# June Mini-Rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 3, 2009, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561 "2009-06-03T10:04:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/41 "2009-06-05T20:43:27Z")
I’ve got a public service announcement about the smileys here on the boards. In particular, :rolleyes: \<----this guy 😛 \<----this little fella :D\<----_especially_ this guy ;)\<----and even this guy. They’re great in our more light-hearted threads, and can even be useful for bringing levity to otherwise overly-serious threads, but be careful, especially in the Pit and in GD. Unfortunately, if your post is the least bit confrontational, using any of these smileys will most likely just make you come off as a complete, raging asshole. You won’t seem witty or breezy, and it won’t diffuse any of the tension in built up in the thread. You’ll just look like a jackass and the thread will be diminished. And it’s not the smileys’ fault; they’re good smileys, but they have the potential for abuse. So please, before you post a smiley, ask yourself: “Will this smiley make me look like a dickhead?” And the same goes double for gratuitous exclamation points (especially in parenthetical remarks!), though admittedly they usually only appear after a poster has been called on their bullshit and is trying to justify said bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/42 "2009-06-05T20:44:17Z")
My company has recently reorganized. All previously independent business units that were formerly making the folks at the home office look bad by, you know, getting shit done, are now required to follow the processes and procedures developed by the home office. Today’s fun: [ul] [li]All schedules must be created in system Y.[/li][li]All schedules in system Y must be associated with projects.[/li][li]A project must be approved before it can appear in system Y.[/li][li]An estimate for costs and time-to-deliver must be produced before a project may be considered for approval.[/li][li]All estimates must be accompanied by schedules.[/li][/ul] Thank you for allowing me to weep on your thread. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/43 "2009-06-05T22:39:23Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > [ul] > [li]All schedules must be created in system Y.[/li][li]All schedules in system Y must be associated with projects.[/li][li]A project must be approved before it can appear in system Y.[/li][li]An estimate for costs and time-to-deliver must be produced before a project may be considered for approval.[/li][li]All estimates must be accompanied by schedules.[/li][/ul] This cannot end well. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/44 "2009-06-05T22:56:03Z")
Kids These Days, I must put on my Curmudgeon Hat and school you in proper phone etiquette. If someone calls your number and hangs up, it’s probably because they’ve realized they’ve dialed a wrong number and don’t want to waste your time. It is NOT an invitation for you to call them back and demand to know “Who dis?” If you don’t know who you’re calling, you are the idiot. Thank you and continue to stay off my lawn. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/45 "2009-06-06T00:00:21Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > [ul] > [li]All schedules must be created in system Y.[/li][li]All schedules in system Y must be associated with projects.[/li][li]A project must be approved before it can appear in system Y.[/li][li]An estimate for costs and time-to-deliver must be produced before a project may be considered for approval.[/li][li]All estimates must be accompanied by schedules.[/li][/ul] > Thank you for allowing me to weep on your thread. There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza. There’s a hole in the bucket . . . ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/46 "2009-06-06T00:04:30Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > If someone calls your number and hangs up, it’s probably because they’ve realized they’ve dialed a wrong number and don’t want to waste your time. It is NOT an invitation for you to call them back and demand to know “Who dis?” If you don’t know who you’re calling, you are the idiot. I beg to differ. If you call a number and hang up without saying something like, “Sorry, wrong number,” you deserve a harassing phone call in return. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/47 "2009-06-06T01:08:56Z")
To various college students on my campus: ``` Thanks a lot for making a difficult year even worse. On top of the impending budget cuts and potential job losses, your behavior and attitudes have been execrable. Noisy, disrespectful, defiant, lazy, rude (in one of my classes); only six out of 30 did the reading for the midterm in Prof. F's class; Prof. L. had to call security on a student who went ballistic on her; Prof. K.'s students--after 15 weeks of instruction--still couldn't grasp the simplest concepts in a class that's only one level below Composition; Prof. S. is pissed at some of her journalism students for their blatant plagiarism of entire essays from the internet; and so on. It's no wonder that so many profs have been absent lately. Yeah, it could be illness or personal necessity, but I'm thinking more along the lines of sheer emotional and mental exhaustion, and perhaps they're taking a breather just so they don't strangle you. I'm 43. Is that too late to go into some other occupation--especially since we're about to be drawn and quartered, budget-wise, in the CA schools? ``` ---
**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:** [June 6, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/48 "2009-06-06T01:11:08Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > I beg to differ. If you call a number and hang up without saying something like, “Sorry, wrong number,” you deserve a harassing phone call in return. Depends on the hangup - if you dial a phone number, realize after dialing the last number that you screwed up, and hang up right away without anyone picking up, then people shouldn’t be using \*69 or caller ID to call back and demand to know why you called. If, however, you only realize upon the other person answering, then yes, you should apologize for dialing a wrong number. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/49 "2009-06-06T08:45:42Z")
> [@Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](#): > > I love the online bookstore I buy from. But when I ask them to put the books I ordered into one single package, I don’t expect them to send them out one by one! Especially since the books all had the same expected deliverytime (5-7 days). Which they passed anyway (not counting the weekends, or this past Monday, which is a holiday over here), since I ordered those books Saturday before last. > > _sighs_ They might be putting the books in several packages because books A, B, and D are in Warehouse X, while books C, F, and G are in Warehouse Y, and book E is in Warehouse Z. Surely you don’t expect them to ship all the books to one central warehouse, which then ships the combined package to you? And delivery estimates are a big joke, IME. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/50 "2009-06-06T18:39:43Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > They might be putting the books in several packages because books A, B, and D are in Warehouse X, while books C, F, and G are in Warehouse Y, and book E is in Warehouse Z. Surely you don’t expect them to ship all the books to one central warehouse, which then ships the combined package to you? > > And delivery estimates are a big joke, IME. Actually, I do, because I don’t know how many warehouses they have. Maybe I’m wrong in this respect. It’s just a bit jarring, because normally they do put it all in one package. And they tend to put up realistic delivery estimates. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/51 "2009-06-07T03:46:13Z")
I hate finding out that someone you are very close to isn’t _q-u-i-t-e_ who you thought they were. Not dealbreaking, but … certainly perspective-changing. _sigh_ Now I can’t go to sleep, and I really need to go to sleep. _sigh_ _wanders off_ ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/52 "2009-06-07T04:45:59Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > I hate finding out that someone you are very close to isn’t _q-u-i-t-e_ who you thought they were. Not dealbreaking, but … certainly perspective-changing. > > _sigh_ It sucks huh? This pretty much sums up the minirant I was going to post a few days ago. Mine was going to include far more curse words than yours, though the underlying sentiment is the same: The girl I’m dating turned out to be slightly different than what I had thought. Not dealbreaking, but the perspective change has been weird. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/53 "2009-06-07T05:50:09Z")
Hey friend, Know how you texted me yesterday morning saying you were coming to the party and wanting to know if you could invite X? And I replied “Sure, but I’m going to order all the sushi in a couple hours and really need a confirmed headcount so get back to me with their answer as quickly as possible”? WTF did you wait more than 24 hours to reply with “They might come, maybe not. BTW, I’m on a diet so don’t order any food for me if you haven’t yet.”? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/54 "2009-06-07T17:36:12Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Mine was going to include far more curse words than yours, though the underlying sentiment is the same: The girl I’m dating turned out to be slightly different than what I had thought. Not dealbreaking, but the perspective change has been weird. I’m sorry, but… isn’t that the point of dating? You know, getting to know each other? In Spain it is; in the US the point seems to be finding someone to marry… **cckcerberos** , that’s not a “friend,” it’s an acquaintance. Friends don’t pull that crap and don’t go to parties involving food to stand sighing martyredly while other people eat, because “oh noes, I can’t eat, I’m on a diet!” (as if sushi had suddenly become coconut oil). Bet (s)he will 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/55 "2009-06-07T17:49:48Z")
> [@Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](#): > > I love the online bookstore I buy from. But when I ask them to put the books I ordered into one single package, I don’t expect them to send them out one by one! Especially since the books all had the same expected deliverytime (5-7 days). Which they passed anyway (not counting the weekends, or this past Monday, which is a holiday over here), since I ordered those books Saturday before last. > > _sighs_ As opposed to the company who took two and a half weeks to ship something that was a combined order that would have taken 5 days if they had been each ordered individually.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/56 "2009-06-07T18:03:12Z")
Windows that don’t resize - GRRR!!! I hate that. You’re forced to use scroll bars to look at masses of information in a tiny space. Bill Gates should be murdered for that one alone. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/57 "2009-06-07T18:26:05Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m sorry, but… isn’t that the point of dating? You know, getting to know each other? Yes it is the point. I’m disappointed because I liked her better the way she was before I learned this new side of her. Duh? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/58 "2009-06-08T04:03:21Z")
Dear new roommate: as I said, I have no problem with you letting your friends crash in the living room for the night. I’d appreciate more than a few hours warning, but I understand. What I’d _really_ appreciate, though, is that _they leave_. If they need to stay for multiple days, fine, but that’s a very different question from “they’re on their way back to Texas, can they crash?” ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/59 "2009-06-08T13:14:07Z")
I hate colds. I have _never_ had a cold so miserable as the one I have been dealing with for almost a week. Last Tuesday night through Thursday - death would have been nice. I couldn’t hold my head up, I thought my eyeballs were going to pop out from the pressure behind them, I couldn’t breathe, slept in fits and starts. Absofuckinglutely miserable. Friday there was a shift. I could actually kind of breathe! It was lovely! Silly me, thinking I was on the mend. Saturday felt even a bit better! I didn’t even sleep all day! But then yesterday came. Bitch. You suddenly decided to move into my lungs. I can’t breathe without rasping. Coughs are not “productive”, just painful. As it is I’ve pretty much quit smoking this past week - a w00t. My Diet Coke addiction is pretty much curtailed too - it tastes weird. I’ve been drinking water like a fish. However, to add to the friggin’ joy of coughing until I hurt, the coughs clang in my head, pounding due to lack of caffeine. GAH. _cough_ ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561/60 "2009-06-09T00:13:47Z")
It was one lady’s birthday today, so a group of us went out to celebrate. Lunch orders were placed with one lady who was responsible for turning them in to the restaurant. My order quickly became the topic of conversation because _gasp_ _I didn’t order any meat!!!_ And apparently it’s humorous that I have a food sensitivity that required me to double-check my order with the server and the kitchen before eating. Yeah. They’re usually not this aggressive though; maybe I’ve pissed someone off? Fortunately, none of them work in my department. I’ll add side pit for the the ‘lady’ who got all pissy about her order being a dollar (_a whole dollar!_) more than expected. She responded to this by complaining that she had no bread, and then swiping the other half of my bread without asking. What the hell? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/june-mini-rants/498561.md?page=4)