# Ho-fucking-ho: Christmas Season mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 29, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309 "2010-11-29T18:36:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**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:** [December 20, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/241 "2010-12-20T20:27:30Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > \ > But since I want my package and I usually bake about a million cookies over the holidays, I just hand some gingersnaps over and take my boxes and go home. And promise myself that I will remember to have everything delivered to my office next time. :eek: THAT is seriously _creepy_. ETA: The snipped part is creepy, not the part I left in. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/242 "2010-12-20T20:42:09Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > But since I want my package and I usually bake about a million cookies over the holidays, I just hand some gingersnaps over and take my boxes and go home. What is she going to do if you just say, “Shut the fuck up and give me my package before I call the cops to report you for theft and mail fraud, bitch”? ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/243 "2010-12-20T21:00:08Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > What is she going to do if you just say, “Shut the fuck up and give me my package before I call the cops to report you for theft and mail fraud, bitch”? Obviously nothing. But if I did call the cops, they’re not going to do anything about the situation and then suddenly I’m in a war with one of my neighbors. And really, in the grand scale of Crazy People in New York City, Caroline’s fairly benign. In my first apartment in the city, I lived next door to a group of dudes who would get massively high out on the front stoop at 3:00 am, lock themselves out of their apartment, and then come banging on my door to see if they could climb out my bedroom window to the fire escape and jump across to their living room window a few feet away. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/244 "2010-12-20T21:10:12Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > In my first apartment in the city, I lived next door to a group of dudes who would get massively high out on the front stoop at 3:00 am, lock themselves out of their apartment, and then come banging on my door to see if they could climb out my bedroom window to the fire escape and jump across to their living room window a few feet away. Did you let them? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/245 "2010-12-20T21:11:14Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > But if I did call the cops, they’re not going to do anything about the situation . Nor should they. If the shipping company/buyer/shipper allows a neighbor/employee/apartment to sign for a package aka a “consignee” - and said consignee does sign for said package and releases it unto the end recipient, then all is well, no laws have been broken, etc. ianal, etc I suggest that others look up the defintion of “consignee” before thinking that signing for a package not directly addressed to you is illegal. It’s normal and happens about a zillion times a day. Your companies mailroom is a perfect example. It is possible to add a shipping instruction that the package _must_ be signed for only by a specific person, usually this costs extra and causes issues. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/246 "2010-12-20T21:20:49Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Did you let them? No. But I did give them some gingersnaps. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/247 "2010-12-20T21:20:57Z")
This is the time of the year where the scammers from the Name the Star after someone company start advertising. You know the scam - they will associate someone’s name with a star, send a certificate, and put the name in a book which will be placed in the _wait for it_ US copyright office. A few years ago they said Library of Congress, and I assume the Library of Congress started to reject books from these cretins. I’m happy to say no one I’m related to is stupid enough to fall for this. If they did, I’d send them the cost of the name and tell them to buy a clue. As for the Rocky someone who does the ads, if I meet him in a dark alley he’ll be seeing stars. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/248 "2010-12-20T21:46:33Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I suggest that others look up the defintion of “consignee” before thinking that signing for a package not directly addressed to you is illegal. It’s normal and happens about a zillion times a day. Your companies mailroom is a perfect example. No shit. However, presumably signing for a package that isn’t yours and then refusing to hand it over to the person it was intended for \*is \*illegal. At the very least, I would think that if someone else signed for your package and you were unable to recover the package from that person, either the vendor or the original shipping company would be responsible for replacing it. ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/249 "2010-12-20T22:16:18Z")
Dang you sister. You kicked your kid out of the house right before Christmas? I know he is 18, but he is in Community College. The reason kids go to community college is so that they get some credits out of the way cheaply and save money by living at home. So now he is living with me. So I guess I have a child for 2 years while he get thru this portion of college. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/250 "2010-12-20T22:29:02Z")
Wow. What possible justification did she have for kicking him out? Was there some sort of prior “get your own place within X months after turning 18” ultimatum? ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/251 "2010-12-20T22:49:24Z")
I don’t know the real reason, but he was suppose to get a job and his own place, but right before Christmas? That is cold. But I think it is cause her current husband is not working and so is drinking all day and getting mean and he demands some knit picky stuff from the kids (there are 3 of them from 15-18) like everything has to be exactly perfect, so there was probably a falling out cause this kid doesn’t take stuff lying down (I taught him well). But I told the kid he could stay w/me while in community college. If he got a job he needed to save that money for his 4 yr college. There are chores to be done and there are some house rules, easy stuff like telling us when he is going out and when he expects to be back. We are digging up some stumps this coming weekend, putting the child to some real work. Plus he helped bathe his Grandfather last nite (he will be in therapy for awhile for that 🙂 ). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/252 "2010-12-20T22:50:25Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > No shit. However, presumably signing for a package that isn’t yours and then refusing to hand it over to the person it was intended for \*is \*illegal. At the very least, I would think that if someone else signed for your package and you were unable to recover the package from that person, either the vendor or the original shipping company would be responsible for replacing it. Except that only in your imagination did TheMerchandise’s neighbor “refuse to hand it over”, or was “unable to recover the package”. **TheMerchandise** never said or implied either, just that she didn’t like having to go up there and didn’t like the neighbors strong hints about little gifts, etc. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/253 "2010-12-20T23:38:05Z")
> [@deb2world](#): > > \ putting the child to some real work. \ I thought you said he was 18. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/254 "2010-12-21T00:11:00Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I thought you said he was 18. 🙂 Haha. I really should have put it as The Child. I have called him that for a long time. Plus I ask him about “your little friends”. I tell my dog to “go sit with the little boy”. I am an aunt and call dibs on tormenting The Child and have for his whole life and with that he has grown to be a pretty good almost adult. I figure I now have another 2 years to warp his mind a bit more . bwahahaha. ---
**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:** [December 21, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/255 "2010-12-21T00:22:21Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > What is supposed to be wrong with it? Cast iron + enamel, right? Does the enamel chip easily? Does the cast iron heat unevenly? That seems to be about all that could go wrong with it. The enamel chips off or bubbles, both of which add nothing to your pot of stew. People complained of it chipping within 1-4 uses. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/256 "2010-12-21T02:20:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The enamel chips off or bubbles, both of which add nothing to your pot of stew. People complained of it chipping within 1-4 uses. Hmm. I got mine a year ago or so, and haven’t seen that. I’ll keep an eye on it, but I don’t expect it to start happening at this point if it hasn’t yet. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/257 "2010-12-21T13:34:46Z")
Inlaws: I realize that only a few years ago we stopped giving presents to all the adults, and this was welcomed by all. I’m thinking we should just knock it off altogether. We’re all able to get our own stuff, and we have such different tastes that it’s near-impossible to shop without wish lists. Dear sister-in-law #1: I appreciated your arranging the Secret Santa drawings and saying that you’d send our wish lists to our Santas. I just wish you’d followed through - my Santa had to message my husband several days later and ask what I wanted. And of course, I never got a wish list back, though it’s highly likely my recipient didn’t give one out. Dear sister-in-law #2: My husband tried to ask you casually for ideas so that he didn’t spoil the surprise. (He’s spoiling it today.) Perhaps this is why you only told him, “Big Name Department Store gift card.” If we’re going to just exchange gift cards, why are we continuing this at all? Admittedly, perhaps you’re doing it because of… Dear sister-in-law #3: You’re brutally picky about what you receive and yet not good about writing up wish lists in sufficient detail (example: if there’s a difference between a facial cream and a facial **day** cream in a particular product line, to the point where you immediately ask for the gift receipt and complain that it’s the wrong item and about the exchange hassle, please write down all the words in the product name. **Yet** “I thought it was close enough” often comes out of your mouth when you’re giving gifts. Asking for a gift list and then **knowingly** giving someone shoes **a half-size too small** does not mean that the other person is too picky. It means you’re lazy and/or passive-aggressive. If you don’t want to exchange presents among the adults, speak up; don’t pull stupid stunts like this. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/258 "2010-12-21T15:07:30Z")
Ah, Christmas, the time of year when my co-worker decides to regress to the level of a six year old. We’re aware that it’s December, thank you, we don’t need a count-down to the big day, and if we wanted to listen to Christmas music we’d put the radio on, rather than request some of your off-key warbling. You then go and forget your Secret Santa present, to top it all off. It’s hard to criticise the increased level of snacks in the office, though 🙂 ---
**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:** [December 21, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/259 "2010-12-21T15:59:40Z")
> [@deb2world](#): > > I don’t know the real reason, but he was suppose to get a job and his own place, but right before Christmas? That is cold. But I think it is cause her current husband is not working and so is drinking all day and getting mean and he demands some knit picky stuff from the kids (there are 3 of them from 15-18) like everything has to be exactly perfect, so there was probably a falling out cause this kid doesn’t take stuff lying down (I taught him well). You taught him to tell the person who’s in charge of the house he’s living in to fuck off? :dubious: Well, I appreciate that you’re taking him in now, but that was kind of stupid. If the 18-year-old wants to keep living with his parents, that means… drumroll please… _putting up with his parents’ rules_. Even if they’re stupid and capricious and way too nitpicky. And if he didn’t like it, he could… second drumroll… _get a job and move the hell out_. Punting him right before Christmas was cruel and unparently, but if there was a timeline set for getting his own job and he didn’t meet it, unless he could demonstrate that he was actually off his ass and looking for work. Eh. I’d put the blame on both the kid (for being a lazy backtalker) and the parents (for being overly harsh and unparently). > [@DrDeth](#): > > Except that only in your imagination did TheMerchandise’s neighbor “refuse to hand it over”, or was “unable to recover the package”. **TheMerchandise** never said or implied either, just that she didn’t like having to go up there and didn’t like the neighbors strong hints about little gifts, etc. Oh my god, do I need to add you to the list of people who have a personal hard-on for crawling up my ass? Because it looks like I do. Nowhere will you see me saying “sue the bitch’s ass for signing for your package.” You will, however, see that I posted, in reply to a post about the neighbor attempting to extort money or goods in exchange for the return of the package, a suggestion that the person give the neighbor the finger and a threat to take legal action _if the package wasn’t handed over_. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309/260 "2010-12-21T16:13:15Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Oh my god, do I need to add you to the list of people who have a personal hard-on for crawling up my ass? Because it looks like I do. > > Nowhere will you see me saying “sue the bitch’s ass for signing for your package.” You will, however, see that I posted, in reply to a post about the neighbor attempting to extort money or goods in exchange for the return of the package, a suggestion that the person give the neighbor the finger and a threat to take legal action _if the package wasn’t handed over_. Apparently it’s warm, with a nice intelligent & friendly crowd, but still plenty of elbow room. If someone helps me find my car keys, we’ll drive out. Yes, and you _could_ add a threat to “take legal action”:rolleyes: **IF** the neighbor opened up with a flamethrower. **IF**.:dubious: But since neither the flamethrower nor your ridiculous idea that the neighbor was with-holding the package was even brought up by **TheMerchandise** , your “ **IF** ” is completely utterly meaningless, and bad advice to boot. You can make up little scenarios in your little imagination and give advice based upon them, but perhaps such crap is best saved for the “/” boards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ho-fucking-ho-christmas-season-mini-rants/562309.md?page=14)