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

[Mindthinkr]

For years I gifted everyone in a family members family. I didn't get a thank you note, text or email. Nor did anyone gift anyone in my family. I just stopped. If their life is too important to take a moment to thank me, then my life and time is too important to shop, wrap and give them all their loot. 

[Quof]

Quote

My pet peeve is what I like to call "loud talker mommy". Youll find her almost anywhere...resturants, stores, airports, church, museums etc

She has at least one child w her - and will talk to said child in a loud voice about, well anything! Its almost as if she wants others to notice what a TERRIFIC MOMMY she is or make comments or whatever. I dont get it. I encountered 3 today and am feeling especially hostile about it.

I've encountered parents like that, with babies, going on and on as if they were in a described video:  "Look at the puppy.  That lady has blue shoes.  Just like the sky is blue.  Do you like blue shoes?  There's a little boy with his mommy.   He has a backpack.   There goes a bus.   It's going to school."   I swear the child's first words will be "STFU mom." 

[auntlada]

4 hours ago, Kelly said:

My pet peeve is what I like to call "loud talker mommy". Youll find her almost anywhere...resturants, stores, airports, church, museums etc

She has at least one child w her - and will talk to said child in a loud voice about, well anything! Its almost as if she wants others to notice what a TERRIFIC MOMMY she is or make comments or whatever. I dont get it. I encountered 3 today and am feeling especially hostile about it.

I find myself doing this sometimes. It's generally one of a few things, none of which have to do with me being a terrific mommy, since I generally feel I am merely adequate. I might be trying to engage my child so he will talk to me about something, anything, since when I ask him things, he answers in monosyllables. Or I'm trying to distract him from telling me anything else about Minecraft, which he has been droning on about for 30 minutes. Or I'm trying to keep him from seeing the toys at the store that I forgot to avoid and have no intention of buying. Or I'm talking loudly to get his attention because he is in his own daydreaming world and is not listening to me, and I'm getting angry about it.

[Random Noise]

4 hours ago, Kelly said:

My pet peeve is what I like to call "loud talker mommy". Youll find her almost anywhere...resturants, stores, airports, church, museums etc

She has at least one child w her - and will talk to said child in a loud voice about, well anything! Its almost as if she wants others to notice what a TERRIFIC MOMMY she is or make comments or whatever. I dont get it. I encountered 3 today and am feeling especially hostile about it.

 

I find that more tolerable than being in a busy cashier line where they can hold a captive audience and then hearing "Ok, give the nice lady your money!"

"Ok. Twenty five, fifty, sixty, sixty five, seventy, seventy five, eighty, eighty five, eighty six, eighty seven, eighty eight, eighty nine, ninety, ninety one, ninety two, ninety three, ninety four, ninety five. There! Ninety five cents!"

Edited November 15, 2017 by Random Noise

[Kelly]

5 minutes ago, Random Noise said:

I find that more tolerable than being in a busy cashier line where they can hold a captive audience and then hearing "Ok, give the nice lady your money!"

"Ok. Twenty five, fifty, sixty, sixty five, seventy, seventy five, eighty, eighty five, eighty six, eighty seven, eighty eight, eighty nine, ninety, ninety one, ninety two, ninety three, ninety four, ninety five. There! Ninety five cents!"

omg...nooooooooo ?

31 minutes ago, auntlada said:

I find myself doing this sometimes. It's generally one of a few things, none of which have to do with me being a terrific mommy, since I generally feel I am merely adequate. I might be trying to engage my child so he will talk to me about something, anything, since when I ask him things, he answers in monosyllables. Or I'm trying to distract him from telling me anything else about Minecraft, which he has been droning on about for 30 minutes. Or I'm trying to keep him from seeing the toys at the store that I forgot to avoid and have no intention of buying. Or I'm talking loudly to get his attention because he is in his own daydreaming world and is not listening to me, and I'm getting angry about it.

Nothing wrong w talking to your child - I did it myself when mine were small. Somehow I was able to do it without everyone around me (even in other isles of a store) hearing every word.

[peacheslatour]

26 minutes ago, auntlada said:

I find myself doing this sometimes. It's generally one of a few things, none of which have to do with me being a terrific mommy, since I generally feel I am merely adequate. I might be trying to engage my child so he will talk to me about something, anything, since when I ask him things, he answers in monosyllables. Or I'm trying to distract him from telling me anything else about Minecraft, which he has been droning on about for 30 minutes. Or I'm trying to keep him from seeing the toys at the store that I forgot to avoid and have no intention of buying. Or I'm talking loudly to get his attention because he is in his own daydreaming world and is not listening to me, and I'm getting angry about it.

How old is your son? Mine is 31 and can still drone on about Call of Duty, WoW and too many others to name. Ha, I thought he would grow out of it, when he got into a serious relationship he would lose interest and when his career really took off I thought he would be too busy.  I was wrong.

[Kelly]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

For years I gifted everyone in a family members family. I didn't get a thank you note, text or email. Nor did anyone gift anyone in my family. I just stopped. If their life is too important to take a moment to thank me, then my life and time is too important to shop, wrap and give them all their loot. 

Ditto. Sort of.  LOL

I stopped sending birthday (and other holidays but Christmas) gifts for my sisters kids a long time ago...they were never acknowledged, and we were never thanked.  My children never got anything in return.  I just stopped - it was never brought up.

We do gather for Christmas and exchange some gifts and they do thank me to my face, even though I can tell sometimes by their pissy face that theyre not happy w what they received.  LOL  Last year one of my neices was "sick" and couldnt attend our holiday gathering...when I sweetly told my brother in law that I would set aside her presents and she could stop by and open them at her convenience - because I REALLY wanted to see her open them...she miraculously felt better and appeared.

My husbands family - his brother w kids...I still send them a card w  $ for bdays and Chrístmas.  I dont know why, I guess Im a glutton for punishment.  I should just stop.  Everyone has a cell phone - its not hard to send a text.  I blame the parents for not teaching the kids proper manners...and for a long time I felt like I didnt want to punish the kids for their asshat parents, but after awhile, it just gets...meh.  Annoying.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Kelly

[Bastet]

I don't exchange presents with many people anymore -- my parents and a couple of close friends -- but I'm gobsmacked by the idea of not even acknowledging that someone has given you a gift!  We're talking not just the lack of a proper thank-you card/note, but not so much as an email or text message?  That's so crazy.  If I had tried that as a kid, I'd have been told I wasn't playing with/wearing/whatever said gifts until I got my thank-you notes done.  I can't even imagine doing it as an adult.

[auntlada]

57 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

How old is your son? Mine is 31 and can still drone on about Call of Duty, WoW and too many others to name. Ha, I thought he would grow out of it, when he got into a serious relationship he would lose interest and when his career really took off I thought he would be too busy.  I was wrong.

He's 6. I have many years of this ahead. He is determined that  wll love Minecraft as much as he and his father do. (Well, his father doesn't love it so much as he enjoys playing it.)

It does make a nice bribe/punishment, however, so there's that. And he and his friends play it on the playground at recess. How, you ask, since they don't have computers? I don't exactly know. It involves everyone playing a part, but then I don't really know what they do. They also play Mario and Temple Run.

[Mindthinkr]

1 hour ago, Kelly said:

Ditto. Sort of.  LOL

I stopped sending birthday (and other holidays but Christmas) gifts for my sisters kids a long time ago...they were never acknowledged, and we were never thanked.  My children never got anything in return.  I just stopped - it was never brought up.

We do gather for Christmas and exchange some gifts and they do thank me to my face, even though I can tell sometimes by their pissy face that theyre not happy w what they received.  LOL  Last year one of my neices was "sick" and couldnt attend our holiday gathering...when I sweetly told my brother in law that I would set aside her presents and she could stop by and open them at her convenience - because I REALLY wanted to see her open them...she miraculously felt better and appeared.

My husbands family - his brother w kids...I still send them a card w  $ for bdays and Chrístmas.  I dont know why, I guess Im a glutton for punishment.  I should just stop.  Everyone has a cell phone - its not hard to send a text.  I blame the parents for not teaching the kids proper manners...and for a long time I felt like I didnt want to punish the kids for their asshat parents, but after awhile, it just gets...meh.  Annoying.

Similar feelings as you on this subject. I just now prefer to think that we are the better people because we give out of love...dang the result. Compassion depends on folks like us in this world. 

[backformore]

10 hours ago, GoodieGirl said:

This pet peeve is probably going to make me sound petty but I need to get it off my chest. My sister has never been generous* when it comes to giving my daughters gifts, so when she stopped giving them gifts in their late teens, it did not phase me. I continued to give her 3 children gifts up until last year. My girls are 27 & 23, her kids are 22, 20 and 17, I am at a point where I feel it's time to discontinue the tradition, my budget has gotten slightly smaller and I'd prefer to focus on my kids for the holidays. I was hoping to bow out gracefully as I allowed her to do by never mentioning that she doesn't reciprocate with my kids, but today she texted me the Xmas gift lists for my niece and nephews. Now I will have to tell her directly, which does not bother me, but knowing my sister I am going to end up looking like a grinch when she tells her kids. ARGH!!!

 

Gift lists?  they're adults!  You don't have to give them ANYTHING, its generous if you do, but to request certain gifts is outrageous.  

We give gifts to nieces and nephews on my husband's side - once they are adults, they get something like a bottle of wine, a starbucks gift card, amazon gift card, or restaurant gift card..  Once they have kids, they no longer get a gift, and we buy a toy or book  for the kids instead.  And the nieces and nephews also, sometimes, give us a gift too. A Christmas ornament, bottle of liquor, box of chocolates. 

On my side, all the adults (age 16 and up)  participate in a white elephant gift exchange, with gifts being either a re-gift of something you already own, or a $10 gift.  The kids get toys or books.  The white elephant exchange is the highlight of the get-together, as you never know if you're going to get a gag gift or something cool.  

I spend money on my husband and kids, (and current significant others)  depending on how good the year has been, and how much we can afford. As time goes on, we've all come to realize that the time we spend together is what we value more than gifts.  That said, we each have "wishlists"  on amazon - not just for Christmas, but any time we see something we want, but don't feel like spending the money at that moment, we add it to a list. 

Edited November 16, 2017 by backformore

[BookWoman56]

20 hours ago, GoodieGirl said:

This pet peeve is probably going to make me sound petty but I need to get it off my chest. My sister has never been generous* when it comes to giving my daughters gifts, so when she stopped giving them gifts in their late teens, it did not phase me. I continued to give her 3 children gifts up until last year. My girls are 27 & 23, her kids are 22, 20 and 17, I am at a point where I feel it's time to discontinue the tradition, my budget has gotten slightly smaller and I'd prefer to focus on my kids for the holidays. I was hoping to bow out gracefully as I allowed her to do by never mentioning that she doesn't reciprocate with my kids, but today she texted me the Xmas gift lists for my niece and nephews. Now I will have to tell her directly, which does not bother me, but knowing my sister I am going to end up looking like a grinch when she tells her kids. ARGH!!!

*my sister & her husband make high 5 figures in salaries, their kids always have brand name expensive stuff and play expensive sports. I have never expected her to spend $$$ on my children, but her gifts are never more than $20 items, if that, no matter the occasion. To give you the most recent example, My youngest daughter and her oldest son are almost exactly one year apart, for my daughter's 21st birthday, she got nothing from my sister. The following year when her son turned 21, I gave him 21 mini bottles of liquor and $50 in ones to tip the bartender at his first bar run. Since their birthdays are in November we celebrate at T-giving, so my sister sees her son's gift, grabs her purse, grabs some cash and shoves it at my daughter saying "Oh, I meant to stop at the bank but I forgot!" Oh and my oldest daughter turned 21 four years prior and never got even a Happy Birthday.

I don't think you're obligated to announce to your sister that you're not giving presents to her kids any more. Just don't get them anything, and if she asks about it, you can tell her that you're following her example of stopping the gifts once the kids have hit their late teens. Concentrate on what you want/need to get for your own kids. 

My siblings and I went through a few stages of gift-giving. For many years we each got gifts for everybody (all siblings, all spouses, and all their children). We decided the end result of that was spending too much money in total and often resulted in gifts that nobody really wanted/liked.  So we then essentially drew names, one adult giving another adult a present, and one kid giving another kid a present (obviously bought by the respective parent). Then we decided to concentrate on our own kids (and spouse if applicable) and give presents to nieces/nephews only if they were under 18. Once the youngest kid turned 18, that put an end to getting presents for anyone else other than our own kids.  The last year that we gave gifts to everyone, I had a really good year financially, and so I made a point of giving everyone especially nice presents that I spent a lot of time picking out.  But I recognized, as did my siblings, that financial circumstances can change very rapidly and that it made much more sense for each of us to get our own kids something they really wanted that fit within our individual budget. And none of us misses having to do the extra shopping. 

ETA: The pet peeve I originally intended to post: Students who think they are entitled to a specific grade. I occasionally teach an online business writing course and for the most part, the students are appreciative of the detailed feedback I give them on their assignments. However, for one assignment, I gave them two possible scenarios, both at a high level, such as expressing to a company/vendor that you are not happy with some aspect of the services/goods you have received from them. The students have to make up the precise details of the situation and write a letter to explain what the problem is, what needs to happen next, and what will happen if the issue is not resolved. This one student left out some critical information in his letter, so I deducted points for that and inserted a comment noting that there were specific pieces of information missing. The grading rubric specifically states that there must be sufficient detail to support the complaint, so that the recipient of the letter will understand what the issue is. This student then proceeded to send me a private message and also post on the classroom discussion board, that I had not included in my grading rubric that Detail ABC was required. Dude, you somehow expect me to read your mind and the minds of the other students, and write a rubric that lists every single detail you need to include for every possible scenario that students can create?  Not going to happen. One of his private messages to me was to inform me that he had a high GPA going into this class and that I needed to take that into consideration when grading his assignments. Again, how the fuck is your GPA from other courses relevant to your performance in this course? Maybe you did very well in  your math courses, etc., but you are apparently unable to write a business memo/email or letter that doesn't have at least 3-4 major grammar errors, and those are just the surface mistakes, in addition to your lack of critical information. Then the last week before the class was finished, this same student submitted a blank template for an assignment. I notified him that he apparently submitted the wrong file and I would give him the opportunity to upload the file that had the completed assignment. He did so, and then I swear less than 10 minutes later was asking when it would be graded and when final grades would be posted. Okay, so I gave you the opportunity to resubmit an assignment, which I am not in any way obligated to do and for which you would have gotten a zero if I had just based your grade on the blank template you submitted, and then you're going to turn around and act as if I am somehow obligated to grade your assignment 30 seconds after you submit it? Hell, no.

Edited November 16, 2017 by BookWoman56

[Random Noise]

5 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

ETA: The pet peeve I originally intended to post: Students who think they are entitled to a specific grade.

-- cut to save space --

When a new extended care facility opened in the community, the local college started an "Extended Care worker" program. I happened to know one of the nurses that taught a few courses for it.

There were some students she had that failed miserably. For instance, when changing a bandage you remove the old bandage and dressing, then clean around the area and apply a new dressing with a new bandage over it. You don't simply wrap the new bandage over the old one and call it good.

The students that failed complained to the administration and the nurse was informed that the college "doesn't fail students." She needed to give them further instruction and let them keep trying until they got it right. After two or three months of this, the nurse resigned in disgust.

Having a high GPA in one subject doesn't mean you'll achieve it in ALL subjects. I once watched a guy with a masters degree in business fail a first aid exam by missing a very critical step. He failed to check for a pulse before beginning CPR, and this can actually cause cardiac arrest in a living person. After failing, he ranted about having a masters degree, but that certainly doesn't mean "I'm going to kill you so I can help you."

Edited November 17, 2017 by Random Noise

[Katy M]

3 hours ago, Random Noise said:

The students that failed complained to the administration and the nurse was informed that the college "doesn't fail students." She needed to give them further instruction and let them keep trying until they got it right. After two or three months of this, the nurse resigned in disgust.

That's absolutely right. Colleges don't fail students (well, I guess sometimes they do), students fail themselves.

I think somebody was telling me about a college student failing a class and their mother went complained to the school.  I would have been mortified.  Actually, I would have been mortified twice over, once for having failed, and then for my mommy yelling at the school about it.

I remember when I was in college I got a mid-term warning that I was getting a D in my science class.  I, of course, picke dup my mail at the end of the day, so I had to wait until the next day for office hours.  I was completely panicking as I was a second semester senior and this was a required class.  But, I did not call my mother about it.  I waited until the next day and was much relieved to find it was a clerical mistake and I really had a high B.

[Katy M]

And by the way, I don't know about anybody else, but I don't really want a doctor or nurse who has been taught that they get as many do-overs as it takes to get something right.  Because that's not the way the real world works.  If you miss my vein 32 times while trying to insert an IV, I'm going to punch you.  Hard.  And, if you do something incredibly stupid that kills me, even though I don't believe in ghosts, I am going to haunt you.

[Random Noise]

23 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I remember when I was in college I got a mid-term warning that I was getting a D in my science class.  I, of course, picke dup my mail at the end of the day, so I had to wait until the next day for office hours.  I was completely panicking as I was a second semester senior and this was a required class.  But, I did not call my mother about it.  I waited until the next day and was much relieved to find it was a clerical mistake and I really had a high B.

When I was in college ('81-'82) I had good grades until I got into business accounting. That's one thing I could never wrap my brain around and as far as I was concerned, if you had a plus sign in front of the balance, then you were ahead. That class really dragged my grade average down.

The bonus for me was this was a time where word processors hadn't really hit the scene yet and the instructors were typing up assignments on the old Gestetner sheets for duplication. My primary field of study was computer programming, so I wrote the first word processor the school ever had on the mini computer in the computer lab. I ended up graduating with a 4.0 grade because of that.

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And by the way, I don't know about anybody else, but I don't really want a doctor or nurse who has been taught that they get as many do-overs as it takes to get something right

I've only encountered it twice, but I can tell you in all honesty that doctors who need medical attention for their own family call a specialist or practitioner well known to them. The nurses I know will only see certain doctors. There are a lot of things that go on in hospitals that the unknowing average patient doesn't have the slightest clue about.

[Random Noise]

Several years ago our hospital got a foreign nurse, and I won't state any further than by foreign I mean from overseas.

During her orientation at the hospital, there was a bed ridden patient who suffered periodic diarrhea from a medication he was on. When his next impending event presented itself, they propped him up and slid a bed pan under him, then left him alone for a few minutes of privacy.

When this nurse came back, she pulled out the bed pan and proceeded to the bathroom where she began pouring the contents into the toilet. In so doing, she spilled over the edge of the toilet and down onto the floor. Deciding that wasn't working well, she began pouring the bed pan into the sink until the drain got clogged, so finally she just dumped the bed pan and its remaining contents into the waste basket.

I had a friend that was on the housekeeping shift that night, and when she got called for a cleanup in that particular room she was asking "what? I cleaned that room twenty minutes ago!" Heading down the hall and back to that room, she discovered the mess in, on, and around the toilet, the bathroom sink with plugged up drain, and waste basket.

Have a good Friday everyone, and if you think you're having a shitty day, remember, it could be worse!

Edited November 17, 2017 by Random Noise

[Moose135]

10 hours ago, Katy M said:

And by the way, I don't know about anybody else, but I don't really want a doctor or nurse who has been taught that they get as many do-overs as it takes to get something right.

I was reminded recently of the old joke "What do you call the guy who graduated last in his medical school class? Doctor"  That may be true, but I won't be calling him for an appointment!

[MrSmith]

On 11/15/2017 at 11:30 AM, bilgistic said:

I REFUSE to shop at Walmart for many reasons. I will spare you all and not go into them, but my stance is that Walmart is evil incarnate. That whirring sound you hear is Sam Walton spinning in his grave.

I agree. I've nicknamed Wal-Mart "The Evil Empire", though I should really just drop "Evil" because everyone knows The Empire is evil. It would sync up nicely with the fact that because we get no cellular signal inside our local Wal-Mart, I have named that specific store "The Death Star". We shop at Wal-Mart because we live in a little town (16k people) and the only choices are Wal-Mart or the local store that charges nearly double for everything. I've hated Wal-Mart ever since Sam died. As soon as he died, the quality of everything there went down, down, down (into a burning ring of fire). I suppose that's what you get when the founder's children have never had to want for anything in their lives; they fail to realize there's more to life than money.

[MrSmith]

On 11/15/2017 at 6:53 PM, auntlada said:

He's 6. I have many years of this ahead. He is determined that  wll love Minecraft as much as he and his father do. (Well, his father doesn't love it so much as he enjoys playing it.)

It does make a nice bribe/punishment, however, so there's that. And he and his friends play it on the playground at recess. How, you ask, since they don't have computers? I don't exactly know. It involves everyone playing a part, but then I don't really know what they do. They also play Mario and Temple Run.

Isn't their imagination wonderful, though? Our 8 year old nephew plays all kinds of games like that with my wife and his grandmother. It's amazing to watch, even though I don't want to engage in it. I will admit that sometimes I miss being that mentally free, though...

[Mindthinkr]

My pet peeve of the day:

People have no manners when it comes to parking. Yes idiot, can't you see I was waiting for this parking spot with my blinker on when you just made a mad dash right into it? I know you saw me patiently allowing the other driver time to get out without hitting anything. Then they are too busy to let a car into a line or traffic because it might set them one car behind. I also fault Trader Joe's. They don't have enough spots and the store is always a parking nightmare. Traffic was a nightmare today. I want to shop local and support small businesses but also think that online with delivery may save me from popping a cork before New Years. 

[theredhead77]

My apartment complex recently installed a package pick-up system. Before they installed it UPS would bring my orders to my door and I ordered things like cat food and cat litter online so I could avoid having to drag my stuff up stairs and jacking up my back. I'm seriously annoyed with this new system.

[Random Noise]

26 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

My pet peeve of the day:

People have no manners when it comes to parking. 

One day we were transferring a patient to another hospital for a CT scan, and along the way the patient asked if we could stop at a nearby gas station so he could use the bathroom.

After pulling in to the nearest station, I saw an empty parking spot close to the building so I swung the vehicle around and started backing in. Watching the side mirror, I saw another guy quickly dart in to the spot I was backing into. Then the guy got out of his car, looked at me with that "Oh, darn, were you going to park here?" look, and headed into the gas station.

[Mindthinkr]

4 minutes ago, Random Noise said:

One day we were transferring a patient to another hospital for a CT scan, and along the way the patient asked if we could stop at a nearby gas station so he could use the bathroom.

After pulling in to the nearest station, I saw an empty parking spot close to the building so I swung the vehicle around and started backing in. Watching the side mirror, I saw another guy quickly dart in to the spot I was backing into. Then the guy got out of his car, looked at me with that "Oh, darn, were you going to park here?" look, and headed into the gas station.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I'm thinking of staying home on Black Friday and doing nothing. (Read a good book) Only to avoid the traffic and these parking situations. 

[Bastet]

I have never gone shopping on Black Friday, and never will.  There is nothing I want bad enough to deal with those kinds of crowds (the sheer number of people, and then the madness of some of them, too).

Edited November 17, 2017 by Bastet

[Qoass]

I don't go either but I have a couple of tempting coupons. If I go, I will walk to the shopping center first thing in the morning.

[bilgistic]

Seeing as how a man was literally trampled to death on Black Friday at Walmart a few years ago (and of course, Walmart shirked responsibility), I will never go out on Black Friday. I hate shopping on any given day anyway.

[Katy M]

19 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

Seeing as how a man was literally trampled to death on Black Friday at Walmart a few years ago (and of course, Walmart shirked responsibility), I will never go out on Black Friday. I hate shopping on any given day anyway.

I hate how Christmas shopping has been ruined, from my point of view anyway.  When I was a kid, we always went shopping the day after Christmas.  We went to the next town over, and we went to Main Street first.  There were a ton of local stores.  If we weren't done we went across town to KMart.   Then, there was one last store, I don't even remember the name of it.  It was like this  messy place with a little bit of everything in it.  I have such fond memories of those days.  Now all those Main Street stores are gone without new ones to replace them.  KMart is no more, but if it was, I'm sure it would be just like Wal-Mart packed with the greedy hordes.  I would never dream of venturing out on Black Friday nowadays.  I use the day to just laze around and/or clean.

On another note, I hate hate hate the fact that Wal-Mart is now open Thanksgiving Day. Let your poor employees spend the day with their families.    Only doctors, nurses, police, etc should have to work on holidays and then only because heart attacks and criminal aren't going to accommodate.

[theredhead77]

I do my Black Friday shopping online. There was a shopping center by my old place with a weird mix of stores, including a Best Buy next to an Ulta. Last year I wandered into Best Buy several hours after they opened on Thanksgiving evening to see the aftermath and nearly every door buster was available. 

[Mindthinkr]

22 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

I do my Black Friday shopping online. There was a shopping center by my old place with a weird mix of stores, including a Best Buy next to an Ulta. Last year I wandered into Best Buy several hours after they opened on Thanksgiving evening to see the aftermath and nearly every door buster was available. 

Wow. I'm surprised that Best Buy still had the deals. 

IMHO...I wish that no stores were open on a Holiday itself. All people deserve to be home with their family. 

[theredhead77]

4 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

Wow. I'm surprised that Best Buy still had the deals. 

IMHO...I wish that no stores were open on a Holiday itself. All people deserve to be home with their family. 

I was surprised too but this location isn't in a mall or near any other traditional Black Friday store. The main street I used to live behind had Lucky Gap, Banana Republic, and a bunch of other clothing stores. It was glorious to be able to go pick up clothing on sale without having to deal with the mall.

I too wish stores were closed on Thanksgiving, which is why I don't usually patronize them on Thanksgiving. Then again I also feel strongly that everything should be closed on July 4th and open on Christmas since July 4th is America's fucking birthday while not everyone celebrates the [randomly determined date of the] birth of Christ. Also everything should be open on Easter because again, not everyone celebrates that religious holiday.

[Random Noise]

56 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

I too wish stores were closed on Thanksgiving, which is why I don't usually patronize them on Thanksgiving. Then again I also feel strongly that everything should be closed on July 4th and open on Christmas since July 4th is America's fucking birthday while not everyone celebrates the [randomly determined date of the] birth of Christ. Also everything should be open on Easter because again, not everyone celebrates that religious holiday.

I have a lot of native American friends who view July the 4th or July 1 (Canada Day) as the day the white man celebrates taking their land and claiming it as their own.

[JTMacc99]

8 hours ago, Qoass said:

I don't go either but I have a couple of tempting coupons. If I go, I will walk to the shopping center first thing in the morning.

I discovered that the outlet mall is still Black Friday on Sunday. She I go first thing Sunday!’mmm

[backformore]

Something that happened to me today: 

I was looking for a gift for my grandniece.  I found a Fisher Price Christmas train, a Kohl's exclusive. Price $43, sale $32, but pre-Black Friday special $27.  I still wanted to see it in the store, and I had a few other things to buy, so I drove to the store. The website said it was available at the store. 

I couldn't find it on the shelf, so I asked.  Clerk pointed in the general direction, said it's there, it's on the shelf.  I looked again, nope.  Asked her again, she went to the shelf, said, I guess we're out.   I told her the website said the toy was available. Well, she said, it probably came in, but it's "in the back" and they didn't unload the shipment yet.  OK, how do I get it?   I didn't like her suggestion to come back tomorrow, since I hate shopping, and I was there now. 

She pointed and said "try the kiosk."   I had no idea what or where that was, so she showed me the kiosk, where the online store was available.   I could order the toy online, and it would be "shipped" to the store, where I could pick it up.  OK - except the price was $32.   I said no, the online price I saw was $27.  She said, this IS online, and it's $32. She told me that I would save on shipping costs since I was picking it up in the store.  I  replied that you can't actually charge shipping costs anyway, since the toy had already been shipped to the store, and I was trying to buy it AT THE STORE. 

I asked if she could check to see if there was an additional discount, as the price was supposed to be part of the pre-black friday sale, and $27.  She didn't like that, told me that $32 WAS the sale price. 

SO - No thanks.  I left, got in my car, considered my options.   in the parking lot, I pulled out my phone, went to the website, where, yes the sale price was $27.  I ordered it, was told it was available at the store for pick up, and they would text me when it was ready.  I had another errand in the neighborhood, so I left.  30 minutes later I get a text to pick up the item.  

Bottom line -  they were not willing to get an item "from the back" for a customer in the store.  But if that customer orders it from the website to be picked up at the store, they can do that, no problem.  

It's too early for me to hate Christmas shopping, but I do.  It's a cute train though. 

Edited November 18, 2017 by backformore

[Random Noise]

2 hours ago, backformore said:

I couldn't find it on the shelf, so I asked.  Clerk pointed in the general direction, said it's there, it's on the shelf.  I looked again, nope.  Asked her again, she went to the shelf, said, I guess we're out.   I told her the website said the toy was available. Well, she said, it probably came in, but it's "in the back" and they didn't unload the shipment yet.  OK, how do I get it?   I didn't like her suggestion to come back tomorrow, since I hate shopping, and I was there now. 

Have you ever noticed how some places have an "employee of the month" or "salesperson of the month" plaque hanging in some prominent location?

My suggestion is a  "most useless tool of the month" plaque that you can hand to the store manager, complete with a photo of the person who gave you the worst customer experience ever.

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 hours ago, backformore said:

Something that happened to me today: 

I was looking for a gift for my grandniece.  I found a Fisher Price Christmas train, a Kohl's exclusive. Price $43, sale $32, but pre-Black Friday special $27.  I still wanted to see it in the store, and I had a few other things to buy, so I drove to the store. The website said it was available at the store. 

I couldn't find it on the shelf, so I asked.  Clerk pointed in the general direction, said it's there, it's on the shelf.  I looked again, nope.  Asked her again, she went to the shelf, said, I guess we're out.   I told her the website said the toy was available. Well, she said, it probably came in, but it's "in the back" and they didn't unload the shipment yet.  OK, how do I get it?   I didn't like her suggestion to come back tomorrow, since I hate shopping, and I was there now. 

She pointed and said "try the kiosk."   I had no idea what or where that was, so she showed me the kiosk, where the online store was available.   I could order the toy online, and it would be "shipped" to the store, where I could pick it up.  OK - except the price was $32.   I said no, the online price I saw was $27.  She said, this IS online, and it's $32. She told me that I would save on shipping costs since I was picking it up in the store.  I  replied that you can't actually charge shipping costs anyway, since the toy had already been shipped to the store, and I was trying to buy it AT THE STORE. 

I asked if she could check to see if there was an additional discount, as the price was supposed to be part of the pre-black friday sale, and $27.  She didn't like that, told me that $32 WAS the sale price. 

SO - No thanks.  I left, got in my car, considered my options.   in the parking lot, I pulled out my phone, went to the website, where, yes the sale price was $27.  I ordered it, was told it was available at the store for pick up, and they would text me when it was ready.  I had another errand in the neighborhood, so I left.  30 minutes later I get a text to pick up the item.  

Bottom line -  they were not willing to get an item "from the back" for a customer in the store.  But if that customer orders it from the website to be picked up at the store, they can do that, no problem.  

It's too early for me to hate Christmas shopping, but I do.  It's a cute train though. 

That is so fucking outrageous. I worked in retail as a teen and young adult and ON Black Fridays, and I damned well did everything I could to help customers. Because THAT WAS PART OF MY JOB.???

I would have asked to see the store manager and would have told him or her about how employee REFUSED to help me and was argumentative. 

[AgentRXS]

15 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I would have asked to see the store manager and would have told him or her about how employee REFUSED to help me and was argumentative. 

Yup, me too. Life's too short for you to have to debate with the retail clerk just to get her to do her job correctly. I would probably post your experience on the corporation's FB page  so that it can be addressed by someone even higher than that store.

Its amazing that in online shopping era, retail employees still have the gall to be so rude to customers. Like do you really want to lose your job by chasing folk away or something? And I know working retail is a bear (I fucking hated it when I did it) but I still tried to provide the best customer service I could.

Edited November 19, 2017 by AgentRXS

[auntlada]

Salespeople like that always make me think of "Pretty Woman," and I always hope they are working on commission so they lose money from not helping me.

[rcc]

10 hours ago, backformore said:

Something that happened to me today: 

I was looking for a gift for my grandniece.  I found a Fisher Price Christmas train, a Kohl's exclusive. Price $43, sale $32, but pre-Black Friday special $27.  I still wanted to see it in the store, and I had a few other things to buy, so I drove to the store. The website said it was available at the store. 

I couldn't find it on the shelf, so I asked.  Clerk pointed in the general direction, said it's there, it's on the shelf.  I looked again, nope.  Asked her again, she went to the shelf, said, I guess we're out.   I told her the website said the toy was available. Well, she said, it probably came in, but it's "in the back" and they didn't unload the shipment yet.  OK, how do I get it?   I didn't like her suggestion to come back tomorrow, since I hate shopping, and I was there now. 

She pointed and said "try the kiosk."   I had no idea what or where that was, so she showed me the kiosk, where the online store was available.   I could order the toy online, and it would be "shipped" to the store, where I could pick it up.  OK - except the price was $32.   I said no, the online price I saw was $27.  She said, this IS online, and it's $32. She told me that I would save on shipping costs since I was picking it up in the store.  I  replied that you can't actually charge shipping costs anyway, since the toy had already been shipped to the store, and I was trying to buy it AT THE STORE. 

I asked if she could check to see if there was an additional discount, as the price was supposed to be part of the pre-black friday sale, and $27.  She didn't like that, told me that $32 WAS the sale price. 

SO - No thanks.  I left, got in my car, considered my options.   in the parking lot, I pulled out my phone, went to the website, where, yes the sale price was $27.  I ordered it, was told it was available at the store for pick up, and they would text me when it was ready.  I had another errand in the neighborhood, so I left.  30 minutes later I get a text to pick up the item.  

Bottom line -  they were not willing to get an item "from the back" for a customer in the store.  But if that customer orders it from the website to be picked up at the store, they can do that, no problem.  

It's too early for me to hate Christmas shopping, but I do.  It's a cute train though. 

She sounds just plain lazy to me. Customer service is not as it used to be.

[peacheslatour]

I'm sorry you received such poor customer service backformore. On the flip side however, I have seen customers behaving badly too. I've seen customers scream at lowly clerks over store policies they had no hand in and no control over, I've seen parents take a box of popsicles away from a kid only to toss it onto the shelf in the cereal aisle, I've heard people tell their companions not to worry about throwing garbage on the ground in front of stores because "they have people to take care of that." I think we should always treat others as we would want to be treated. People who work in customer service aren't servants. A little respect goes both ways.

[bilgistic]

12 hours ago, backformore said:

Something that happened to me today: 

I was looking for a gift for my grandniece.  I found a Fisher Price Christmas train, a Kohl's exclusive. Price $43, sale $32, but pre-Black Friday special $27.  I still wanted to see it in the store, and I had a few other things to buy, so I drove to the store. The website said it was available at the store. 

I couldn't find it on the shelf, so I asked.  Clerk pointed in the general direction, said it's there, it's on the shelf.  I looked again, nope.  Asked her again, she went to the shelf, said, I guess we're out.   I told her the website said the toy was available. Well, she said, it probably came in, but it's "in the back" and they didn't unload the shipment yet.  OK, how do I get it?   I didn't like her suggestion to come back tomorrow, since I hate shopping, and I was there now. 

She pointed and said "try the kiosk."   I had no idea what or where that was, so she showed me the kiosk, where the online store was available.   I could order the toy online, and it would be "shipped" to the store, where I could pick it up.  OK - except the price was $32.   I said no, the online price I saw was $27.  She said, this IS online, and it's $32. She told me that I would save on shipping costs since I was picking it up in the store.  I  replied that you can't actually charge shipping costs anyway, since the toy had already been shipped to the store, and I was trying to buy it AT THE STORE. 

I asked if she could check to see if there was an additional discount, as the price was supposed to be part of the pre-black friday sale, and $27.  She didn't like that, told me that $32 WAS the sale price. 

SO - No thanks.  I left, got in my car, considered my options.   in the parking lot, I pulled out my phone, went to the website, where, yes the sale price was $27.  I ordered it, was told it was available at the store for pick up, and they would text me when it was ready.  I had another errand in the neighborhood, so I left.  30 minutes later I get a text to pick up the item.  

Bottom line -  they were not willing to get an item "from the back" for a customer in the store.  But if that customer orders it from the website to be picked up at the store, they can do that, no problem.  

It's too early for me to hate Christmas shopping, but I do.  It's a cute train though. 

Flames on the sides of my face!

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

Yup, me too. Life's too short for you to have to debate with the retail clerk just to get her to do her job correctly. I would probably post your experience on the corporation's FB page  so that it can be addressed by someone even hire than that store.

Its amazing that in online shopping era, retail employees still have the gall to be so rude to customers. Like do you really want to lose your job by chasing folk away or something? And I know working retail is a bear (I fucking hated it when I did it) but I still tried to provide the best customer service I could.

I know. Not to toot my own horn, but I remember when I worked at Woodie's (Woodworth & Lothrop) back during my first year of college, a customer was asking for something she saw in the paper (I'm blanking on the item) and I brought it out for her. When she said that wasn't it, my best friend, who was there along with my mom, teased me later about the 'oh shit!' look on my face when customer explained she wanted three of them. But I asked her to give me a few minutes while I checked in the back to see if it was there, and if we had enough in stock. This was BEFORE the internet and online days. That was how I worked. I did whatever I could to help the customer find what they were looking for if it wasn't where it was supposed to be or looked as if it was out of stock. And I loathed working retail because of the nasty, rude people. And having to clean up after the messes they made. Other than that, I did enjoy the employee discounts on the clothes, appliances, etc.

[Bastet]

21 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I've heard people tell their companions not to worry about throwing garbage on the ground in front of stores because "they have people to take care of that."

One summer when I was in high school, I worked at a video rental store that had recently expanded to selling music (CDs and tapes).  Making mix tapes was huge in that day, so we had a big display of blank tapes on a table near the registers.  A father and son were in line, the son knocked over the display and started to pick up the ones that had fallen to the floor, but his father stopped him and said, gesturing to us behind the registers, "Don't worry about it; that's their job."  I, the closest of the cashiers to the duo, said something along the lines of, "No, it's not, and it's your job as a parent to teach him that."  Other customers applauded. 

Fuck that noise.  The kid's instinct is to do the right thing - he knocked it over, so he picked it up - and the parent is trying to teach him the opposite?!

[Random Noise]

34 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I'm sorry you received such poor customer service backformore. On the flip side however, I have seen customers behaving badly too. I've seen customers scream at lowly clerks over store policies they had no hand in and no control over, I've seen parents take a box of popsicles away from a kid only to toss it onto the shelf in the cereal aisle, I've heard people tell their companions not to worry about throwing garbage on the ground in front of stores because "they have people to take care of that." I think we should always treat others as we would want to be treated. People who work in customer service aren't servants. A little respect goes both ways.

I'll agree to some extent. I had customers in my younger days where I wished that I could witness spontaneous human combustion first hand. Some customers seem to think, "I am. Therefore I deserve."

That said though, if a customer politely asks a question, which most do, they deserve better than "uh ... I think it's down there somewhere, unless were out. I dunno ..."

We also have a generation now in, or entering the work force that believe their social life is of greater importance than actually performing their duties while at work. A relative opened a Subway a few years ago and I occasionally do some maintenance for her. Over the past three years, I've noticed that the teenagers working there spend at least twenty minutes of every hour on facebook. I can go in most evenings and see the waste container is full, the bathrooms are out of toilet paper and the waste bins are full, there is spilled pop on the floor which hasn't been mopped up, and the staff will be sitting down reading facebook or twitter.

[PRgal]

On 11/15/2017 at 6:51 PM, peacheslatour said:

How old is your son? Mine is 31 and can still drone on about Call of Duty, WoW and too many others to name. Ha, I thought he would grow out of it, when he got into a serious relationship he would lose interest and when his career really took off I thought he would be too busy.  I was wrong.

I hate to break this to you, but my husband is seven years older than your son and STILL has a video game obsession.  Okay, he doesn't drone on about games - at least not in front of me (though he may be members of Facebook groups and pages or go on forums), but I'm not sure if boys/men will EVER grow out of these things.  He has a successful career to boot.  We don't have children, but I CERTAINLY hope he stops once we do.  Not counting on it though.

[auntlada]

He won't @PRgal. He will wait until they are old enough and then start them playing.

[Random Noise]

46 minutes ago, auntlada said:

He won't @PRgal. He will wait until they are old enough and then start them playing.

That's exactly what happened in my niece's family.

I've had Christmas dinner there and to sum it up briefly, there's a massive feeding frenzy followed by an "Ahhh that was good. Good to see everybody!" Then her husband and the three kids all dart off to their respective gaming areas and resume playing.

[JTMacc99]

14 hours ago, PRgal said:

I hate to break this to you, but my husband is seven years older than your son and STILL has a video game obsession.  Okay, he doesn't drone on about games - at least not in front of me (though he may be members of Facebook groups and pages or go on forums), but I'm not sure if boys/men will EVER grow out of these things.  He has a successful career to boot.  We don't have children, but I CERTAINLY hope he stops once we do.  Not counting on it though.

Competition. Achieving victory. Conquering things. Collecting trophies. 

These needs are hard wired into our brains. 

I was going to say that I outgrew video games because I no longer play PC or Xbox games, but then I remembered my phone...

[peacheslatour]

15 hours ago, Random Noise said:

That's exactly what happened in my niece's family.

I've had Christmas dinner there and to sum it up briefly, there's a massive feeding frenzy followed by an "Ahhh that was good. Good to see everybody!" Then her husband and the three kids all dart off to their respective gaming areas and resume playing.

Ugh.

[backformore]

17 hours ago, Random Noise said:

That's exactly what happened in my niece's family.

I've had Christmas dinner there and to sum it up briefly, there's a massive feeding frenzy followed by an "Ahhh that was good. Good to see everybody!" Then her husband and the three kids all dart off to their respective gaming areas and resume playing.

My pet peeve at holiday dinners has always been the tradition of women cooking the meal, then the men retire to the football game/video game room while the women clean up.   It doesn't happen that way in my house, now.  My sons NEVER get away with that.    But it was what I grew up with, and what was expected with my in-laws when I got married.   

Edited November 19, 2017 by backformore