# April ranters bring May decanters! (April Mini-Rants Thread) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 2, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555 "2012-04-02T07:30:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/201 "2012-04-12T09:06:58Z")
“Open availability” is a concept currently in raging use in the retail arena. This means that you, as the employee, MUST be available AT ANY TIME per the employer’s discretion. Have a family? So sorry. Need sleep? So sorry. Wish to complain? Bye-bye job. The number of longtime employees who either left on their on accord or who were forced out because of this open availability is mind-boggling. And the employer THINKS they’ll be able to replace them for half to a third to a quarter of their weekly salaries? :inserts maniacal laughter here: ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/202 "2012-04-12T13:06:09Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > “Open availability” is a concept currently in raging use in the retail arena. This means that you, as the employee, MUST be available AT ANY TIME per the employer’s discretion. Have a family? So sorry. Need sleep? So sorry. Wish to complain? Bye-bye job. **kiz** - let me understand this. A retail employee - e.g. someone who works in “RETAIL” has to be ON CALL 24/7? Seriously? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/203 "2012-04-12T13:30:03Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Twice slandering a 49 year old professionally dressed regular customer who is standing 6 feet from you under the guise of “protecting” the female customer you’re ringing up (Well, you know, except for the part where you stopped ringing up her stuff to stand and glare at me until she asked what you were doing) isn’t a very wise move, professionally speaking. There HAS to be more to that story… ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/204 "2012-04-12T13:45:30Z")
My teeth are sad and it makes me sad. Tartar appears to have eaten away at my bicuspid, and it hurts when I eat sweet stuff. And despite the fact that I’ve been on top of my dental hygiene lately, the tartar keeps getting worse and worse. I’m very cranky and calling dentists (I need a professional cleaning and at least one filling). grr. I don’t care what they look like, but pain is where I draw the gee-damn line. > [@kiz](#): > > “Open availability” is a concept currently in raging use in the retail arena. This means that you, as the employee, MUST be available AT ANY TIME per the employer’s discretion. Have a family? So sorry. Need sleep? So sorry. Wish to complain? Bye-bye job. Please tell us what company is using this as a scheduling strategy, so I can avoid giving them my dollars. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/205 "2012-04-12T14:04:40Z")
I’m resigning today from my job. My situation has gotten so miserable I can’t stand it anymore. I guess this isn’t much of a rant. Actually I’m relieved, but sad that it got to this point. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/206 "2012-04-12T17:49:24Z")
Motherfucking Windows Vista and this piece of shit computer. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/207 "2012-04-12T18:41:56Z")
> [@anya\_marie](#): > > Motherfucking Windows Vista and this piece of shit computer. _All_ versions of Windows suck syphilitic donkey balls, period. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/208 "2012-04-12T19:58:11Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > **kiz** - let me understand this. A retail employee - e.g. someone who works in “RETAIL” has to be ON CALL 24/7? Seriously? :eek: No, not 24 hours! But a lot of places nowadays will not hire you unless you tell them that your availability is “open”. The term “mother’s hours”, for example, is out the window. When it comes to scheduling they want to be able to place you in any shift. One of my coworkers was forced out because she had an obligation where she could only work “this shift and only this shift” on X and Y days when in actuality they needed her for another shift on X, Y, and Z days. There was no way she could juggle her obligation, so was told to give her notice. Longtime employees who have been working the day shift forever? Not anymore. They might get two day shifts, but the rest of them are either afternoon/evening/closing. It might work for a kid or for somebody who doesn’t have any family and/or outside obligations, but not for somebody with a family. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/209 "2012-04-12T19:59:47Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Please tell us what company is using this as a scheduling strategy, so I can avoid giving them my dollars. No need to fear. I don’t think we live in the same area. And if we did, there’s no way I’d reveal it on a public message board 😉 ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/210 "2012-04-12T20:19:34Z")
This rant is mini but it is really getting my goat. My kids went to the dentist this morning. No cavities and their teeth looked amazingly clean. (Go team!) What’s my rant? The hygenist still REPEATEDLY said the following: 1. We should be brushing the kids’ teeth. They aren’t old enough to do it well enough (7 & 8 BTW) 2. We should get them each an electric toothbrush. 3. We need to floss their teeth once a day. WTF? So, they have been doing a good job of brushing and getting between their teeth (since they have gaps large enough that the bristles get in there) have no cavities AND you took all of ten seconds to do a quick scrape-around to get off some plaque (not even tartar) and you want me to spend time and money anyway? Give me a break. Like there aren’t a hundred million other things I should be doing for my kids. It’s like everywhere you go they have to make sure parents feel guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/211 "2012-04-12T20:34:26Z")
If it were up to dentists, we’d be doing nothing but brushing and flossing all day long. They don’t seem to realize some of us don’t have all day to spend on our teeth. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/212 "2012-04-12T21:15:59Z")
WTF? I was brushing my own teeth by 5 at the latest, I’m fairly sure it was actually well before that. And my mom was way into dental hygiene because she’d had such bad teeth. And they wonder why kids these days have parents constantly hovering over them… ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/213 "2012-04-12T22:07:01Z")
Seven and eight? Second and third grade, right? I’m pretty sure that (unless they have some serious fine-motor problems or cognitive issues) they should be able to handle brushing their own fucking teeth. With a manual toothbrush, the way we’ve all done it. (In the snow, uphill both ways, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/214 "2012-04-12T22:12:07Z")
And since their teeth were actually clean it does appear that they handle it just fine. Stupid hygenist. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/215 "2012-04-12T23:23:00Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > There HAS to be more to that story… There isn’t. I was wearing dark blue dockers, a polo shirt and a pea coat - not exactly a vagrant or crazy person. I got my stuff, walked up to the register, grabbed the divider to put between her stuff and the empty space where I was going to put my stuff, turned my back towards her to start unloading my cart… ..When he told her to move her purse because of me. I ignored that and started unloading my food. She moved to the end to start bagging her stuff. He stopped ringing it up and stood there glaring at me while I was still unloading the cart. She asked him what he was doing. He said “I’m watching this guy behind you. He doesn’t look right.” I paused and glanced at him and he was looking straight at me. He quickly resumed ringing up her stuff. She said “Oh, so you’re protecting me?” in an “um, what?” tone of voice. He finished, she paid, she left. He rang up my stuff, I paid, I left. This place is 1 mile from my apartment and my bank is in it with no other convenient local branches. Not like I can just stop going there. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/216 "2012-04-12T23:54:56Z")
Damn you downstairs Indian neighbors who keep cooking really great smelling spicy food! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/217 "2012-04-13T00:56:55Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > There isn’t. > > I was wearing dark blue dockers, a polo shirt and a pea coat - not exactly a vagrant or crazy person. I got my stuff, walked up to the register, grabbed the divider to put between her stuff and the empty space where I was going to put my stuff, turned my back towards her to start unloading my cart… > > ..When he told her to move her purse because of me. > > I ignored that and started unloading my food. She moved to the end to start bagging her stuff. He stopped ringing it up and stood there glaring at me while I was still unloading the cart. She asked him what he was doing. He said “I’m watching this guy behind you. He doesn’t look right.” I paused and glanced at him and he was looking straight at me. He quickly resumed ringing up her stuff. She said “Oh, so you’re protecting me?” in an “um, what?” tone of voice. > > He finished, she paid, she left. He rang up my stuff, I paid, I left. > > This place is 1 mile from my apartment and my bank is in it with no other convenient local branches. Not like I can just stop going there. That is just plain weird. I have had it with this melonfarming snow coming down in my melonfarming city! It’s been raining most of the day; well, it _was_ raining; it’s been snowing for a couple of hours now. Bah. Rain is okay; rain is good this time of year. Snow is bad. ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/218 "2012-04-13T02:25:26Z")
Yep. There’s a foot of snow on my deck. Pretty sure I’m taking a vacation day tomorrow - I won’t be able to get out of my street. This will make me unpopular with my coworkers - it’s my treat day. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/219 "2012-04-13T03:12:01Z")
If you have a home phone number on one of your coworkers, you could consider calling and arranging a swap of your day for theirs. **Chimera** , you _could_ continue going to the bank branch, and buy your stuff elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555/220 "2012-04-13T04:02:51Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > I just got a bewildering email from a local filmmaker. A couple of months ago, he put out a casting call for a short film; I submitted for a role in it. He replied and said I was too young and not beat-to-shit-looking enough for that role (…yay?), but sent me the script anyway and said to read it and see if there were any other roles I thought I could do. He mentioned that this was an offer he rarely made. > > I read the script immediately and liked it. That same day, I replied, saying that if I had my druthers I’d take the main character (naturally), but if that wasn’t in the cards I’d be happy to play a certain minor character. I ended by saying we should discuss it further. Last I heard from him. I put it out of my mind. > > Today, I got a tetchy email from him saying I’d been removed from the list of possibles because of something I’d pledged to do and not done in a timely manner. WTF? I have NO idea what he’s talking about. I went back through my e-mails to and from him, and the sum total of our back-and-forth is outlined above. I emailed him back asking for clarification, but who knows if he’ll bother to reply. Now I have to worry about some director out there bad-mouthing me, when I can only think he’s got me confused with someone else. GAH! I heard back from him – it was in fact a mistake. Way to ruin a good mini-rant, buddy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-ranters-bring-may-decanters-april-mini-rants-thread/617555.md?page=12)