Things that piss me off

[Jaffa]

*\o

[Dark Castle]

Jar Jar Binks

[Kotowboy]

About the same but at least it comes across less spamly with the typed text if nothing else. Basically, if you don't even feel like typing then do you really even feel like posting?

Add another word to the book of Floyd.

[Kotowboy]

*\o

I never got what this is supposed to look like - is he high fiving a fly ?

Shielding his eyes from the sun ?

Playing tennis ?

Using the force to locate a projectile ?

[Kotowboy]

Here's one: bathroom locks. What's with some people staying at somebody else's place and doing a #2 without locking the door? I just walked into my roommate's bf and he apparently didn't feel it necessary to lock the door.
In the same vein, what's with a lot of places not even having locks?,

Public toilets are just the worst places anyway. Just because we relieve ourselves in there - why do they have to be disgusting places ?

Seems the only toilets you can go to that aren't utter filth are in restaurants or department stores.

I never use a public toilet unless I really cannot help it - and even then I sneak in somewhere really nice where the walls actually reach

The floor and the ceiling so you can actually get some privacy....

[KevShmev]

This doesn't piss me off at all, but is more of a wtf:

Often times, you will see a mens room and a ladies room at a restaurant or something, and both will be a bathroom that can only be used by one person at a time, so what is the point in calling one a mens room and one a ladies room?  I mean, if only one person can use them at a time, and there are two of them, why not call them both a restroom?  Is it tragic if you use the restroom intended by the sign for the other sex?

[El Barto]

If there are two, it'll only create confusion if they're not gender specific. Yeah, I see your point, but I think we've gotten to a place where it's too late to move beyond standard convention.

[Implode]

That's not true either. Family bathrooms and unisex bathrooms have become more common in my life time.

[El Barto]

But aren't those generally a third option? I've seen unisex heads alone and I've seen them next to the standard M/F, like at the mall, but never just two or three gender nonspecific ones.

[Jaffa]

*\o

I never got what this is supposed to look like - is he high fiving a fly ?

Shielding his eyes from the sun ?

Playing tennis ?

Using the force to locate a projectile ?

My understanding is that the * is supposed to sort of represent the clapping noise of the high-five.

I dunno.  I just roll with it. 

[Implode]

@EB Ah. I guess you are right about that. Though I do remember at a new grocery store near my school, it had like six unisex bathrooms.

[ColdFireYYZ]

This doesn't piss me off at all, but is more of a wtf:

Often times, you will see a mens room and a ladies room at a restaurant or something, and both will be a bathroom that can only be used by one person at a time, so what is the point in calling one a mens room and one a ladies room?  I mean, if only one person can use them at a time, and there are two of them, why not call them both a restroom?  Is it tragic if you use the restroom intended by the sign for the other sex?

There's a Chinese restaurant in my area that has two single-person bathrooms. One has a men/women sign on it, and the other has only a women's sign on it. I can't for the life of me figure out why they did this unless they accidentally bought the wrong sign.

[rumborak]

Here's one: bathroom locks. What's with some people staying at somebody else's place and doing a #2 without locking the door? I just walked into my roommate's bf and he apparently didn't feel it necessary to lock the door.
In the same vein, what's with a lot of places not even having locks?,

... So the door was closed, the light was on, and... you just turned the knob and walked in?

Quite frankly, that seems strange to me.  But maybe I'm just strange.

By default our bathroom door is closed. Because it's the bathroom, after all.
So, both my roommate and I use this thing called "lock" to indicate whether somebody should be able to enter or not.
I get different people having different ways of going about it. The part I don't get is taking a guest dump at your friend's house and not locking the door.

Regarding public bathrooms, while I can see the rationale of having one men's and one ladies' bathroom, because after all they're distributed about 50/50, we however don't have 30% of the population being handicapped. There will be a long line in front of the men's bathroom, and nobody using the handicapped one. I do, but I always get stared at when I do.

[Perpetual Change]

This doesn't piss me off at all, but is more of a wtf:

Often times, you will see a mens room and a ladies room at a restaurant or something, and both will be a bathroom that can only be used by one person at a time, so what is the point in calling one a mens room and one a ladies room?  I mean, if only one person can use them at a time, and there are two of them, why not call them both a restroom?  Is it tragic if you use the restroom intended by the sign for the other sex?

There's a Chinese restaurant in my area that has two single-person bathrooms. One has a men/women sign on it, and the other has only a women's sign on it. I can't for the life of me figure out why they did this unless they accidentally bought the wrong sign.

No, women do sometimes flock to men's restrooms when the ladies lines get too long. I've seen this happen on a number of occasional.

On the flipside, I've never seen the reverse happen, where men's lines are so long that the men start invading the women's room.

Except at DT concerts, actually.

[El Barto]

Salesmen suck.

This is a job that shouldn't exist. I'm willing to cut real estate agents some slack, as they handle stuff besides selling that a customer can't do--hence the agent part. Anybody else that makes a living off of commissions gets no slack (although I'll stop short of calling for them to be shot in the fucking face). We're talking about a profession that serves no purpose other than getting people to spend more than they want to. Either a person wants to buy something or they don't. If I need toilet paper, I go to the store and buy it. I don't need some suit wearing schmuck to tell me that I'm out, or what variety I prefer; he knows neither of these things. Likewise, if I need a car or a TV, I'll do my homework and buy what I want. I don't need any assistance with that, and if I did, I wouldn't want it to come from somebody who get's paid better the more I spend. The opposite is true, in fact.

We as a society have nothing but contempt for scam artists, but the kid at Best Buy whose job is to upsell you on shit you don't want or need gets a pass. Not cool.

Little know El Barto fact. For about 6 months in the late 80's I was a speakerman. I learned a few things from this experience. One is that I suck terribly at sales. I just don't have it in me. (Unfortunate, because speakermen can make money commensurate to the doctors on this forum.) Another is that there's no difference between being a salesman and being a scam artist. The wikiP entry for speakerman points to "white van speaker scam." We sold actual speakers that worked. Our job was to imply that they were worth more than they actually were. Is this any different than a car dealer? Why aren't car lots listed as "retail auto scam?" Why isn't the little prick at Best Buy accused of the "Monster Cable Upsale Con?" It's because we as a society have decided to accept that some people should be allowed to rip people off, because YEAHHH CAPITALISM! It's now a socially acceptable career path (as long as you do it in one of the approved fields).

[Jaffa]

By default our bathroom door is closed. Because it's the bathroom, after all.
So, both my roommate and I use this thing called "lock" to indicate whether somebody should be able to enter or not.
I get different people having different ways of going about it. The part I don't get is taking a guest dump at your friend's house and not locking the door.

I also get different people having different ways of going about it.  And I agree that your guest should have locked the door if there was a lock on it.  But for the record, I have never once been to a house where the bathroom door was always kept closed.  Aside from public restrooms, I always see bathroom doors left open unless someone is inside.  So, while your guest should have locked the door, I can totally understand why he would expect to have privacy with a closed door.  To me, when a door is closed, you knock before entering.  Just seems like common sense to me.

[JayOctavarium]

Our bathroom is always closed during the day and open at night... so common sense makes no sense in my house. lol

[Perpetual Change]

Salesmen suck.

This is a job that shouldn't exist. I'm willing to cut real estate agents some slack, as they handle stuff besides selling that a customer can't do--hence the agent part. Anybody else that makes a living off of commissions gets no slack (although I'll stop short of calling for them to be shot in the fucking face). We're talking about a profession that serves no purpose other than getting people to spend more than they want to. Either a person wants to buy something or they don't. If I need toilet paper, I go to the store and buy it. I don't need some suit wearing schmuck to tell me that I'm out, or what variety I prefer; he knows neither of these things. Likewise, if I need a car or a TV, I'll do my homework and buy what I want. I don't need any assistance with that, and if I did, I wouldn't want it to come from somebody who get's paid better the more I spend. The opposite is true, in fact.

We as a society have nothing but contempt for scam artists, but the kid at Best Buy whose job is to upsell you on shit you don't want or need gets a pass. Not cool.

Little know El Barto fact. For about 6 months in the late 80's I was a speakerman. I learned a few things from this experience. One is that I suck terribly at sales. I just don't have it in me. (Unfortunate, because speakermen can make money commensurate to the doctors on this forum.) Another is that there's no difference between being a salesman and being a scam artist. The wikiP entry for speakerman points to "white van speaker scam." We sold actual speakers that worked. Our job was to imply that they were worth more than they actually were. Is this any different than a car dealer? Why aren't car lots listed as "retail auto scam?" Why isn't the little prick at Best Buy accused of the "Monster Cable Upsale Con?" It's because we as a society have decided to accept that some people should be allowed to rip people off, because YEAHHH CAPITALISM! It's now a socially acceptable career path (as long as you do it in one of the approved fields).

Hey, salesman help with other things, too. Like helping people find products and stuff.

That said, I walked into Best Buy on lunch today, and there were like 12 salesmen on the floor. I walked in and got asked for help. I walked over to CD's and got asked for help. I veered into BluRays and got asked for help again. I went over to desktops, and was asked for help a fourth time. On the way out, three salesmen were dicking around talking to each other, but on my way out the door, one of 'em made sure to stop chatting and skipped over to ask me if I found everything I needed.

It was an absolutely awful experience. I have no idea what gives. Usually in BB I'm lucky if the kid stocking shelves even looks over at me when I'm in his aisle.

[El Barto]

You think if you'd said you were looking to buy an HDTV you'd have been ignored? You'd have had blueshirts brawling in the aisles to get to you first. That's part of the problem. The ones that do provide some service outside of upselling only give a shit about the people willing to spend big money. You and your $10 progressive rock CD purchasing ass hold no interest with them.

[ColdFireYYZ]

This doesn't piss me off at all, but is more of a wtf:

Often times, you will see a mens room and a ladies room at a restaurant or something, and both will be a bathroom that can only be used by one person at a time, so what is the point in calling one a mens room and one a ladies room?  I mean, if only one person can use them at a time, and there are two of them, why not call them both a restroom?  Is it tragic if you use the restroom intended by the sign for the other sex?

There's a Chinese restaurant in my area that has two single-person bathrooms. One has a men/women sign on it, and the other has only a women's sign on it. I can't for the life of me figure out why they did this unless they accidentally bought the wrong sign.

No, women do sometimes flock to men's restrooms when the ladies lines get too long. I've seen this happen on a number of occasional.

On the flipside, I've never seen the reverse happen, where men's lines are so long that the men start invading the women's room.

Except at DT concerts, actually.

This restaurant has 20 seats at the most, so it's not like there's always a long line for the women's room. They may as well just make them both unisex.

And, don't forget about the line at Rush concerts! 

[KevShmev]

That said, I walked into Best Buy on lunch today, and there were like 12 salesmen on the floor. I walked in and got asked for help. I walked over to CD's and got asked for help. I veered into BluRays and got asked for help again. I went over to desktops, and was asked for help a fourth time. On the way out, three salesmen were dicking around talking to each other, but on my way out the door, one of 'em made sure to stop chatting and skipped over to ask me if I found everything I needed.

It was an absolutely awful experience. I have no idea what gives. Usually in BB I'm lucky if the kid stocking shelves even looks over at me when I'm in his aisle.

It's like that every time I got to Best Buy now, which is one of the two main reasons I never go there anymore, the other being that I usually find what I want online for cheaper and I don't mind waiting a few days for it most of the time (unless I want a new CD the day it comes out).

[Perpetual Change]

Speaking of, here's a situation that really ticks me off, sales related... shopping at Gamestop has become so unbearable that I really do just buy everything from amazon now. This is what buying something at GS is like:

PC strolls into Gamestop.
"Hey are you looking for anything in particular today?"
"No, thanks! I'm just browsing."
"OK well here's a flyer. We're offering special trade-in value toward pre-orders of x, y, and z. We've also got deals on a and b, just so you know."

2 minutes later.
"You sure there's nothing you're looking for?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Just looking at games."
"Well, what are you playing now?"
"Uh... nothing. That's why I'm looking at games."
"LOL HAHA LOL well we have used copies of x around and a pre-order of x available if you're interested."

2 minutes later, PC arrives at checkout with his $15 pre-owned game.
"Hey will this be all?"
"Yup."
"Do you have our powerup card? Only $15.99 if you subscribe today and  you'll get our propoganda magazine as well as instant savings on all pre-owned games."
"No thanks, not today."
"Alright well are you looking to preorder anything?"
"No thanks (which is why I never buy games until they're like $15 but w/e)."
"Are you interested in our scratch protection? It's only $1.99."
"Yeah, no thanks. I'm good."
"Alright then your total is.... hey do me a favor and please call this number and answer our survey alright?"

[KevShmev]

    Sounds about right.  Corporate America has gone batshit insane with those stupid ass surveys.

[El Barto]

A guy at Panera today actually told me "are you sure you don't want a drink with that? Then you could fill out our survey." WTF?

[KevShmev]

i enjoy giving fake numbers at places that ask for a number when you are buying something really inexpensive.  One time, I gave the number 555-5555.  And then I said, "By the way, that's a fake number.  I know they make you ask customers for it, and I am not giving out my real number, so there ya go."  I got a good chuckle out of the cashier (who clearly agreed with me that it is dumb to ask every customer for their number).

[El Barto]

I meant to include the phone number thing with something earlier. I have no problem with collecting reasonable demographic information. They can have my age, gender and zip code. This is actually beneficial.* I draw the line a personally identifying info. What bugs me about the phone number thing is that you used to just be able to say no thank you and they'd leave it at that. Now, after 20 years of it being commonplace, the zit-faced prick manning the register thinks you're some anti-social crazoid for not wanting to give him your number. I had a guy just last week look genuinely shocked when I told him he couldn't have my number.


*I read once that one of the things they use that demographic info for is medical services placement. You have one neighborhood that lives entirely off of nuts and berries, and another one that's all bacon and nicotine, the latter get's a shiny new cardiac ward.

[Perpetual Change]

I really hate the kind of "pseudo-personal" and "pseudo-helpful" ways of Corporate America. Everyone acts like they're your buddy, and that they want to help you, but obviously it isn't true, and it's just another way to try and sell a product. I'm not against someone pitching a sale to me, and I don't mind being marketed at, especially if I'm walking into someone else's store. But don't insult my intelligence by masking the true motive. "Hey, I'm selling games, if you're looking for something new let me tell you about 'em" is a lot more appealing to me than "hey buddy you're gonna wanna power-up(tm) this purchase and I just  know you're gonna want to pre-order something I just did so myself!"

[Dark Castle]

Regarding Gamestop, GameInformer's actually a pretty nice magazine

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

This doesn't piss me off at all, but is more of a wtf:

Often times, you will see a mens room and a ladies room at a restaurant or something, and both will be a bathroom that can only be used by one person at a time, so what is the point in calling one a mens room and one a ladies room?  I mean, if only one person can use them at a time, and there are two of them, why not call them both a restroom?  Is it tragic if you use the restroom intended by the sign for the other sex?

There's a Chinese restaurant in my area that has two single-person bathrooms. One has a men/women sign on it, and the other has only a women's sign on it. I can't for the life of me figure out why they did this unless they accidentally bought the wrong sign.

No, women do sometimes flock to men's restrooms when the ladies lines get too long. I've seen this happen on a number of occasional.

On the flipside, I've never seen the reverse happen, where men's lines are so long that the men start invading the women's room.

Except at DT concerts, actually.

VH Concert in Philly.  Line to the ladies' room is long.  A couple of chicks are like "Um, fuck this" and clearly, obviously, and with little regard, went into the fairly busy men's room, where there was no line.  I was quite amused.

[Aythesryche]

Actually, one thing that pisses me off yet I find brings me pleasure at the same time is this:



I have a business card holder in my car with a bunch of these that I like tacking up on their cars:

[Dark Castle]

Actually, one thing that pisses me off yet I find brings me pleasure at the same time is this:


I have a business card holder in my car with a bunch of these that I like tacking up on their cars:

I....I love you.

[El Barto]

I have no problem with people doing that, but park in the outskirts, FFS. I see people with new cars doing that all the time, but rarely do I see them taking up two good parking spaces. Even Corvette drivers have enough decency to use awful spaces, and those guys are fucking classless.

[King Postwhore]

I meant to include the phone number thing with something earlier. I have no problem with collecting reasonable demographic information. They can have my age, gender and zip code. This is actually beneficial.* I draw the line a personally identifying info. What bugs me about the phone number thing is that you used to just be able to say no thank you and they'd leave it at that. Now, after 20 years of it being commonplace, the zit-faced prick manning the register thinks you're some anti-social crazoid for not wanting to give him your number. I had a guy just last week look genuinely shocked when I told him he couldn't have my number.


*I read once that one of the things they use that demographic info for is medical services placement. You have one neighborhood that lives entirely off of nuts and berries, and another one that's all bacon and nicotine, the latter get's a shiny new cardiac ward.

The problem I have El Barto is my home phone # ends in 0000 and so many jerks use it for online stuff like loans for home and school.  I really need to change my #.

[Aythesryche]

I have no problem with people doing that, but park in the outskirts, FFS. I see people with new cars doing that all the time, but rarely do I see them taking up two good parking spaces. Even Corvette drivers have enough decency to use awful spaces, and those guys are fucking classless.

I usually go after the ones in prime parking spots. I don't pay much attention to those in the back of the parking lot where there aren't any cars within 10-20 spaces. Doesn't take a lot of brain power or spacial awareness to park in between two lines.

I'm not interested in people's excuses because they are either too lazy or they don't want their precious payment-book-on-wheels they can barely afford to get scratched by some other jerk. Dents and scratches are most likely going to happen, regardless of where you park or drive. It's part of normal wear and tear of a car imo. I remember once seeing a $300k Ferrari parked properly next to a shopping cart return and thinking to myself, "Good, this guy is doing it right. He doesn't care."

Somewhat random observation:
I also remember a guy that lived across from me that had a Corvette ZR1 that used to take such meticulous care of it. I'm pretty sure he was the kinda guy to park in the outskirts so that nothing would happen to it. It all paid off for him when one day he was backing out of his garage and he clipped his own mailbox. I think he was trying to impress me by showing how fast he could exit his driveway in reverse.

[Blazinarps]

You think if you'd said you were looking to buy an HDTV you'd have been ignored? You'd have had blueshirts brawling in the aisles to get to you first. That's part of the problem. The ones that do provide some service outside of upselling only give a shit about the people willing to spend big money. You and your $10 progressive rock CD purchasing ass hold no interest with them.

Best Buy employees don't work on commission....