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

[bilgistic]

Exactly! Glad you have finally come over to the crutch side! Your boss will be happy to see you Monday walking with crutches. So happy he might even let you file worker's comp since it happened on your lunch hour with him.

You say that like I didn't already file worker's comp.

[bilgistic]

My sister works in HR (for another company) and suggested I file. I had been considering it, but that pushed me. We'll see what happens.

I work for a HUGE company (something like 37K employees worldwide). Them paying my roughly $1000 medical bills will be a gnat in their universe. I wouldn't have gone on the lunch trip had it not been for my boss, and we talked about work at lunch. I'm not asking for more than medical payments, though a public shaming of my boss would be great.

Edited August 18, 2015 by bilgistic

[Bastet]

I'm not asking for more than medical payments, though a public shaming of my boss would be great.

 

From what you've described, a public flogging of your boss would be great.

[ABay]

There are days I think it's shame we no longer have stocks on the village green.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Is a rant about Twitter considered a pet peeve? Or rather, how low the reporting of "news" has sunk? 

 

Disclaimer: I loathe Twitter.  But practically every news or should I say "news" article I read, instead of, you know, using actual quotes from people the reporter should have interviewed, I am bombarded by tweets, which I still, to this day, have NO CLUE as to who is actually saying the quote with all the @ symbols and names.

 

It is bad enough, that online news doesn't bother to spell correctly or punctuate, or even gets the facts wrong*  and are so unapologetic, but now, it's considered a news article when 95% of said article is a bunch of tweets. Business Insider does this so egregiously.

 

*I know it's a small thing, but the latest Cosby victim who came out--she actually guest starred on the show as Theo's college professor, NOT a police woman, as the article stated, which was copied and pasted in other "news" articles.  Her name was Eden something.  Shit like that irritates, irks and peeves me to no end.

Edited August 20, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[Maizie131]

Is a rant about Twitter considered a pet peeve? Or rather, how low the reporting of "news" has sunk? 

 

Disclaimer: I loathe Twitter.  But practically every news or should I say "news" article I read, instead of, you know, using actual quotes from people the reporter should have interviewed, I am bombarded by tweets, which I still, to this day, have NO CLUE as to who is actually saying the quote with all the @ symbols and names.

 

It is bad enough, that online news doesn't bother to spell correctly or punctuate, or even gets the facts wrong*  and are so unapologetic, but now, it's considered a news article when 95% of said article is a bunch of tweets. Business Insider does this so egregiously.

 

*I know it's a small thing, but the latest Cosby victim who came out--she actually guest starred on the show as Theo's college professor, NOT a police woman, as the article stated, which was copied and pasted in other "news" articles.  Her name was Eden something.  Shit like that irritates, irks and peeves me to no end.

GH - I can totally identify with your rant about "news" reporting these days.  This morning I got up & read (online) a local TV news station website that lists a dozen or so "bullets" for top stories in the Detroit area.  One of them is always about the day's weather.  Here's the headline:  "Dryer weather moves in for Friday." 

I just get silently pissed off & continue reading the article, but I decided to comment this time. 

 

My comment was:   "Dryer weather moves in for Friday." Wonder if the washer weather will move in, too. Who writes this stuff?!? Arghhh!

 

Anyhow, one asshole replied to my comment:

 

"Just what in the world is the matter with "Dryer weather"? I'm not an English major so I don't see anything wrong with it."

 

Oh.My.God. 

 

Sorry - had to rant.  I feel better now.  (And BTW, I'm only a HS grad, however, must admit Spelling & English were 2 of my favorite subjects). 

Edited August 20, 2015 by Maizie131

[GHScorpiosRule]

Yes, Maizie131:

 

I will often see the maroons trot out the "I'm not an English Major" whenever someone points out a typing error or punctuation one or when someone types your, when they clearly mean "you're" as in You are. I blame cell phones for allowing the ability to text. That's where all this started, I'm sure.

 

English and Spelling were two of my favorite subjects as well, in addition to history. your *you're awesome, Maizie!

 

*See what I did there? *snerk*

[potatoradio]

 

I will often see the maroons trot out the "I'm not an English Major" whenever someone points out a typing error or punctuation one

 

Oh, man, that is a serious peeve of mine. I wasn't an English major, either, but I still would prefer to present an argument or response in an educated, coherent manner. Meanwhile, a million or so editors and proofreaders sit unemployed because "there are no jobs for English majors." Good call, news companies, to lower your standards. Typos happen, I get that, but don't underestimate how much they lower the quality of your product. If you don't think having editors and proofreaders on your staff is worth it, then it's not worth it to me to read your website or print edition.

 

I am really sick and tired of uneven volume on every rental DVD these days (and some TV shows, too). Why, why, WHY must the music be so much louder than the dialogue? Is loud music someone's bright idea to clue the hapless viewer in to the fact that SOMETHING VERY EMOTIONAL AND IMPORTANT IS HAPPENING NOW!! Fine, I'll pay attention. Problem is, I can't hear whatever ensuing dialogue explains the very important thing because I've had to turn the volume down low enough to not get blasted into the backyard by the music. Then I have to adjust the volume during the whole d*mn movie because of the assorted music passages.

 

I promise, I will rent the f*cking soundtrack if I like it, OK? Just let me listen to the dialogue first.

 

VCRs did not have this problem. I miss my VCR. A lot.

Edited August 20, 2015 by potatoradio

[Bastet]

I still, to this day, have NO CLUE as to who is actually saying the quote with all the @ symbols and names.

 

I'm glad it's not just me who has that problem.  I'm sure I could figure it out if I tried, but it's not obvious to me, and I find tweets annoying on general principle, so I just give up and read something else.

[backformore]

HA!    You guys have reminded me of one of my own pet peeves.   Companies with logos that are deliberate misspellings. 

Dunkin Donuts, Toys R us, Krispy Kreme - yeah, I'm talking to you! 

[potatoradio]

I had a friend once who loved to send emails all day long and then wonder why I didn't respond to any of them. Well, see, what exactly am I supposed to say to emails such as, "I think I'm coming down with a cold! Boo!" or "Just ate a cookie! It was great!" or "I have so much work to do today! Ugh!" Twitter was invented for people like her; daily life bird droppings! Awesome! If I were on Twitter, though, it would be easier to deal with people like her, because you don't actually respond to the offerings, right? Just retweet or give a like or some other nonsense?

 

But it will be a cold day in Hades complete with the Abominable Snowman/Devil showdown before I ever join Twitter.

[backformore]

Ahhh, but there is not much of anything that is better than stopping and getting my daily self serve iced coffee at the Hess Dunkin, or the ultimate, seeing the HOT NOW sign lit up at Krispy Kreme when I time it just right at a town several towns over. For those who don't have a Krispy Kreme donut shop that makes the donuts, y'all are missing out big time on the HOT NOW.

I avoid that street in my town.   it's just TOO tempting.   You are right though, those hot, fresh donuts are delicious. the original glazed donuts only , the other flavors don't quite measure up.   And the Krispy Kreme donuts at the grocery store are a day or two past their prime.  (though a quick nuke in the microwave helps, it's not quite the same)  

I stopped going because whenever i went in, they'd offer me a FREE hot donut to taste,  and then there would be a special, buy one dozen get a dozen free - it's like they were TRYING to make me gain weight.  

[Quof]

they'd offer me a FREE hot donut to taste,  and then there would be a special, buy one dozen get a dozen free - it's like they were TRYING to make me gain weight.

It's like cocaine, the first one's free.

[janestclair]

I'm glad it's not just me who has that problem.  I'm sure I could figure it out if I tried, but it's not obvious to me, and I find tweets annoying on general principle, so I just give up and read something else.

 

Oh God, me too.  I just don't get it.  Twitter is for narcissists with no attention span.  Since I am not a teenager, I do not have a Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, tumblr or whatever the hell it is people are using these days.  And reporting from it is not news. Sorry.

 

Oh, man, that is a serious peeve of mine. I wasn't an English major, either, but I still would prefer to present an argument or response in an educated, coherent manner. Meanwhile, a million or so editors and proofreaders sit unemployed because "there are no jobs for English majors." Good call, news companies, to lower your standards. Typos happen, I get that, but don't underestimate how much they lower the quality of your product. If you don't think having editors and proofreaders on your staff is worth it, then it's not worth it to me to read your website or print edition.

 

I am really sick and tired of uneven volume on every rental DVD these days (and some TV shows, too). Why, why, WHY must the music be so much louder than the dialogue? Is loud music someone's bright idea to clue the hapless viewer in to the fact that SOMETHING VERY EMOTIONAL AND IMPORTANT IS HAPPENING NOW!! Fine, I'll pay attention. Problem is, I can't hear whatever ensuing dialogue explains the very important thing because I've had to turn the volume down low enough to not get blasted into the backyard by the music. Then I have to adjust the volume during the whole d*mn movie because of the assorted music passages.

 

I promise, I will rent the f*cking soundtrack if I like it, OK? Just let me listen to the dialogue first.

 

VCRs did not have this problem. I miss my VCR. A lot.

 

Typos do happen, but the grammar error that makes me go Hulk smash is "should of".  Sweet baby Jesus, kill me now.  WTF does that even mean?  It makes no sense.  Should've is short for should have, morons.  Thank goodness I'm not an English teacher, or my students papers would have negative grades for grammar. I do correct them though.  (I go through a lot of green pens.) Hah.

 

I can't stand when the music is louder than the dialogue either, so I watch tv with the captions on.  It's gotten so I can't watch tv without them. 

[harrie]

I find Twitter useful for some very specific things, like finding out which goalie is playing on a given day, what's on the menu at favorite lunch places, or breaking local news (ie, traffic).   I think I've made two comments ever - one to ask the lunch specials and one to comment on a song (the DJ asked for comments).  None of this means I'm a fan of Twitter; I can go for months without looking at it.

[Bastet]

Thank goodness I'm not an English teacher, or my students papers would have negative grades for grammar. I do correct them though.  (I go through a lot of green pens.) Hah.

 

When I was in school, spelling and grammar counted in every subject.  Not in the strict "one point off for every error" way it counted on exams specifically testing those subjects, but you'd get points taken off a paper or exam if you had multiple spelling/grammar errors.  It reinforced that it wasn't enough to know the facts on a subject, but to be able to properly express that knowledge. 

 

My best friend got her MBA a couple of years ago, and there were some assignments where all students had to upload their work to a central location for everyone to access.  She was routinely disgusted by the writing skills of this group of college-educated people on their way to an advanced degree.

[auntlada]

I find Twitter useful for some very specific things, like finding out which goalie is playing on a given day, what's on the menu at favorite lunch places, or breaking local news (ie, traffic).   I think I've made two comments ever - one to ask the lunch specials and one to comment on a song (the DJ asked for comments).  None of this means I'm a fan of Twitter; I can go for months without looking at it.

 

I follow a lot of local weather people on Twitter, along with the state transportation department. I get a lot of useful information from them. No, I don't use Twitter for immediate storm information because I'm not stupid. I've lived in this state my whole life and know what to do when there might be a tornado and when there is a tornado. And despite the standard joke, it's not go out on the front porch to look at it. But they do have a lot of good forecast information and good weather discussion sometimes if you're a weather geek. I find the older I get, the more I follow the weather and find it interesting. Our city government also tweets immediate information about where water is out temporarily for repairs and what streets are closed. You can find that information elsewhere if you go look for it (although not in the local newspaper, but don't get started on that), but you have to remember to check.

[BW Manilowe]

Is a rant about Twitter considered a pet peeve? Or rather, how low the reporting of "news" has sunk?

Disclaimer: I loathe Twitter. But practically every news or should I say "news" article I read, instead of, you know, using actual quotes from people the reporter should have interviewed, I am bombarded by tweets, which I still, to this day, have NO CLUE as to who is actually saying the quote with all the @ symbols and names.

It is bad enough, that online news doesn't bother to spell correctly or punctuate, or even gets the facts wrong* and are so unapologetic, but now, it's considered a news article when 95% of said article is a bunch of tweets. Business Insider does this so egregiously.

*I know it's a small thing, but the latest Cosby victim who came out--she actually guest starred on the show as Theo's college professor, NOT a police woman, as the article stated, which was copied and pasted in other "news" articles. Her name was Eden something. Shit like that irritates, irks and peeves me to no end.

The actress who played Theo's college professor actually did play a cop on another ep of the show--it was the ep where Theo's friend Denny found a watch & gave it to his girlfriend, theatre student Jade; only the watch turned out to be stolen, which got him in trouble with Jade & the cops... 1 of whom was played by the same actress who played Theo's professor.

[Proclone]

When I was in school, spelling and grammar counted in every subject.  Not in the strict "one point off for every error" way it counted on exams specifically testing those subjects, but you'd get points taken off a paper or exam if you had multiple spelling/grammar errors.  It reinforced that it wasn't enough to know the facts on a subject, but to be able to properly express that knowledge. 

 

My best friend got her MBA a couple of years ago, and there were some assignments where all students had to upload their work to a central location for everyone to access.  She was routinely disgusted by the writing skills of this group of college-educated people on their way to an advanced degree.

 

I just finished up a college degree not too long ago and I had to take a couple English classes.  For one of them, the Professor would make us exchange first drafts of our essays with other students, critique them and give them back.  I was consistently horrified by the essays I read.  I literally wrote on one of them, "I recognize all the words you used in this sentence, but order in which you put them makes no sense to me."  Granted, I was about ten years older than most of the students and this was a community college, but I how are kids allowed to graduate high school no being able to write a coherent sentence?  I was not being overly picky about grammar, I often really had no idea what the sentences these kids wrote were trying to convey.

[auntlada]

I work in education and government as an editor, and I think the same thing about people who are well out of school, so it's not just kids.

[BooksRule]

daily life bird droppings

I love this phrase describing Twitter!  Did you come up with it?

 

I will often see the maroons trot out the "I'm not an English Major" whenever someone points out a typing error or punctuation one or when someone types your, when they clearly mean "you're" as in You are.

 

I hate it when people try to use this as an excuse.  I want to reply 'I'm not an English major either, but I did pay attention in  English class in high school.' (not adding 'idiot!' to the end of my statement like I would love to add).

 

My co-worker wore her 'whap! whap!' backless shoes to work again today.  I was glad when I could leave the area to come back to my office.  I also found out the other day that people can actually walk quietly in them.  I was walking behind a woman who wore shoes like that and she was making no sound at all, just the usual small sound as her feet hit the sidewalk.  So, I'm beginning to think it's carelessness, ill-fitting shoes or people who just want attention.

Edited August 21, 2015 by BooksRule

[janestclair]

I just finished up a college degree not too long ago and I had to take a couple English classes.  For one of them, the Professor would make us exchange first drafts of our essays with other students, critique them and give them back.  I was consistently horrified by the essays I read.  I literally wrote on one of them, "I recognize all the words you used in this sentence, but order in which you put them makes no sense to me."  Granted, I was about ten years older than most of the students and this was a community college, but I how are kids allowed to graduate high school no being able to write a coherent sentence?  I was not being overly picky about grammar, I often really had no idea what the sentences these kids wrote were trying to convey.

 

Part of it is that for a long time, they didn't have grammar in the English curriculum.  I have spoken about this at length with an English teacher in my school.  At the time, she was teaching in a poorer district, and because of the testing, there was no time to teach grammar.  She'd have to shoehorn it in on the down low.  In my current district, the English curriculum is more focused on the literature aspect, as opposed to grammar.  As a result, they have no idea how to string a sentence together, and I teach AP level classes.  I have literally taken out of my biology curriculum to teach them their/there/they're, you're/your and it's/its.  It's disgraceful.  Then they try to sound smart by using big words that they have no idea what the meaning is, so one of my frequent comments is stolen from the Princess Bride. Haha.  I think laziness is also a factor, because I've received papers where they clearly didn't even bother to use spell check.  The words are underlined for them, and they don't bother to correct them.  It. Makes. Me. Nuts. 

[NinjaPenguins]

You lose a baseball game. You do not loose a baseball game.

You lose your car keys. You do not loose your car keys.

I lose my mind when I see this particular error, but I do not loose it.

I recently saw a post on a message board that said "I wouldn't call them an asshole, but I would call them a looser."

Make it stop.

[auntlada]

I recently saw a post on a message board that said "I wouldn't call them an asshole, but I would call them a looser."

 

Somewhere in there is a bowel movement joke.

 

Also, how are they only one looser (sic)?

[bilgistic]

Sadly, I've found that not a lot of people in the work world care that much about proper grammar, punctuation and syntax. I *was* an English major, and have to fight to make sure I'm the last person that sees the publications that go out of our department. I'm horrified by the errors that I've seen in older stuff that was released to the public.

Fortunately, the boss's ex-partner's work was recently criticized by a mutual client as being riddled with errors, so hopefully I won't have to fight the "Proper English matters!" battle anymore.

[backformore]

I'm with you all on the grammar pet peeve.   I had a boss who not only used "loose"  he meant "lose", he also corrected my spelling, insisting he was right. When I proved it to him, he was OK, but a few weeks later went back to writing 'loose."   We have a lot of training documents he wrote, on the computer network, and they all have that error. 

.

Just the other day a co-worker gave a presentation to the group, and used the word "whenever" instead of "when".    Like "whenever I went to dinner last night"  or "whenever I decided to go to grad school."  When you are referring to a SINGLE instance, the word is WHEN.  WHENEVER is reserved for things that are frequent events.  

[Maizie131]

All this talk about bad spelling/punctuation/grammar warms the cockles of my heart!  Love reading all your stories.  Many, many pages ago on this thread (I think), the subject of bad grammar came up and someone posted that he/she loved the book, "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss.  I went right to Amazon & ordered it, and it's now one of MY favorites.  Highly recommend! 

[DeLurker]

Do hearts actually have cockles?

 

One of my brothers always gets to/two/too and their/there wrong.  He went to an ivy league school and is an engineer.  Somehow, these homophones just never took in his brain.  I caught myself some slack on this basis.

[Guest]

I apologize in advance if the following missive was discussed previously:

 

Using "TO" when meaning "TOO"  GAAAACCKKKK!!!!

 

to
to͞o,tə/Submit
preposition
1.
expressing motion in the direction of (a particular location).
"walking down to the mall"
2.
identifying the person or thing affected.
"you were terribly unkind to her"
infinitive marker
1.
used with the base form of a verb to indicate that the verb is in the infinitive, in particular.
2.
used without a verb following when the missing verb is clearly understood.
"he asked her to come but she said she didn't want to"
adverb
1.
so as to be closed or nearly closed.
"he pulled the door to behind him"

 

too
to͞o/Submit
adverb
1.
to a higher degree than is desirable, permissible, or possible; excessively.
"he was driving too fast"
synonyms: excessively, overly, over, unduly, immoderately, inordinately, unreasonably, extremely, exorbitantly, very; informaltoo-too
"invasion would be too risky"
2.
in addition; also.
"is he coming too?"
synonyms: also, as well, in addition, additionally, into the bargain, besides, furthermore, moreover, on top of that, to boot, likewise
"he was unhappy, too, you know"

[auntlada]

I like "whenever I went to dinner last night." That means I got more than one dinner.

[Maizie131]

I like this one (from the book I mentioned above):

 

"Let's eat Grandma!"

or

"Let's eat, Grandma!"

 

Punctuation saves lives.

[Prairie Fire]

Then they try to sound smart by using big words that they have no idea what the meaning is, so one of my frequent comments is stolen from the Princess Bride. Haha.

 

Of all the grammar laziness pet peeves, this one is my pet peeviest. Whenever I see this kind of thing in anything written by anyone, I want to tell them, "You don't get to sound smart and be incredibly lazy at the same time."

 

A friend of mine had the best explanation for why people are so lazy about grammar. At this point, it's become a type of "mob rule". The person whose grammar is crappy says to her/himself, "Maybe it's bad that I can't write or spell, but there are more of us who can't than there are who can, so F you all, I'm not sorry."

 

I just want to tell these people off. In song!

 

[Quof]

I defy anyone to top my day.

 

We are having 97% humidity. Today at 4:00 am, a lightening strike knocked out electricity to a large part of the city, the worst part being that my window fan went off : (  Power finally came back on mid-morning and I went on about my day.

 

I found myself at Walmart, god help me.  A few weeks ago, I picked up a random sports bra, and, it turns out, it's really great.  So I went back to that location and bought the only one they had, and I have been going to their other locations to find more. Today, I found one, without a box, at the back of a shelf.  It was the only one they had.   I scanned the tag, and it said $0.01.  I figured that couldn't be right, so I tracked down an employee, a teenage boy working in lingerie.  He had no clue, but figured he couldn't sell it to me at that price since it was clearly an error. He found a coworker, another teen boy.  He was equally confused. So they called the department manager, a man.  So I'm discussing my bra needs with three strange males. I didn't care at that point.  The manager said it was "defective" and had to be returned, he couldn't sell it to me.  I said "I don't see any defect, I'll happily pay you the penny, or even more, and save you the trouble." He couldn't do that, he was really sorry, go pick out another one and he'd give me a discount.  Men do not understand that all bras are different, and if we find the one we want, we don't want another.....  I told him I had no electricity and hadn't had coffee yet, don't mess with me.....

 

I should have just taken the thing to the self-scanner, paid the penny and left without involving an employee.

[Maizie131]

I probably have mentioned this before, but I was amused by this story from a few years ago:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/21/university-of-texas-commencement-pubic_n_1534757.html

 

Of all people, you'd have thought employees of a communications department would have proofed the copy more carefully.

forumfish - OMG - That is absolutely hilarious!!!  Thanks for posting! 

[GHScorpiosRule]

And since the topic is back, here's another one that just irks me as well...using an apostrophe when it is not supposed to be there!

 

They mean "who is" and the correct spelling is who's, not whose. Or they mean "whose" and consistently spell "who's."

 

And it's Emmys, not Emmy's, when talking about multiple number of these awards. I see this All.The.Time. 

 

Or those that refuse to capitalize, the word I, when stating "I am...I think...I don't like..." and all I see is i... or don't use apostrophes when they are supposed to: cant, wont, didnt.  I see these ALL.THE.TIME as well.  And saying 'oh I was typing on my tablet/phone' doesn't cut it for me. Or when words are so gobbeldy-gook that you just KNOW that the person is typing from a tablet...like this one:

 

The lighting, clithes, make up, sets bigger than a cracker jack box, etc. Thaey also allow more than 2 people to be i acenes. I countwd 10 people in a design meeting the other day. I couldn't remember if thwre wwre ten

 

And I know that sometimes, I, myself, am guilty of making grammatical, and or punctuation errors. But I do try to go back and correct them! Honest!

 

And now, I'm going back to watching The Brady Bunch.

[bosawks]

I defy anyone to top my day.

 

We are having 97% humidity. Today at 4:00 am, a lightening strike knocked out electricity to a large part of the city, the worst part being that my window fan went off : (  Power finally came back on mid-morning and I went on about my day.

 

I found myself at Walmart, god help me.  A few weeks ago, I picked up a random sports bra, and, it turns out, it's really great.  So I went back to that location and bought the only one they had, and I have been going to their other locations to find more. Today, I found one, without a box, at the back of a shelf.  It was the only one they had.   I scanned the tag, and it said $0.01.  I figured that couldn't be right, so I tracked down an employee, a teenage boy working in lingerie.  He had no clue, but figured he couldn't sell it to me at that price since it was clearly an error. He found a coworker, another teen boy.  He was equally confused. So they called the department manager, a man.  So I'm discussing my bra needs with three strange males. I didn't care at that point.  The manager said it was "defective" and had to be returned, he couldn't sell it to me.  I said "I don't see any defect, I'll happily pay you the penny, or even more, and save you the trouble." He couldn't do that, he was really sorry, go pick out another one and he'd give me a discount.  Men do not understand that all bras are different, and if we find the one we want, we don't want another.....  I told him I had no electricity and hadn't had coffee yet, don't mess with me.....

 

I should have just taken the thing to the self-scanner, paid the penny and left without involving an employee.

I love it when a male has to do a price check on tampons.

They always look about 5 seconds away from a stroke.

[annzeepark914]

I'm so tired of hearing, "That's a good question" on news/talk shows.  Sure, the interviewee is buying time while madly trying to come up with an answer, but it's so daggone condescending--like a pat on the head.  It needs to stop. (if this has been covered previously, please forgive me...just can't go back to page 1 and go through all the posts).

[Proclone]

This happened to me today so I thought I'd share my annoyance at overly enthusiastic store clerks that either try to up sell you something or try to get you to sign up for the store's membership card or credit card.  I understand that a lot of chains require their employees to ask customers if they want these things, that's fine.  You are more than welcome to ask me once if I would like to buy or sign up for any of those things, and I will politely decline.  I get annoyed when they continue to ask, "Are you sure?  You'll save X dollars today."  Especially when they ask that multiple time. Yes, I am sure.  No I do not want your stupid card.  I do not need another credit card and I don't shop at your store often enough to bother getting a membership card.  Hell, maybe I just like wasting my money.  That's my right.  Just please stop trying to convince me to sign up.  This is chain store that employs teenagers, I'm pretty sure you're not getting a commission, so I'm not sure why the hard sell, but please just stop asking me.

[bilgistic]

At Marshalls last week, the cashier asked me, "Would you like to save 10% on your purchase today?" I replied, "I would, but I'm not going to get your store credit card to do it." I know some jackass in corporate told them to say it that way, but it's dumb, and how do I respond in any other way, really, with my sarcastic nature? It just sets up the poor cashiers to be sassed at.

[backformore]

I got a Walmart credit card when they were offering 25% off if you spend $100.   I got the bill, paid it, cut up the card and tossed it.

 

But, Yeah, I hate when every store wants you to get their customer savings club card AND their credit card.  

I simply refuse to carry around all those cards! 

[Qoass]

 

a teenage boy working in lingerie

 

This is giving me a visual I'd rather not have...

 

For graduate studies, can someone please spread the word on rain/rein/reign?

 

And this weekend, I encountered a variation on the guys demanding you smile! thing:  No, I am not "having fun".  I am working and were I not being paid to do so, I would not be there.  Go away.

[NinjaPenguins]

I hate being told to smile. It's patronizing, presumptuous, and prickish. I'll decide on my own facial expressions, thanks, and it's not my job to offer you a pleasing sight.

[Blergh]

I hate being told to smile. It's patronizing, presumptuous, and prickish. I'll decide on my own facial expressions, thanks, and it's not my job to offer you a pleasing sight.

 

     I don't mind being told to smile at work  because I know that I'm not on my own time and I usually can at least keep from openly scowling on the clock.

   However; somewhat along those lines off the clock, I hate being asked 'Are you having a GOOD day?' . This usually happens when I'm in a very long line and there's even more folks behind me so I  when I'm not, I just say 'I'm doing the best I can' but what I'd REALLY like to say is 'NO I'm NOT having a good day and if you REALLY cared about that fact, you wouldn't be asking me a question that's impossible to give a negative reply and receive the solution in the 10 seconds everyone else in line expects us to have completed our transaction!'

    What's wrong with just asking folks  'How are you?' . At least we have the option to keep things as terse as possible if we want without being dishonest or rude in the reply.

[Sweets McGee]

I find Twitter useful for some very specific things, like finding out which goalie is playing on a given day, what's on the menu at favorite lunch places, or breaking local news (ie, traffic).   I think I've made two comments ever - one to ask the lunch specials and one to comment on a song (the DJ asked for comments).  None of this means I'm a fan of Twitter; I can go for months without looking at it.

Yep, I use Twitter mainly for watching sports. I interact with other people who are watching the same game I'm watching. I don't use it to talk about my life or any "look at me" antics, but rather to interact with people with common interests. I've also found some guest blog writing opportunities through Twitter.

 

I also like it for following local news people. A lot of times, "what's going on at that intersection?" has been answered by Twitter. I find out about stuff way before it ends up on the news or in the paper.

[potatoradio]

I go to Barnes and Noble every month for a meeting; I'm routinely asked if I will be saving XX% on my purchase with my membership card. I say no, I do not have a card and am not interested in paying $XX for one, either, thank you. Salesperson reminds me that I'm missing out on XX% savings. I remind sales person that I am only purchasing a cup of tea and that it would take a lot of tea to really make up for that initial membership purchase.

 

Plus, I'm pretty disorganized and can barely hold on to my very important cards that I use all the time, so another card that I'd use maybe once a month if I remember is definitely not worth it, please and thank you.

 

I can deal with being told to smile, but not "You're awfully quiet...are you awake?"

 

I'm awake enough to smack you, thanks. Not everyone has to be a peppy cheerleader full of vim and vigor at every single encounter, mmmmk?

[NinjaPenguins]

I bristle at being told to smile because it's not like I'm sitting there scowling, rolling my eyes, or sucking a lemon. I guess my resting face is neutral/serious/wistful, and I'm not unfriendly. I would never saunter up to a naturally smiley person and tell them to right that upside down frown for my own personal comfort and gratification. It just seems that women (primarily) are expected to smile on command, and it gets old.

[Sara2009]

This happened to me today so I thought I'd share my annoyance at overly enthusiastic store clerks that either try to up sell you something or try to get you to sign up for the store's membership card or credit card. I understand that a lot of chains require their employees to ask customers if they want these things, that's fine. You are more than welcome to ask me once if I would like to buy or sign up for any of those things, and I will politely decline. I get annoyed when they continue to ask, "Are you sure? You'll save X dollars today." Especially when they ask that multiple time. Yes, I am sure. No I do not want your stupid

card. I do not need another credit card and I don't shop at your store often enough to bother getting a membership card. Hell, maybe I just like wasting my money. That's my right. Just please stop trying to convince me to sign up. This is chain store that employs teenagers, I'm pretty sure you're not getting a commission, so I'm not sure why the hard sell, but please just stop asking me.

Some stores pay their employees extra for every card they sell. When I worked at Kohl's, we got an extra dollar added onto our paycheck for every card we sold.

[ALenore]

More grammar/spelling complaints.  I had a boss once who sent around a memo (this was before e-mail) where she said someone had almost "past out" at work.  I pointed out the error to one of my coworkers with some sort of comment like, "Wow, you believe that?"  She said "Oh, that's terrible, I hope they're okay."   I've seen this error frequently and hardly anyone seems to realize it's incorrect.   

[bilgistic]

In regards to women being told to "Smile!!" here's a website:

http://www.stopstreetharassment.org

I think it was in this thread where I talked about being told to smile by a stranger on the street (the most recent time). I still regret not screaming at him to get the fuck out of my face. I'm ready for next time. I've had JUST ABOUT ENOUGH lately of men telling me what I should and shouldn't say and feel.

[Qoass]

I am working on perfecting a look that is somewhere between glare and hauteur.  It's coming along nicely.