# MAY we have a new Mini-Rant thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 2, 2021, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217 "2021-05-02T07:28:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/41 "2021-05-04T01:15:14Z")
I called the pharmacy the other day to ask a simple question and had to wait through what must have been a 45-second message detailing the store’s hours, the pharmacy’s hours, the hours the pharmacy is closed for lunch, the location, the mask protocol, and a separate number for calling about vaccines. Hey, I get that they can’t waste time answering the same questions all day, but how about a “dial one for store hours” type thing? Must every FAQ be answered in one long message that everyone hears every time they call the store? Oh, and congrats @kayaker! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/42 "2021-05-04T01:36:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Married in a Vegas chapel livestream, then drove 2 1/2 hours to Zion, with a professional photographer. Somewhere, I have a photo I took of that exact location (no wedding). ---
**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:** [May 4, 2021, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/43 "2021-05-04T03:17:16Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Fuck I am tired of living like this. I love my son but I’m less crazy about my nanny’s kid, and I feel like that kid is taking up so much mental and physical real estate in my house. She constantly makes this annoying “eeeeehhhhhh” noise. When both kids get off on crying/screaming jags it’s so hard to focus and it’s so oppressive just going into the kitchen for lunch. I don’t like kids, I’m sorry. Mine is lovely but others just stress me out and there’s a reason we only want _one._ The other day the nanny asked if she could do her laundry here, and you know it’s fine, but it was just one more way to feel like my place is not my own. > > I’ve asked my superiors when we’re returning to the office and got a non-answer along the lines of “don’t hold your breath” so I either need to find a way to deal with this situation as it is, or something has to give. I would feel bad firing a nanny because I can’t deal with her kid, but the idea of just having a person here to manage my child and my child _only_ is growing awfully appealing. Maybe I should check if my library is open and go to work there. Is leaving your baby at the nanny’s home (even occasionally) an option? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/44 "2021-05-04T04:19:43Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Is leaving your baby at the nanny’s home (even occasionally) an option? Unfortunately, no. She lives far away in a very small space. The poor lady was homeless for a time and she’s just starting to get her life together. I talked to **Sr. Weasel** about this and basically our first step is for me to grow a backbone and explain to my supervisor that my work from home situation is just not tenable. I am fully vaccinated and rumor has it that nobody’s following the “one day a week” rule anyway, so hopefully it’s as easy as that. If my supervisor is okay with it the Executive Team doesn’t need to know. I’ll just keep showing up until I get in trouble. (I work in kind of a secluded corner so people will walk right by me without even knowing I’m there.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/45 "2021-05-04T06:24:34Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > (I work in kind of a secluded corner so people will walk right by me without even knowing I’m there.) That reminds me of an old news story… > **[Disgruntled Ninja Silently Kills 12 Co-Workers](https://www.theonion.com/disgruntled-ninja-silently-kills-12-co-workers-1819565345)** > > SKOKIE, IL—Toshiro Tenchumaru, a 34-year-old ninja and longtime employee at Azuma Copier Corporation in Skokie, stealthily took the lives of 12 co-workers Monday after suffering what investigators theorize was "a breakdown due to job-related stress." ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/46 "2021-05-04T12:03:19Z")
DirecTV: Worst. Remote. Ever. Last night I was trying to remove one episode of a series I had recorded, and it removed the entire series. This is not the first time this has happened. Nor the second. I could go on and on. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/47 "2021-05-04T13:25:04Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > > > Sure enough, my stupid ass stayed up until 3am, then I was too wired and afraid to sleep, _then_ had a nightmare that woke me up with a LOUD auditory hallucination. Scared the crap out of me. Has anyone ever had this happen? > > Once. In my case it sounded like a single, loud hand clap. I could still hear it ringing in my ears as I woke up. It never happened again thank God. I was literally looking around my bedroom trying to figure out what could have caused the sound but of course there was nothing. That was many years ago and I forgot about it until your post reminded me. It really sucked because it took a while before my adrenaline drained and I could sleep again. It’s happened to me once or twice. It’s scary as hell, but on the bright side, you’ve just experienced an auditory hallucination that probably has the coolest name ever: [Exploding Head Syndrome.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome) ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/48 "2021-05-04T14:16:10Z")
**kayaker** , those photos are beautiful! And I definitely sympathize, **slalexan** - after a certain point, your body feels like it’s just betraying you at every turn. Best of luck to you for a safe pregnancy. And best of luck with your kiddo and your sanity. Today I’m pitting my work. Mostly the “not my jobb-ers.” It never ceases to amaze me how these people still _have_ jobs when some of them are so very aggressively unhelpful in any setting to really anyone at all, even their own bosses or their boss’s boss. Do you have a secret love child with your boss that you’ve hidden away? How is it that you’re still working for this company? Is it just too difficult to fire you? That’s my best guess. ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/49 "2021-05-04T16:56:02Z")
My son’s pediatrician started using a online registration/check-in service. Let me assure you it sucks. I think it’s phressia or something like that. Last week I went through the seemingly endless forms that they wanted filled out (and no, you can’t have my SSN!) At the end there’s a very long page of legalese that starts out sounding like its to give them permission to send the forms to the pediatrician, but once I started reading further it turns out it was permission for them to send me targeted ads based on the health information I just filled out! FUCK OFF. I bet most people don’t read past the first paragraph and just click “I accept”! Today I take my son in for the appointment and have to check in using phressia. Well first you have to check over all the stupid records I filled out previously because something might have changed in the last week. Then they try to get me with the fucking targeted ads bullshit again. These companies are the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/50 "2021-05-04T17:05:47Z")
> [@Kelevra](#): > > Then they try to get me with the fucking targeted ads bullshit again. Why am I seeing a dark vision of the future? “For health care, you must accept our advertisements.” Opt in to spam or die. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/51 "2021-05-04T17:41:42Z")
So glad I’ve got a PPO. I haven’t encountered online check-in yet, but if my doctors start requiring it, I’m switching doctors. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/52 "2021-05-04T18:03:36Z")
I bought a bag of queso-flavored potato chips at Aldi. They taste so weird I can’t eat them. Now I’m sad because I don’t have any potato chips. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/53 "2021-05-04T18:19:26Z")
Another rant…I’ve been trying to sign my child up for a pre-swim team prep class based on the instructor’s recommendation, which is all well and good. But… 1. The school seems under the mistaken impression that working parents can magically teleport their children at 5 on the dot to wherever the hell they decide to host these things. 2. Their registration process is a freaking nightmare from hell. As in, I’ve been struggling with their IT department since 8 a.m. 3. They may not even have this prep class, and I have a feeling the above items 1 & 2 are likely the issue At this point I’ve emailed their swim teach coach and point blank asked whether there is an alternative with a functional registration feature (and a bonus phone number, which is absent on the swim team website) that doesn’t require an IT code fix and/or extensive documentation. I’ve essentially wasted a couple of hours on this process and I’d like to send them a bill for my services. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/54 "2021-05-05T03:31:46Z")
I’m at my wits fucking end with this nanny. She has a hard luck story, came to us straight out of an abusive relationship, homeless, single Mom, no prior professional experience. She’s great with our kid, our son loves playing with her daughter and it’s the only peer interaction he’s had… but goddamn is she unreliable. We gave her a _lot_ of grace in the beginning. We hoped once her housing situation stabilized it would get better. She couldn’t show up at 8am so we moved her shifts to 10am and she still shows up 15-20 minutes late. She had to stop at the store and get something she forgot, it’s always something. We are both working from home due to the pandemic. My husband is a child clinical psychologist who works between 10-12 hours a day, currently doing telehealth with one break in the day. Today she asked my husband to watch our son so she could leave the house and get one specific thing at Walgreens. He told her she had just enough time to go and get the thing and be back before his 2pm client. She returned with two minutes to spare and a crapload of stuff. Now she is asking my husband for a break to leave the house _every day._ She says the kids’ naps don’t always overlap and she needs to get out of the house and get food. This is ridiculous, right? She orders delivery a lot and she also brings a ton of food to overflow our fridge already. I get that caring for two toddlers is stressful, but the vast majority of days she naps on our couch for 60-90 minutes while the kids sleep. If we were a place of business a lunch break would make sense, but during normal times we’d both be out of the house and this would not even be possible. Now she basically wants a break at the expense of my husband’s break. We already give her a competitive wage, paid sick time, paid vacation and have gone out of our way to pay her while we are on vacation because we know she needs the money. I’m pretty much done. It’s exhausting, and I’ve already detailed the stress of having another kid in the house. I have spoken with my supervisor and will be returning to the office soon, so that part won’t be my problem anymore. Finding another nanny is going to be a righteous pain in the ass, because we only need one three days a week, and that termination conversation is going to be painful, she will probably cry, and I don’t even know how to deal with the request for a reference. Plus our kid will then be alone with no one to play with. This just fucking sucks. Why can’t she just show up on time and stop expecting us to drop everything to accommodate her? ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/55 "2021-05-05T04:16:27Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’m at my wits fucking end with this nanny. She has a hard luck story … Stop right the fuck there. Her shit is not your problem. You’re a generous soul, but this shit’s gotta stop. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Now she is asking my husband for a break to leave the house _every day._ … the vast majority of days she naps on our couch for 60-90 minutes Please read the above, out loud. Now imagine _ANY_ workplace that would allow this nonsense. I’m “lucky” to get a 30-minute lunch break, and she’s literally sleeping on the job! Not saying this out of spite or jealousy, just … pointing out how good she’s got it, because _you’re giving up so much mental health_ on her behalf. Maybe … find some other “hard luck story” (if you just gotta hire those) with a better work ethic? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/56 "2021-05-05T04:16:38Z")
How long is her shift? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/57 "2021-05-05T04:17:14Z")
Eight hours. Three days a week. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/58 "2021-05-05T04:21:31Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > We already give her a competitive wage, paid sick time, paid vacation and have gone out of our way to pay her while we are on vacation because we know she needs the money. > > … > > Finding another nanny is going to be a righteous pain in the ass, because we only need one three days a week, I highly doubt you’ll have trouble finding someone to care for ONE child, three days a week, with a benefits package that’s competitive with most established publicly-traded corporations. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/59 "2021-05-05T05:32:08Z")
My sympathies, @Spice_Weasel. It’s not the same thing, but we had to make a decision at work today to let someone go. Even though I know it’s the right thing it feels crappy. Best of luck with the new nanny search. I’m feeling burned out on the job, and guilty about it. I have a lot to be grateful for, but those thoughts are frankly obnoxious. Screw gratitude; I want a drink. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217/60 "2021-05-05T05:39:26Z")
Have you considered having a sit-down talk with her and enumerating your grievances directly? Maybe she doesn’t realize how much of an imposition her behavior is on your family, and she needs a metaphorical slap in the face to right the ship. Best case scenario, she gets the point and pulls it together, and you won’t have to go through all the work of looking for a new nanny. If she doesn’t, you always have the option of letting her go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-we-have-a-new-mini-rant-thread/941217.md?page=4)