!

[bilgistic]

Yeah, that's crazy talk. As a related example, I'm super irritated at my phone because I've had it TEN MONTHS and the battery life is terrible. Of course, the battery is non-replaceable, i.e., one would have to crack the phone housing to replace the battery, because the phone manufacturer wants people to buy new phones. I know I've been on this old lady rant many times, but I hate planned obsolescence. 

[AgentRXS]

I'm either coming down with a cold or the flu. I had to leave work early tonight because my bones are all achy and I have those stupid hot/cold flashes I always get before a cold.  I had to go to the grocery store to get cold medicine and soup, which is always a thrill.

It is really unbelievable that while I was standing there deciding which soup to purchase, I had no less than 5 people invade my personal space to reach over, under and around me for what they wanted without a word. No "excuse me" or "Pardon me". I might as well have been invisible. Heaven forbid people someone take longer than 30 seconds to decide what they want to purchase. And for the record, I would have slid out of the way if asked nicely.

Another peeve:
Across the street from my job, there is a huge parking lot that is supposed to be where the employees of the airport (which is close to where I work) park. Earlier this year, the director decided only the Animal Control Officers at our shelter should park their personal vehicles and trucks over there as well, and obtained permission from the airport to do so.

So I park my truck in the corner spot of the lot that is fairly empty. So yesterday, my truck was the only vehicle parked in that row. Next to it were 10 empty spaces. I pull my truck out of the spot and head to my personal car to reverse it into the space, when some jackass decides to slid into my spot. I was like "What the hell? All these spaces next to mine are empty and you clearly saw that I was pulling my truck out to reverse my car in. Why did you do that?"  The  man responded: "Oh, because I wanted your spot, little lady. You should find somewhere else to park". So rude. I said, nope. I said if he didn't move, I would call airport security to resolve the issue, as I felt I was being unfairly targeted and harassed. He moved.

The nerve of some people, really.

Edited October 19, 2017 by AgentRXS

[bilgistic]

"Little lady?!"

[ratgirlagogo]

15 hours ago, Blergh said:

OK, I hate that it's getting harder to find public bathrooms with easy access paper towels instead of those electronic 'automatic' rolls that often don't work OR those 'automatic' blow driers that just blast hot air if they work at all. The latter especially are frustrating if one has to touch the door handle to exit and one has to use one's hands  ,geniuses ! ARGH!

I hate this too and I always try to keep extra napkins and such in my purse.  Otherwise when I'm all outa napkins I have NO MORAL PROBLEM tearing off a ton of toilet paper and using it to dry my hands, etc.

11 hours ago, DeLurker said:

I don't know if they sell aerosol skunk,

Even if they did the smell would be indistinguishable from the smell of the skunkweed  bilgistic's neighbors are smoking. (Even some expensive weed smells skunky these days.)  Probably not much of a deterrent.

Edited October 19, 2017 by ratgirlagogo

[backformore]

3 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

I'm either coming down with a cold or the flu. I had to leave work early tonight because my bones are all achy and I have those stupid hot/cold flashes I always get before a cold.  I had to go to the grocery store to get cold medicine and soup, which is always a thrill.

I'm having the same thing today.   Feeling tired, my concentration is off, and I keep getting the chills, then if I put a sweater on, I suddenly feel too warm. Tired, but I can't sleep. Dull headache, muscle ashes, but not enough to be actually SICK.    I wish the cold would just come ON already, so I cant get it over with. 

[PRgal]

17 hours ago, bilgistic said:

OK, WTF. The guy next to me at a crowded Starbucks is FaceTiming with someone. This is why I stay home all the time.

People have NO MANNERS anymore.  I was at a gym where a guy was texting someone WHILE STANDING AT THE WATER FOUNTAIN/COOLER.  Dude, if you're there, you either take a sip or fill up your water bottle.  YOU DO NOT TEXT.  If you want to text, you can go somewhere else.  

[Bort]

23 hours ago, Blergh said:

OK, I hate that it's getting harder to find public bathrooms with easy access paper towels instead of those electronic 'automatic' rolls that often don't work OR those 'automatic' blow driers that just blast hot air if they work at all. The latter especially are frustrating if one has to touch the door handle to exit and one has to use one's hands  ,geniuses ! ARGH!

Ever been to the UK? They do not do paper towels there. Like, AT ALL. It's all hand dryers, all the time. If you're lucky, the places will have those Xlerator kind that will actually dry your hands quickly but some places had cheap ones that was the equivalent of standing there and letting someone blow on your hands -- it took forever. I was back and forth to the UK for awhile for work and every time I came home, I would feel like hugging the first paper towel dispenser I saw.

[Katy M]

12 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Yeah, that's crazy talk. As a related example, I'm super irritated at my phone because I've had it TEN MONTHS and the battery life is terrible. Of course, the battery is non-replaceable, i.e., one would have to crack the phone housing to replace the battery, because the phone manufacturer wants people to buy new phones. I know I've been on this old lady rant many times, but I hate planned obsolescence. 

I've had the same cell phone for 9 years and I'm proud of it.  I don't care if everybody laughs at it.

[DeLurker]

12 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Yeah, that's crazy talk. As a related example, I'm super irritated at my phone because I've had it TEN MONTHS and the battery life is terrible. Of course, the battery is non-replaceable, i.e., one would have to crack the phone housing to replace the battery, because the phone manufacturer wants people to buy new phones. I know I've been on this old lady rant many times, but I hate planned obsolescence. 

What brand of phone is it?

11 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

I'm either coming down with a cold or the flu. I had to leave work early tonight because my bones are all achy and I have those stupid hot/cold flashes I always get before a cold.  I had to go to the grocery store to get cold medicine and soup, which is always a thrill.

It is really unbelievable that while I was standing there deciding which soup to purchase, I had no less than 5 people invade my personal space to reach over, under and around me for what they wanted without a word. No "excuse me" or "Pardon me". I might as well have been invisible. Heaven forbid people someone take longer than 30 seconds to decide what they want to purchase. And for the record, I would have slid out of the way if asked nicely.

I normally wouldn't advocate coughing on people, but I would have been terribly tempted to do just that.  Feel better.

8 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Even if they did the smell would be indistinguishable from the smell of the skunkweed  bilgistic's neighbors are smoking. (Even some expensive weed smells skunky these days.)  Probably not much of a deterrent.

Ahhhh...good point.  I clearly don't hang out with the people who light up any longer.  My ex was one of the few who actually get addicted to weed and I forgot (happily) about that stuff.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Ever been to the UK? They do not do paper towels there. Like, AT ALL. It's all hand dryers, all the time. If you're lucky, the places will have those Xlerator kind that will actually dry your hands quickly but some places had cheap ones that was the equivalent of standing there and letting someone blow on your hands -- it took forever. I was back and forth to the UK for awhile for work and every time I came home, I would feel like hugging the first paper towel dispenser I saw.

I've been there and you're right! Well, I thank you for your contribution and I think I may take up some others' suggestions re carrying extra paper towels in a sealed plastic bag to help ensure getting to dry my newly clean hands on clean surfaces!

[Qoass]

I just ordered a new winter coat over the internet. There were five pages of reviews, mostly positive but a bunch said the sleeves were too big and another bunch said the sleeves were too tight. Most said it was warm but several said it wasn't warm at all. Clearly, I got past that point where online reviews are helpful.

[bilgistic]

3 hours ago, PRgal said:

People have NO MANNERS anymore.  I was at a gym where a guy was texting someone WHILE STANDING AT THE WATER FOUNTAIN/COOLER.  Dude, if you're there, you either take a sip or fill up your water bottle.  YOU DO NOT TEXT.  If you want to text, you can go somewhere else.  

In my ire, I forgot to mention that the guy took off his Batali-esque orange Crocs and put his socked feet ON THE FLOOR. WHAT!?

3 hours ago, DeLurker said:

What brand of phone is it?

...My ex was one of the few who actually get addicted to weed and I forgot (happily) about that stuff.

Huawei Nexus 6P. The case is glued shut, and it's extremely dicey to use a heat gun to "break" the seal (melt the glue) to replace the battery. I'm not risking it. I've signed up to get a big discount on the next version from Google with a trade-in, but we'll see if that actually happens.

...

I have an abusive ex-boyfriend who was addicted to marijuana, so while I'm all for legalization, I don't have it in me to hear about how it's not addictive.

[backformore]

1 hour ago, Qoass said:

I just ordered a new winter coat over the internet. There were five pages of reviews, mostly positive but a bunch said the sleeves were too big and another bunch said the sleeves were too tight. Most said it was warm but several said it wasn't warm at all. Clearly, I got past that point where online reviews are helpful.

Yeah, I've had the same thing happen.   My favorite clothing store, coldwater creek, closed and went to catalog only. That was upsetting, because it was the one store that I thought suited me.  Often times, I feel the choice is between clothing that makes me look like an old lady, and clothing that makes me look like I'm trying too hard to be young and hip. Coldwater Creek had the look I wanted - but the sizes are inconsistent. 

  It's hard to order clothing online, because you never know how it will fit or if it will look as good as you want it to.   I found myself keeping stuff that I would never keep if I tried it on in a store.  

[Katy M]

17 minutes ago, backformore said:

Yeah, I've had the same thing happen.   My favorite clothing store, coldwater creek, closed and went to catalog only. That was upsetting, because it was the one store that I thought suited me.  Often times, I feel the choice is between clothing that makes me look like an old lady, and clothing that makes me look like I'm trying too hard to be young and hip. Coldwater Creek had the look I wanted - but the sizes are inconsistent. 

  It's hard to order clothing online, because you never know how it will fit or if it will look as good as you want it to.   I found myself keeping stuff that I would never keep if I tried it on in a store.  

What I can never understand is how people buy shoes online.  When I shoe shop, I'll try one size and it will be too big. Of course, they don't have that same shoe in a size smaller, so I try on a different shoe in a size smaller and that one's too small.  My point being, shoe sizes are not consistent and I have no ide what size I am.  On the rare occasion when I go bowling, I generally bring the shoes back two or three times before I find the size I want.  They probably have my picture up somewhere.  Although, in that case, they should actually write what size I end up with and then we'd all be happy.

[Bastet]

54 minutes ago, Katy M said:

What I can never understand is how people buy shoes online.

I do that a lot, because I love shoes (and clothes) but I hate shopping, so probably half my purchases are online.  If they don't fit, I send them back, but that doesn't happen very often.

[bilgistic]

I generally can't find the kind of shoes that I like in stores (chunky motorcycle boots were my last purchase this past winter), so I shop online. My shoe size is a pretty true 7 in most lines. I also hate shopping in actual stores. I take a while to parse through the myriad selections online and find the best deal, and then if what I get is slightly off size for me, I'm OK with exchanging. Anything just so I don't have to go in a store.

[PradaKitty]

I have bought tons of shoes on line and they always fit perfectly.  I have no idea why...

[PRgal]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

I generally can't find the kind of shoes that I like in stores (chunky motorcycle boots were my last purchase this past winter), so I shop online. My shoe size is a pretty true 7 in most lines. I also hate shopping in actual stores. I take a while to parse through the myriad selections online and find the best deal, and then if what I get is slightly off size for me, I'm OK with exchanging. Anything just so I don't have to go in a store.

My shoe size doesn't really exist, period (4.5 US in women - SOMETIMES 5 (especially with athletic shoes)) in most middle of the road brands.  So unless I go to Asia or buy luxury, I'm out of luck.  Thank goodness for Stuart Weitzman trunk shows.  While their shoes are expensive, I can pre-order a pair, pay 50% and the remaining 50% at pick-up.  It feels less expensive that way.

[Qoass]

If I hear one more word about where the new Amazon center is going to be built, I WILL SCREAM!!!!

[Blergh]

I should be used to junk mail by now but I just got one that really peeved. Not only did it try to egg me to sell them a house I don't own but it claimed that they'd enjoyed 'talking with me' ! NOPE! I did NOT talk with them or anyone else on this subject because it's not something I'm interested in. As best I can tell, they may have left a pestering message on my voice mail which I deleted ASAP and didn't bother to reply to. I have to wonder if anyone actually gets one of these thinking  'Hmm, I don't remember talking to them but maybe I did since the letter says so. I guess I'd better call them back to confirm it'.

[bilgistic]

5 hours ago, Qoass said:

If I hear one more word about where the new Amazon center is going to be built, I WILL SCREAM!!!!

Lawd, yes. Of course, my desperate-ass city is trying like hell to get it.

[TattleTeeny]

Whoa, PRGal, that's a little foot! I have trouble finding 5.5s! But because, like bilgistic, I tend toward big clunky biker boots, I grab a 6 (even that's difficult sometimes, as one always seems to be the display shoe!) and make sure to also get me some fat socks.

So, my gym saga: I like the one I found but it is so expensive that there's no way I can do it once the trial runs out. Fuck health, haha!

Edited October 20, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[PradaKitty]

 Amazon Center:

So which one of you is in Sacramento?  That's all people can talk about. #Not a Chance in Hell

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 10/19/2017 at 7:03 AM, DeLurker said:

Even if they did the smell would be indistinguishable from the smell of the skunkweed  bilgistic's neighbors are smoking. (Even some expensive weed smells skunky these days.)  Probably not much of a deterrent.

So what's happened to marijuana?  I kind of liked the smell back in the 70s, but the stuff they have today smells awful.  I spend a lot of time in Colorado, and people smoke it out in the open even though it's technically illegal to do that, and I just can't handle the smell.   I smelled it a lot recently in Vancouver, BC, and it reeked the same, so it's not a regional thing.

I know it's vastly more potent than back in the day, but it's not a matter of the smell being more concentrated.  It's different, and it stinks. 

I guess I'm all caught up in smells these days.  I'm a super-smeller, which is a curse, and was complaining about fish market smells upthread, and in particular Chinese grocery stores.  Well, I was in a very nice Asian supermarket recently, and I stand corrected.  It was Seafood City near Seattle, and I looked up and noticed I was near the seafood and girded myself, but not a whiff of fish smell.  They had big open areas like places do for produce, but they had ice on them and fish lying on top.  Tons of it, and it didn't smell at all.

Maybe I'll have to go back to Pike Place and see how it smells.  I didn't even watch them throw the fish around because I didn't want to be that close to stinky fish. 

[bilgistic]

I may have told this super-riveting story already. The first time I smelled pot was my freshman year in college, so 1993 or 1994. My suitemate and I were at a local band's show and an unfamiliar scent wafted through the air. I asked her what it was, and she looked at me incredulously and told me it was pot. I was a "good" kid in a religious family. I didn't know from drugs and alcohol.

I swear that pot didn't reek like the stuff does now. It is full-on skunkweed that people are smoking now. It smells like a pack of skunks have run through my apartment when my neighbor(s) light up. How have all the advances in the industry in the past 25 years not created better-smelling weed?

[StatisticalOutlier]

53 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

The first time I smelled pot was my freshman year in college, so 1993 or 1994. My suitemate and I were at a local band's show and an unfamiliar scent wafted through the air. I asked her what it was, and she looked at me incredulously and told me it was pot.

I still remember being at places like Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin in the 70s, and people had what I referred to as "that hippie smell."  I lived in a much smaller town, and really wanted to smell like a hippie, too, but didn't know what the damn stuff was.  Years later, I found out it was patchouli oil.  I get a whiff of it periodically these days out in the wild, and it kind of makes me want to gag.  But back then, it was everything I wanted to be.

[TattleTeeny]

There's a Ween song called "Hippie Smell," haha!

[bilgistic]

I confess to once having wanted to smell of patchouli, but being too much of a nerd to associate with any of the related culture. I instead used the oil in my oil burner.

[AgentRXS]

So I'm sick with a mystery illness. One minute I feel perfectly fine, the next I feel weak. No sneezing. No congestion. Just chest pains and a bad cough every now and again. And the stupid temperature fluctuation thing where I'm hot one minute, cold the next. I've been out of work all week.

I think this has to with a situation that happened at work. Putting it in spoiler tags  for the faint of heart:

Spoiler

To summarize, I responded to a call where a cat was in the process of dying. As I was removing the carcass, the wind blew a bit of its saliva into my nasal passage. I tried to wash it out immediately but I'm guessing I wasn't quick enough and this is some type of bacterial infection.

Anyway, I went to a Walgreens clinic this afternoon. All they could tell me is that I have an elevated heart rate and that I don't have the flu or strep, but that my lungs sound horrible. Got prescribed antibiotics and steroids for my lungs.

I made an appointment online prior to going there. My appointment was at 2:30pm and they called me right on time. As I walking into the exam room, some guy rushes up with his sick kid and makes a huge show about how sick his child is. This pharmacy tech totally ignores me and tells the doctor "You need to see this guy right away---he's got a sick kid". The doctor explains that she had an appointment right now, and he can sign in and wait like everyone else. The tech goes "But its a CHILD".  Excuse me, but so what? I pretty sure that the child has been sick all afternoon, and waiting until my exam was finished wasn't going to make all that much of a difference. And if it would have, then maybe the parents should have gone to emergency care instead of a Walgreens clinic. So my appointment was delayed by 15 minutes due to the doctor being pressured by the technician to examine the sick child.

Post-exam, I was waiting for my prescriptions. As I was waiting, a few elderly Hispanic women approached the line. They did not speak English. This same tech, who was not a Spanish speaker, spoke to them loudly and repeatedly to communicate ("I need to see your license...LICENSE....LI...CEN...SE....") and held up the line, instead of getting or calling for a Spanish speaking employee. He continued to hold up the line (which started out with 5 people and quickly grew to about 10-15) with this BS until a Spanish speaking employee from another dept overheard his loud, condescending tone and came over to assist. Why wouldn't he just page for a translator to begin with? It came off as trying to embarrass the customers unnecessarily. People in line at the pharmacy usually aren't feeling too hot to begin with (which is why they are there) and to not be only rude but to make others wait while you carry on like that is just completely annoying.

If I wasn't feeling as drained as I was, I would have definitely filed a complaint. His customer service was really appalling.

Edited October 21, 2017 by AgentRXS

[bilgistic]

WHY do I reveal your spoilers? Whyyyyy?

I hope you feel better soon.

[emma675]

OMG, AgentRXS, I'm gagging. How horrible.

I hope the meds work for you, but if not please go to a real doctor and rule out anything more serious. Take care of yourself!

[DeLurker]

@AgentRXS - Yikes!  And I wish I could say I was surprised by the Clinic visit, but I'm not.

When I was going through some fierce and ever renewing sinus & respiratory infections a few years ago, the doctor recommended I use a sinus rinse (this is the one I settled on) on a daily basis (along with the antibiotics and steroids I got).  Not sure if it helped, but it didn't hurt.  I start to use it again each year when my allergies kick into high gear (usually at night before I go to bed so I get better sleep and then in the late morning/early afternoon).

Feel better.

[PRgal]

I really wish people would stop it with deciding whether someone looks "fat" or "obese" at a certain clothing size.  Guess what?  I'm short and small framed, so a size 10 would be at least "chubby" for someone my height (or "Asian fat" as some of my friends from a similar ethno-cultural heritage would say).  However, if I were 5'8"?  Meh, size 10 would slim.  Same goes for smaller sizes.  Size 0 isn't that small when you're my height/frame.  

Edited October 21, 2017 by PRgal

[Mindthinkr]

32 minutes ago, PRgal said:

I really wish people would stop it with deciding whether someone looks "fat" or "obese" at a certain clothing size.

Whereas I don't mind snarking and getting judgy on these sites, I do mind when people constantly judge IRL or state their opinions when they are unsolicited. Some days we just dress the best we can. 

[TattleTeeny]

I hope this doesn't creep into the forbidden political territory, but I find it so annoying to read stupid comments (mainly on FB) responding to peaceful protests--things like "these people should get jobs and contribute to society" and the like. Aside from the fact that the commenters have no idea what the protesters do beyond the moment the photo was taken, do they--the commenters--work 24/7 and find it strange that others don't? People have downtime and--gasp!--paid time off from work too. Maybe it should be viewed as more impressive that they use that time off to try to stand for something. And it's alarming how many people confuse peaceful protests with chaotic rioting. 

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, PRgal said:

I really wish people would stop it with deciding whether someone looks "fat" or "obese" at a certain clothing size.  Guess what?  I'm short and small framed, so a size 10 would be at least "chubby" for someone my height (or "Asian fat" as some of my friends from a similar ethno-cultural heritage would say).  However, if I were 5'8"?  Meh, size 10 would slim.

I'm 5'8" and I've put on weight in recent years (ceasing all exercise yet continuing to eat and drink the same will do that), but for most of my adult life I was a size 10.  I wasn't slim, because I have wide hips, a big butt, and big breasts, but it was the ideal weight/shape for my body and I looked great.  So you can imagine my reaction to all the commercials for diet pills and weight loss programs that had the "before" fretting about how she was a size ten and just couldn't bear to be seen in public until she whittled herself down to a size four.

[TattleTeeny]

It is all so stupid! And not that this should matter but do people even know how that the amount of difference from size to size is a often pretty small? OK, I am 5'4" so fitting into the average 10 (whatever the hell a "10" even means) would likely mean I had some "extra" on me. However, the way the commercials (and society) act, you'd think that there were vast expanses of fabric needed to go from a 3 to a 5 or whatever--there are not (and do they pretend that there are sizes in between; there usually are not as they are either odd or even, not both). These numbers are just dumb (and that also goes for the "who the hell could fit in this?!" shit that happens in the other direction. Come on, if it's there to be sold in some everyday ordinary store, chances are it wasn't made for some rare unicorn of a lady!).

Edited October 21, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[Mindthinkr]

I went into a "hip" store the other day to get my friend a bday gift. She's a size large. Well I kept looking and noticing that they had lots of clothes in my size (should never have discovered this lest I now know where to find stuff) which is XS. I asked the friendly salesperson where the large sizes were or what fashions they had them in. She replied "Oh no, the people who shop here are your size and we don't order more than one large in anything". I was stunned. They make Lane Bryant for ppl over size 14 (I think as I've never shopped there) but had never seen a store not carry clothes for the average sized woman. Well maybe Petite Sophisticate back in the mall days. 

[bilgistic]

I guess I'm a fat fatty at size 18. I hate exercise except for one kind, heh heh, and since I've been single for over three years... *weeping into pillow*

I was never small. When I was on the dance team in high school, we practiced for three hours four days a week and then had game day. I was co-captain and choreographer two of those years, which meant a lot of extra work at home. I was still a solid size six. I danced in college classes until age 21. I was a gym rat for a while in my 20s and danced when I went out to techno clubs and was still no smaller. I'm just "thick". I'd honestly give up a toe (but not the big ones) to be that size now, which is sad, but I won't work out! I HATE exercising.

At nearly 43, I'm to the point in life where I'm like "fuck your beauty standards!" yet I'm not happy with my size...but not so much that I care enough to do anything about it. My meds do play a part. I need them to be a functioning member of society. Genetics play another.

There is a movement among young women, mostly vloggers and "influencers" (barf), who are embracing their size and promoting self-love instead of tearing oneself down. That has been refreshing and helpful to me in our culture of otherwise perceived perfection.

[PRgal]

13 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

I went into a "hip" store the other day to get my friend a bday gift. She's a size large. Well I kept looking and noticing that they had lots of clothes in my size (should never have discovered this lest I now know where to find stuff) which is XS. I asked the friendly salesperson where the large sizes were or what fashions they had them in. She replied "Oh no, the people who shop here are your size and we don't order more than one large in anything". I was stunned. They make Lane Bryant for ppl over size 14 (I think as I've never shopped there) but had never seen a store not carry clothes for the average sized woman. Well maybe Petite Sophisticate back in the mall days. 

OMG! I never see XS ANYWHERE!  XS is the FIRST to go where I live - even though there is a HUGE Asian clientele.  Either these women buy everything as soon as it hits the racks or they just don't care that there is a larger proportion of people in the 0-4 range.