# 20 Ridiculous Complaints Made by Holidaymakers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 21, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229 "2009-03-21T01:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/41 "2009-03-23T11:31:20Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Christmas, Easter and the Fourth of July are all holidays. Holiday refers to an observed day off on the calendar. > > The time off during the week of Christmas is Christmas vacation. > If you leave work for an extended period of time and spend it traveling, you’ve gone on vacation. You are vacationing. You are a vacationer. Thanks, I’m familiar with vacation, I just couldn’t think of what else holiday might mean. ---
**Author:** ![Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weaver_of_Nightmares)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/42 "2009-03-23T14:26:33Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > How much dye did you folks have to put in this here [lake](http://www.juddpatterson.com/spotlight/images/canada_43.jpg)? If that photo does the lake justice, I can see why the question. Talk about blue. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/43 "2009-03-23T14:43:51Z")
I liked the “20 Stupid Questions Asked By Tourists”: Is Wales closed in the winter? What time of night does the Loch Ness monster surface and who feeds it? Can I wear high heels in Australia? > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Christmas, Easter and the Fourth of July are all holidays. Holiday refers to an observed day off on the calendar. It can also refer to a day celebrated by a particular religion or ethnic group, even if it’s not a day off on the secular calendar. There are Jewish holidays such as Passover and Chinese holidays such as Chinese New Year. You do something special to celebrate a holiday, which may or may not include taking time off from work. I celebrated the Jewish holiday of Purim recently by going to the synagogue for a special service, but I didn’t take any time off work to do it. You aren’t necessarily celebrating a holiday if you don’t go to work that day. I get time off at Christmas, because it’s a work holiday, but I don’t celebrate Christmas- I treat it as just a regular non-work day. > [@](#): > > You are vacationing. You are a vacationer. I’d be more likely to say “You are on vacation” instead of either of those, or maybe “You are a tourist” instead of the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/44 "2009-03-23T15:16:17Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > It can also refer to a day celebrated by a particular religion or ethnic group, even if it’s not a day off on the secular calendar. There are Jewish holidays such as Passover and Chinese holidays such as Chinese New Year. Yes, “holiday” is derived from “holy day.” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/45 "2009-03-23T16:18:02Z")
" . . .make a drink of vodka and refreshers. . ." What are refreshers?!? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/46 "2009-03-23T16:27:59Z")
[quote=“1920s Style “Death Ray”, post:41, topic:490229”] Thanks, I’m familiar with vacation, I just couldn’t think of what else holiday might mean. [/QUOTE] Well, the Brits themselves confuse the issue with Bank Holidays–days when the banks are closed (which do not follow a system like ours of federal holidays being days to recognize national figures etc). ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/47 "2009-03-23T16:31:42Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > " . . .make a drink of vodka and refreshers. . ." > > What are refreshers?!? Well, round here, they’re fruit-flavoured fizzy sweets. What are you quoting? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/48 "2009-03-23T16:35:49Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > " . . .make a drink of vodka and refreshers. . ." > > What are refreshers?!? I believe it’s [this](http://regmedia.co.uk/2008/01/30/refreshers_sweets.jpg) sort of fruit-flavoured candy. I can imagine how that could go horribly wrong. A cheese, Richard, a cheese. (ETA: **WotNot** , it’s in reference to the hilarious complaint letter to Richard Branson.) ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/49 "2009-03-23T16:47:57Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > (ETA: **WotNot** , it’s in reference to the hilarious complaint letter to Richard Branson.) Oh, I see. Ta. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/50 "2009-03-23T17:52:49Z")
I especially liked the one about gravy. It reminded me of a story that someone posted a year or two back. Apparently a woman from some major Aussie city was on holiday in the Outback. She went to use the bathroom at some restaurant or hotel, and was shocked – SHOCKED – that the backwards natives didn’t even have toilets in the stalls. She had to squat over a little hole in the floor like some animal. As it turns out, she had shit in a shower stall. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/51 "2009-03-23T18:42:52Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I especially liked the one about gravy. It reminded me of a story that someone posted a year or two back. > > Apparently a woman from some major Aussie city was on holiday in the Outback. She went to use the bathroom at some restaurant or hotel, and was shocked – SHOCKED – that the backwards natives didn’t even have toilets in the stalls. She had to squat over a little hole in the floor like some animal. > > As it turns out, she had shit in a shower stall. That was me. It was in [Nha Trang, Vietnam](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9569175&postcount=22). ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/52 "2009-03-23T18:50:04Z")
:smack: ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/53 "2009-03-23T21:07:40Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Oh, I see. Ta. Cinte! LOL! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/54 "2009-03-23T21:43:55Z")
> [@Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](#): > > If that photo does the lake justice, I can see why the question. Talk about blue. That looks like a serous retouch/photoshop. The white water streaks in the lower left corner do not look like real rough water, not does it look like white sand beaches or white sand bars … and generally the shallow lakes that are doing serious reflection of teh sky will actually be more or less teh color of the sky and that is seriously turquoise … Unless of course it is washings and tailings from heavy copper and manganese salts and ores… ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/55 "2009-03-23T22:04:39Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > You’re missing a much funnier story if you haven’t clicked the link on that page for [The world’s best passenger complaint letter](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4344890/Virgin-the-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html). > > Don’t forget to follow along with the pics at the top. “I swear the sponge shafts moved at one point.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/56 "2009-03-23T22:05:08Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Well, the Brits themselves confuse the issue with Bank Holidays–days when the banks are closed (which do not follow a system like ours of federal holidays being days to recognize national figures etc). The origin of the name is to do with giving bank employees certain days off, but it’s got nothing to do with bank opening hours now, they’re free to operate whenever they want. However, there’s still a relevant connection, in that they are days where there is a statutory entitlement to defer certain financial transactions, on the principle that one cannot be expected to make payments on a day when it is not possible to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229/57 "2009-03-23T22:50:10Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > That looks like a serous retouch/photoshop. The white water streaks in the lower left corner do not look like real rough water, not does it look like white sand beaches or white sand bars … and generally the shallow lakes that are doing serious reflection of teh sky will actually be more or less teh color of the sky and that is seriously turquoise … > > Unless of course it is washings and tailings from heavy copper and manganese salts and ores… There are [similar lakes](http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3504604-From_the_access_road_Mt_Cook_Lake_Pukaki-Mount_Cook_National_Park.jpg) in New Zealand. It depends on the light but they can look just as blue as that picture. The colour is from minerals in the glacier runoff I believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers/490229.md?page=2)