# Can I pit old people? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 6, 2008, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639 "2008-10-06T05:08:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Discipline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/21 "2008-10-06T07:47:55Z")
> [@Silver\_Fire](#): > > The rest of your rant aside, this was just a stupid asshole thing to do. If someone asks if something is “on video” in a movie store, it’s pretty obvious to everybody who isn’t a self-important prick that they’re asking if this particular title is available on VHS. If you really and truly didn’t know that, you’re retarded. A simple “No, that one is not available on VHS” would have been fine. What does “video” mean? Is the man holding a Digital “Video” Disc? Gosh, yes, this is on “video”! Yes he probably should have learned to interpret his customers by now, but no, the VHS interpretation is not obvious. And ffs, cut him some slack, he works retail and needs to rant. What the fuck am I doing defending lissener? ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/22 "2008-10-06T07:59:03Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > That’s what I thought too. I’d take “On Video” to mean “Available for Rent”, not “In the VHS format”. In my day we wouldn’t stand for some young whippersnapper like you talkin’ back to their elders! We had RESPECT! Take you out and give you a good tarring, we would. WITH A STICK, by crakky! Eh, what? My hearin’ ain’t so good. Speak up, Sonny! ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/23 "2008-10-06T08:01:21Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I work in Liquor now, where I have the legal power to tell customers to fuck off because they’re irritating me. 🙂 Totally off the subject, what part of QLD are you from? ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/24 "2008-10-06T09:33:52Z")
> [@Discipline](#): > > What does “video” mean? Is the man holding a Digital “Video” Disc? Gosh, yes, this is on “video”! > > Yes he probably should have learned to interpret his customers by now, but no, the VHS interpretation is not obvious. And ffs, cut him some slack, he works retail and needs to rant. > > What the fuck am I doing defending lissener? Maybe we should start a poll, but I’m pretty sure going to a video store and asking if they have something “on video” is commonly used to ask about a VHS. Otherwise you would ask if it’s in or if it’s available or something. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/25 "2008-10-06T09:52:50Z")
Get off my lawn, ya punk! ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/26 "2008-10-06T10:27:28Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Of course you’ll never grow old and start to become unfamiliar with new technology. If you’re talking about someone in their 80s then when he was my age it was the 1960s. We were still two decades away from affordable home video of any kind. When I’m in my 80s I’m sure there will be plenty of inventions and concepts that I won’t be able to grasp 100%. Why do you need my cyberbrain augment MAC!? Sir, it’s your universal ID, I don’t know how else to put this… ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/27 "2008-10-06T11:30:51Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I plan to keep up with technology precisely so I _don’t_ become one of those doddering old farts who can’t understand the concept behind DVDs or Computers. I’m 42, and fear I’m falling behind the curve by not having an iPhone or blackberry, not making regular use of an MP3 player, or not having GPS navigation in my car. Sure, I can easily use them, but what will happen when I get two generations of gadgetry behind the curve? Three? Already, I’m having difficulty with some things; ask me to send a text message, and it’ll take me forever to type out the message; I feel like the 85 year old woman who still rents a rotary phone from the phone company, or the elderly man at the video store that calls everything “tapes” no matter what media it’s on. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/28 "2008-10-06T13:01:35Z")
When I was young: - TV was in black and white - you dialled a telephone - only Governments and Universities had computers In my day, working in retail meant that some people (of all ages) would be rude or crass to you. (If you want polemic, my generation were polite, saved up to buy a house they could afford and never used credit cards…) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/29 "2008-10-06T13:18:09Z")
Just wait 'till the crystals in YOUR palms turn red and you get sent to Carousel. THEN you’ll be sorry you mocked the old people. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/30 "2008-10-06T13:30:34Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > Maybe we should start a poll, but I’m pretty sure going to a video store and asking if they have something “on video” is commonly used to ask about a VHS. Otherwise you would ask if it’s in or if it’s available or something. Part of the problem here is probably that VHS has been out of common use for the better part of a decade now, and anything referring to it is, for those of us who are better at keeping up, buried somewhere in our hind brains beneath a pile of dirty socks and Care Bears. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/31 "2008-10-06T13:32:57Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > I’m 42, and fear I’m falling behind the curve by not having an iPhone or blackberry, not making regular use of an MP3 player, or not having GPS navigation in my car. Sure, I can easily use them, but what will happen when I get two generations of gadgetry behind the curve? Three? Already, I’m having difficulty with some things; ask me to send a text message, and it’ll take me forever to type out the message; I feel like the 85 year old woman who still rents a rotary phone from the phone company, or the elderly man at the video store that calls everything “tapes” no matter what media it’s on. I’m thirty-eight and you’re way ahead of me. > [@Martini Enfield](#): > > I plan to keep up with technology precisely so I don’t become one of those doddering old farts who can’t understand the concept behind DVDs or Computers. I plan to both dodder and fart. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/32 "2008-10-06T13:34:47Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > Maybe we should start a poll, but I’m pretty sure going to a video store and asking if they have something “on video” is commonly used to ask about a VHS. Otherwise you would ask if it’s in or if it’s available or something. “Video” to me simply means an audio-visual recording. I watch videos on my computer all the time, with no physical object associated with it. To think that video specifically referred to a VHS tape would never occur to me, because “video” is just a description of the recording itself, not the media used to transport it. If someone asked me if I had the latest Killers “record” I’d also assume they were asking about the album, regardless of if I had the CD, had downloaded it from iTunes, or actually had an LP. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/33 "2008-10-06T13:42:17Z")
Working in retail at a Big Box Store, I’ve had my share of older people who want to give me exact change, and people of any age who don’t seem to give paying for ther purchases a second thought until I’ve finished ringing them up. This annoys me a little when coupled with the Managment’s policy of keeping track of how fast we ring things up–which doesn’t seem to allow time for guests who buy entire new wardrobes, or count out exact change. But the guest who annoyed me the most on Saturday was a twenty-something who set down her 2 for $5 toothpaste and other items and wandered off while I was ringing up the previous guest. I was thisclose to starting to void out her transaction and move on to the guest behind her when she showed up with a smile–“Is it my turn to pay?” Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/34 "2008-10-06T13:43:35Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > Maybe we should start a poll, but I’m pretty sure going to a video store and asking if they have something “on video” is commonly used to ask about a VHS. Otherwise you would ask if it’s in or if it’s available or something. Notice you called it the “video store” when you were referring to a place that probably doesn’t stock any VHS tapes? ---
**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:** [October 6, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/35 "2008-10-06T13:52:37Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > I dunno. I would have assumed that if they were asking for it on video they were asking if it was available to be rented. In that case, why would they have used the words “On video” at all? A [google search](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22video+or+DVD%22&aq=f&oq=) of the phrase “video or DVD” turns up over a million hits. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/36 "2008-10-06T13:58:32Z")
> [@glee](#): > > …never used credit cards… That’s because back then, no one took Vistone or MasterRock. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/37 "2008-10-06T13:59:38Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > Notice you called it the “video store” when you were referring to a place that probably doesn’t stock any VHS tapes? :rolleyes: Imagine that. One word having different meanings in different contexts. How odd. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/38 "2008-10-06T14:01:13Z")
Except that the context isn’t different. What would you expect to find at a video store, if not videos? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/39 "2008-10-06T14:02:37Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Wanna bet? At some point you’ll realize that a lot of the new technology is for purposes that don’t interest you. And you’ll also realize that, if you only have x number of years left on this planet, you have more important things to do than keeping up with technology. That’s certainly a point - if new technology just advances my ability to Twitter, I’m afraid I’m going to miss a few generations of it. My dad keeps asking me what an iPod is, and I keep telling him he doesn’t need one. Because he doesn’t. My mom is going to start borrowing my Shuffle to catch up with me on Couch to 5K, though - you learn to use stuff when you have an actual need. Dad’s the GPS whiz - it’s incredibly annoying how he’ll turn it on to go somewhere we’ve been a thousand times before, but he knows how to use it. He got a new one with Bluetooth so he can answer his phone without the handset in the car and now he’s all Bluetooth expert at me. But if there’s no appeal or use to me of a new technology I certainly won’t be learning it, and I’m sure it’s quite possible to turn around and oh crap, everybody’s on the holophone and I need to get a holophone but I haven’t gotten the last ten generations of pseudoholophones and the holophone interface that’s totally intuitive if you had a piezophone back in the day makes no sense to me and I can’t find the buttons. Working in a library keeps you in touch pretty well, though, especially on the “off brand copyright enfringement mp3 player” front. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639/40 "2008-10-06T14:03:58Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > That’s what I thought too. I’d take “On Video” to mean “Available for Rent”, not “In the VHS format”. I suppose one could make that as a reasonable interpretation in general. “on video” may very well be shorthand for “available to rent” in the same was as you may say “I’m going to tape that movie tonight” even though you own a DVR. But when someone asks for a video, you hand them a DVD and then they ask again if it’s on video, really how difficult is this? You’d have to be a complete moron to respond “well duh, this IS a video. It’s in digital format!” It’s pretty friggin’ obvious they meant VHS. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-pit-old-people/466639.md?page=3)