Rant on:

Whitney Houston's death has the affair song "Saving All my Love for You" being played over and over and over.

Rant off.

I need to remember this. I did the same thing to SW1963 a couple of days ago and justified it by telling myself I was just trying to snap him into action.

I was wrong thinking that way. Thanks for kick, Pep.

Wanting to be "the exception to the rule" is human nature, I guess.
Maybe it's part of Western culture?
I dunno.

If a sign reads:

"No Dogs Allowed"

..... you can bet your bottom dollar that some day, someone WILL decide the rule does not apply to THEM.

That person will bring their dog where it does not belong and then say ....

"But, it's only a small dog."

By-the-way ..... my post is not about dogs. Large or small.
My post/mini-rant is about people failing to follow the rules of society because they are so special and their circumstances are also so special.

20 items in the "10 items or less" isle?
"They're inexpensive items."
"They're all small items."

"All dogs must be on a leash."
"My dog does not need to be leashed. He's well trained."

I don't think it's a Western thing...I think it's a global/human thing.

I see this all the time when I'm dropping off DS8 at his school. The options for a child to get in the door at school are:

• bus
• child walks to school
• parent drives child to school and uses designated drop-off lanes
• parent drives child to school, parks in parking lot, and walks child to crosswalk

That's it. They specifically ask people to use the crosswalks so kids aren't ducking in and out of the drop-off line. They ask people to not drop off in the parking lot because it inhibits traffic flow and is dangerous for the children. Yet what do I see every morning?

- parents not parking their cars but dropping off the kids in the parking lot
- parents and kids whizzing in and out of the drop-off line
- parents parking in the handicapped space to drop off their kids because it's close to the door

My dad was a disabled veteran with a broken back and a bum knee, so whenever I see someone using a handicapped spot that shouldn't be there I get irate. After dropping off my son I'll stop people from going in the handicapped spots. A lot of times people will try to ignore me...if they don't, they sometimes get irate with me ("how dare you call me on doing something illegal!"), or make excuses ("I didn't get out of the car so it doesn't count", "all the spots are empty anyway", "it was just for a moment").

A lot (not all) of the people I see doing this are Indian/Arabic/Asian. Sadly, it seems self-importance and feeling above the rules is a universal trait

My new motto in life:



Some people ain't worth it. Nuf said.

Hey, there is a cake on your avatar. Happy birthday!

Heidi Klum divorcing Seal


You think there might be some regret down the line ... stupid celebrities

Re: ten items or less violators - Not sure how this is germaine to our mission here, but thought I'd chip in.

NG did not have a good day Tuesday. On a line in a discount store, with 6 items got on the 12-or-less line, and ended up behind the dimmest bulb on the planet, 15/16 items, disputed every price that rang up, and THREE times, dropped her cash while getting it together to hand to the minimum-wage dingbat sales girl. (Wait for it, it's coming.)

Finally, I guess my displeasure showed through, and in a fairly loud voice, said salesgirl upbraided ME, saying "Oh, don't look so angry!" in front of all other shoppers. (Emphasis added to point out I hadn't said jack-doody!)

Calmly, I opened the bottle of salad oil I had planned to buy, and while upturning the contents on her merchandise belt, in the same volume of speaking, said, "*** you, **edit**I then walked out of the store.

And I had been so good recently......

Lapses are allowed in the human condition.

AS one of those "minimum-wage dingbat sales girl"'s I will remind you that SHE also doesn't appreciate these types of people but it is her JOB to tolerate them, and the types who act like YOU do. You sure didn't make HER day any better. I have had the displeasure to serve people who forgot that I was a human being who deserved some measure of respect from them. And after getting to actually read what you said, in the censored parts, I hope that you look back on what you did with a tiny bit of shame, because who acted more the fool in that situation?

Remember, every single one of those people who work in dead end minimum wage jobs do not CHOOSE to be there, but circumstance has brought them there, and they deserve RESPECT, not ABUSE.

Oh and FTR, I actually work at the return desk of a MAJOR retailer. I get my fair share of "joyous" customers. And every single one of them are greeted with a smile, and told to have a good day, even if I don't want to do it, because it's my JOB.

I have done some over-the-phone customer service, but most was face-to-face in a brick-and-mortar grocery store. 10 years worth. If I completely have it my way, I will never work retail again.

Anyway;

5 Idiotic Misconceptions About Calling Customer Service

Beware, they say potty words...

Well, Scotty, I'll say this with ALL due respect:

If you were to upbraid me vocally and publicly for my private emotions, not expressed feelings, you would get every bit of the same response. I have no need of unsolicited "behavioral modification" from a 19-year-old with eyebrow and lip piercings.

Had she, as you probably would have, instead empathized with my (silent, unexpressed) frustration, she would have earned my appreciation, not my contempt. That's HER job, right?

Good one, Scotty, you actually had me going for a moment!

I should have realized that you could never behave so crassly, so arrogantly, with as much unjustified entitlement as the airhead I documented above! You were obviously just pulling my leg, weren't you?

I'll know better next time!

Having been a cashier myself, it is hard to empathize with or appreciate anyone when you have been yelled at for not breaking large bills for 97 cent purchases, yelled at because no, you cannot make ANY change...

...and screamed at because you checked a blueberry box for mold and took too long doing it.

That was probably her misguided attempt to cheer herself (or you?) up in a satirical way.

HER job is customer service for ALL of her customers. But, she can't make everyone happy. I can not understand your response to her however. I can not accept that you would be so blatantly disrespectful. And then, while you are making your story known here, you not only disrespected her, but people who have jobs like her. That was uncalled for.

While I can admit that not everyone I work with are especially bright, there are many many others who are. We are all there for a reason, and we all need to eat. Some of the people I work with are retired nurses, bank execs, auto parts manufacturers, etc. You can't judge what is behind that person. Remember, there was a HUGE economic slump and MANY people have had to "resort" to these types of jobs. In my case, my job was taken as a way to get extra money, and I craved adult conversation after being a SAHM for 4 years. Now, it has been a blessing, as I was able to change my schedule to meet my needs when my WH left me to live with OW. THink twice next time that you feel the "need" to berate a lowly employee and remember that she is someone's daughter, sister, wife, or mother. How would you like someone else to treat your family member?

And if we want to get into a rant about customers, I could give you a daily list. Like the "Big man" who thought it was funny to threaten a 20 year old girl who said she couldn't exchange something, so he threatened her, and then taunted her when I exchanged it for him. She actually was so frightened that she cried and was shaking. That happened yesterday, but there are many like it, and some much worse.

When I first read this I though it was funny but then I started thinking about it and felt bad for being insensitive. The RIGHT thing to do would have been to set the oil down, walk away, and then file a complaint for her inappropriate comment (or chalk it up to she was having a bad day). Why on earth would she say something like that without provocation? Sorry NG, but you were just as wrong as she was, if not worse, for the name-calling. No one deserves that kind of abuse.

And then, while you are making your story known here, you not only disrespected her, but people who have jobs like her.

Hooey! And I'll add "Sophistry!", as you're making this up as you go along! If you had said:

And then, while you are making your story known here, you not only disrespected her, but people who act as judgmental and presumptive as she did.

we would absolutely agree. My problems with the YOUNG LADY in question only began when she insulted ME, or does that not yet come through in the several retellings of this story?

(If any colleagues here are of the inclination to behave as she did, you needn't admit it, but you'll get no apology!)

Too many people would have cowed before her act; I chose not to! Too many gutless get-alongs would have said, "I dare not stand up for my own RIGHTS, so I'll say/do nothing and let it go!" I wonder which "behavior modification" was more fruitful: Hers on me, or mine on her (assuming there was any truth in what she explained about what happened to her manager).

Compare and contrast:

Complaint:
I'd like to speak to your manager please. Sir, I feel this cashier is being very disrespectful to me and these other customers. We are waiting here in a very frustrating situation, and she is lecturing me about my attitude.

Angry outburst:
**edit** YOU, YOU **edit**! {vandalizes property}

I think you get this, from your comment that you "had been doing so well." But I'm not sure everybody sees that you do.

I certainly can't be one to cast stones myself, but I can say that the feeling of pride I get for keeping my temper in check in public in frustrating situations more than compensates for all the rewards I got previously for great displays of temper.

Newton Hightower's list of behaviors to abstain from in order to control anger lists "telling war stories." I can't cast stones there, either.

I used to complain frequently to my wife, my MB coach, and people here who took their personal time to help me privately that my angry behavior toward Prisca only began when she was disrespectful to me, or abused me, or engaged in independent behavior, or picked a fight with me, etc.

Do two wrongs make a right?

If I return evil for evil, what have I done to my own character?

She was absolutely inexcusable in what she said to you.

Hightower also lists swearing as a behavior that must be abstained from in order to eliminate the addiction to anger.

I can't cast stones there, either.

In my previous post, I asked if I commit an act of evil what that does to my character. Consider also the documented effects that swearing has on the human brain. The brain and the bloodstream experience effects during swearing that are documented if you want to research; these same effects do not occur when the same person says something like "Golly gee, that smarts!"

Adrenaline is addictive. Runners get addicted to it, many other people get addicted to it.