# Dear paper towel filler person....or non-Christmas mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 25, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389 "2010-12-25T23:54:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/381 "2011-02-01T19:34:21Z")
I got my Dad the boxed set for Christmas maybe five or six years ago, but I really should get my own copy. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/382 "2011-02-01T19:44:52Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The only authorized activity besides sitting quietly and staring into space is to read the 8 year old magazines on subjects totally incongruous to the type of professional that you are waiting for. Sometimes it’s not incongruous. My dentist kind of reminds me of Goofus. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/383 "2011-02-01T20:36:50Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The only thing worse is the TALKERS. For some reason they always decide to sit directly behind you. Word! If your brats have no concept of inside voices, taking them to a theater where people are spending $10+ a pop is literally taking your life in your own hands. For what you spent on their tickets, popcorn, and drinks, a babysitter would have been a bargain. Then when said brat starts drumming on the back of the seat I’m occupying, it’s truly fortunate that you recognized an authentic Death-Glare™ and decided to move to another area. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/384 "2011-02-01T21:22:02Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > I was supposed to leave for basic training today. Since I’m posting on the internet, I clearly didn’t, because my paperwork got fucked up, so instead of leaving I got to sit and wait here for six hours. > > Now - it’s snowing! Oh, wait, that’s only here at the airport I’m supposed to leave from. At the airport I’m headed to, it’s not _just_ snowing, it’s also “ice pelleting”, and is predicted to continue doing so pretty much all night. So, uh, _fuck_. Wait, did you join the military? ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/385 "2011-02-01T21:30:34Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I got my Dad the boxed set for Christmas maybe five or six years ago, but I really should get my own copy. a. That beats wearing his dress shirts to make clay models of shrunken heads with the eyes and mouths sewn shut. b. If only my son were that thoughtful. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/386 "2011-02-01T23:45:25Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > I was supposed to leave for basic training today. Since I’m posting on the internet, I clearly didn’t, because my paperwork got fucked up, so instead of leaving I got to sit and wait here for six hours. Has your paperwork gotten un-SNAFU’d yet? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/387 "2011-02-02T01:04:41Z")
3:15 a.m.: CRASH!!! What in the pluperfect FUCK was THAT!? Tumble out of bed, running around bumping into walls, bedpost, door jambs, turning on lights. Is it an intruder? Did the paper person finally launch the damn paper through the front windo? As I stumbled into the living room, a gray streak shot past me, headed for cover. On the floor by the couch are the shards of what was once an [Alvar Aalto](http://fjorn.com/iialaaclandi.html?gclid=CI6K__qi6KYCFRhzgwodozne0A) flower vase, a bunch of yellow tulips, and a whole bunch of water. Our cat used to be a tulip-eating machine, but in recent years has lost interest. She has not, however, lost interest in drinking water out of any available source, as long as it’s not her water dish. In the process of pushing her 18-year old fuzzy face into the vase, she apparently pushed it off onto the floor. Nice. At least it shows me that having a gun next to the bed in case of an intruder would be pointless for me, unless I just want to give a burgler a good laugh as I bumble around, bumping into things. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/388 "2011-02-02T01:49:31Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Don’t knock my smock or I’ll clean your clock! I don’t think she was knocking your smock; I think she was mocking your smock. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/389 "2011-02-02T01:50:56Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Wait, did you join the military? Yes. (How it happened is kind of a long story, but for various reasons things just fell into place in the ‘good idea’ column.) > [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > Has your paperwork gotten un-SNAFU’d yet? Yes, thankfully. Or at least un-SNAFU’d enough for me to ship. Which was going to happen today, but didn’t because the entire goddamn country is in the middle of an ice storm. And it’s not going to happen tomorrow, because the forecast is so bad they’ve closed the processing station. So my best bet is Thursday, _if_ Albuquerque and St. Louis have at least managed to plow and de-ice their runways. Fun fact: as of today I’m official on the military’s payroll. So you all are paying for me to hang out in a (rather nice) hotel, get three hot meals tomorrow, and do literally nothing but watch TV and read a crappy mystery novel. Tax money well spent! ---
**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:** [February 2, 2011, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/390 "2011-02-02T05:47:17Z")
Good for you, **Ninja Chick**. While you still have some time to post before disappearing for the next six weeks, is there a thread where you discuss issues such as which branch you’re going into, and what kind of career arc you have in mind? ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/391 "2011-02-02T06:13:14Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Fuck! Who takes a fucking girls (10 years old? 12?) basketball team to Starbucks lateish on a school night? And a special fuck you to the guy who asked if it was OK if he sat next to me - sure, why not? Ah, what he really meant was “is it OK for me to save this seat for my wife to come breastfeed her baby?” > > Yeah, I left. Guess I really didn’t need to take a rest break driving home from Phoenix… I don’t think I understand this one. You’re annoyed that a shop has customers? Did the man want you to move so his wife could sit down? Or does breastfeeding offend you? Personally, I got over women breastfeeding in public when I was 12. That was when I realized I prefer that the quiet grunting noise babies make when they’re feeding to the loud screams they make when they’re hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/392 "2011-02-02T13:33:08Z")
Since she’s a NinjaChick, how will they know if she shows up? And I can’t stop picturing her being chosen for the GI Joe program on an Equal Opportunity exception. I think they need a NinjaChick. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/393 "2011-02-02T15:56:31Z")
Heh. Now I’m kinda hoping she’s joined the Navy, so we can hear about her giving a beat-down on some pirates. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/394 "2011-02-02T17:27:05Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > I don’t think I understand this one. You’re annoyed that a shop has customers? Did the man want you to move so his wife could sit down? Or does breastfeeding offend you? Dude, I don’t whip out my boob in public and neither should others. It’s fucking gross and not socially acceptable. In a developing country where people shit in fields and walk around with scraps of cloth covering their loins, then whipping out boobs is irrelevant. But in a fucking Starbucks in middle America? Fucking pump at home. The only people who should see a woman’s tits are her baby and her husband. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That doesn’t happen just in your location, **Tortuga** - it happens to me and my husband all the time, too. We like to see second-run movies, so the theatres are usually at max half full. We sit down, and within minutes, someone else comes and parks their butts right next to us, ignoring the rest of the empty theatre. We’re not sitting in the prime seats, either. All I can figure is that the herd mentality kicks in for some people - they just have to be close to other people. I used to think it was herd mentality, but I have a new theory: they have to be near people who are having a good time. The SO and I are giggling and laughing, excited to be watching a movie for a buck. In walks some morons that think happiness is by osmosis. Are you and Mr. Whisperer outwardly happy? > [@Chefguy](#): > > 3She has not, however, lost interest in drinking water out of any available source, as long as it’s not her water dish. ☹ I’m sorry about the vase. Stupid cat. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/395 "2011-02-02T17:37:32Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Dude, I don’t whip out my boob in public and neither should others. It’s fucking gross and not socially acceptable. In a developing country where people shit in fields and walk around with scraps of cloth covering their loins, then whipping out boobs is irrelevant. But in a fucking Starbucks in middle America? Fucking pump at home. The only people who should see a woman’s tits are her baby and her husband. Please educate yourself before spouting off such nonsense. Not all woman can pump enough milk. Not all babies will take a nipple over a breast. Most women make an effort to be as discreet as possible. I have news for you: you’ve probably been around breastfeeding mothers in public and not noticed. I fully intend to breastfeed this baby wherever and whenever I damned well please. If that bothers you tough shit. Breastfeeding in public is completely legal in [nearly all states.](http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14389) Anyone who finds reasonably discreet breastfeeding in public grossly offensive is a juvenile moron. A baby needs to eat when it needs to eat. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/396 "2011-02-02T17:43:56Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Dude, I don’t whip out my boob in public and neither should others. It’s fucking gross and not socially acceptable. In a developing country where people shit in fields and walk around with scraps of cloth covering their loins, then whipping out boobs is irrelevant. But in a fucking Starbucks in middle America? Fucking pump at home. While I tend to agree that the situation “exposed bare boob in the immediate presence of complete strangers in public” isn’t generally regarded as socially acceptable even for breastfeeding purposes, I’d say a nursing scarf is a perfectly acceptable compromise. No need to smother the baby under heavy layers or erect a full-on privacy shield, IMO, much less tote around a bottle. As long as there’s some kind of visual barrier so that the naked breast isn’t actually hitting passersby in the eye, so to speak, I don’t have any problem with moms plugging in a hungry baby in a public place. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/397 "2011-02-02T17:44:13Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Heh. Now I’m kinda hoping she’s joined the Navy, so we can hear about her giving a beat-down on some pirates. That would be Teh Coolest, but I have faint memory she said Army…maybe it was the leaving home thread? ---
**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:** [February 2, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/398 "2011-02-02T17:52:10Z")
That’s cool, I guess. I’m just happy for her that she’s managed to find something to do. I had felt kinda bad for her when she was having her difficulties with trying to get into and finance grad school. Hope she’s gonna be an officer, anyway. College graduates shouldn’t be enlisted men. Women. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/399 "2011-02-02T18:15:41Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > I don’t think I understand this one. You’re annoyed that a shop has customers? Did the man want you to move so his wife could sit down? Or does breastfeeding offend you? Yes, breastfeeding offends me when it is RIGHT beside me. Nice you got over it, many of us haven’t. I especially didn’t appreciate that he seemed to set me up by asking if it was OK if HE sat there, and then five minutes later he plops wife and baby there. It was almost bait and switch. As for the rest, the shop had plenty of customers until someone thought it was a grand idea to bring a whole girls basketball team in and turn them loose to giggle, scream, lead cheers, take all available seats (even tho most didn’t buy anything), trip over my feet, etc. It was 10 pm on a Sunday, at a coffee shop. Who does that? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/400 "2011-02-02T18:19:55Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Yes, breastfeeding offends me when it is RIGHT beside me. Nice you got over it, many of us haven’t. I especially didn’t appreciate that he seemed to set me up by asking if it was OK if HE sat there, and then five minutes later he plops wife and baby there. It was almost bait and switch. > > As for the rest, the shop had plenty of customers until someone thought it was a grand idea to bring a whole girls basketball team in and turn them loose to giggle, scream, lead cheers, take all available seats (even tho most didn’t buy anything), trip over my feet, etc. It was 10 pm on a Sunday, at a coffee shop. Who does that? Oh my god a baby got fed right next to **curlcoat** without her permission. Alert the police! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389.md?page=21)