# Mini-rant #4589382 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 30, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731 "2006-09-30T13:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/1 "2006-09-30T13:52:31Z")
Dear anonymous lazy asshole motherfucker: the bed of my pickup is NOT a fucking trashcan. I realize you were probably logy after sucking down all those Big Macs, but the real trashcan was only ten fucking feet away! Just because your car (very probably) looks like the city dump doesn’t mean mine should. At least I can take solace in the fact that your arteries are clogging up RIGHT NOW. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/2 "2006-09-30T15:08:38Z")
😕 What, this responsible citizen has the common decency to dispose of his food containers in a handy and commodious receptacle rather than carelessly discarding them in the street, to the general degradation of the public welfare, and you have the audacity to complain? Where’s your civic spirit? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/3 "2006-09-30T15:44:58Z")
[QUOTE=stegon66] Just because your car (very probably) looks like the city dump doesn’t mean mine should. [/QUOTE] Actually, his/her car is probably clean, precisely because the selfish asshole chooses to dump rubbish in other people’s truck beds. And if your pickup hadn’t been around, i’m sure that trash would have been thrown straight on the ground. Here in Baltimore, i frequently see people stopped at traffic lights just throw garbage out the car window. The other day, i saw woman get into her car, start it up, then drop a large fast food soda cup and a hamburger wrapper into the gutter and drive away. We need to start fining people $2,000 for doing shit like this. That might change their selfish ways. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/4 "2006-09-30T15:56:00Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Here in Baltimore, i frequently see people stopped at traffic lights just throw garbage out the car window. [/QUOTE] I remember an incident that I witnessed in Montreal many years ago. I stopped at a red light. A cab approached from the other direction and stopped at the light. The driver got out of the car with a bag of trash, went to the sidewalk and threw his trash in a barrel, and then got back in the car. How sad that ordinary civic responsibility should be so memorable… I remember thinking that in most US cities, the trash would be jettisoned out the window and forgotten before it hit the ground. It opened my eyes to the general cleanliness of that city, and the contrasting litter that seems to be common to most US cities. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/5 "2006-09-30T16:05:49Z")
That reminds me of a truck commercial–they’re going on about how big the truck is, and this big burly construction-worker type guy throws a can in the back, and says, “Cause a man needs a place to put his stuff.” That was funny, but I can’t imagine how anyone would think it’s okay to throw their trash in somebody else’s truck. On a totally different subject, I’ve seen a car that really did look like the city dump. It was piled full of trash two-thirds of the way up the windows, with just a space for the driver to sit. I’m still trying to figure out how they didn’t have landslides of trash into the driver’s seat. I guess they couldn’t find a handy truck to throw all of their trash in. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/6 "2006-09-30T16:19:19Z")
I have an E-Pass. There are times when it doesn’t chime when I go through the toll booth. I’m assuming this means the little laser scanner didn’t read the E-Pass, despite the fact that it is mounted correctly, right behind my rear view mirror. Since I can’t back up and run through the toll booth again as it might tick off some of the drivers behind me, I have to keep going and hope for the best. So I have to pay a $25 fine for going through a toll booth without paying, because if I take this to court (on principle) and lose, I will get points assessed on my license. Ever think the fault is with the laser readers and not with the E-Pass thingies??? :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/7 "2006-09-30T16:21:19Z")
I’m sorry, I thought this was the start of another collection of mini-rants. I didn’t mean to hijack. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/8 "2006-10-01T00:51:05Z")
Oh by all means, mini-rant away! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/9 "2006-10-01T01:20:04Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I have an E-Pass. There are times when it doesn’t chime when I go through the toll booth. I’m assuming this means the little laser scanner didn’t read the E-Pass, despite the fact that it is mounted correctly, right behind my rear view mirror. Since I can’t back up and run through the toll booth again as it might tick off some of the drivers behind me, I have to keep going and hope for the best. So I have to pay a $25 fine for going through a toll booth without paying, because if I take this to court (on principle) and lose, I will get points assessed on my license. Ever think the fault is with the laser readers and not with the E-Pass thingies??? :mad: :mad: [/QUOTE] Does it really work that way there? Here in Massachusettsm they obviously have to have a picture of your license plate to send you a ticket. However, they cross-reference those with their list of pass-holders automatically so you hardly ever hear anything about it. The equipment isn’t all that reliable so I would think they would have to do that everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/10 "2006-10-01T01:34:34Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] Ever think the fault is with the laser readers and not with the E-Pass thingies??? :mad: :mad: [/QUOTE] The local news station here in West Palm Beach once did a story about people who were getting $25 tickets because their Sunpass, for whatever reason, didn’t register as they drove past the scanner. It’s because of stories like these (and yours!) that I wait in line at the toll booth and pay cash. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/11 "2006-10-01T02:31:50Z")
For fuck’s sake people, stop using the e. coli outbreak as a crutch for your wacky anti-modern-agricultural bullshit. Migrant workers aren’t maliciously tainting spinach to subvert the greed of the gringos, and dairy owners aren’t forcing corn down the mouths of their cattle and then letting them shit in the spinach fields. If modern ag bothers you that much, grow your own goddamn veggies and let the rest of us feed the planet! \ ---
**Author:** ![Available\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@Available\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Available_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/12 "2006-10-01T04:24:28Z")
You there, using “WaPo” instead of “Washington Post”! And you there, writing those commercials for that bank that use “WaMu” instead of “Washington Mutual”! Argh! Cut it out! “J-Lo” was bad enough. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/13 "2006-10-01T04:43:40Z")
It gets ugly in the other direction, too: Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand. Their new name? PricewaterhouseCoopers. GAH. I wonder how much money it cost to come up with that abomination? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/14 "2006-10-01T05:11:47Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] It gets ugly in the other direction, too: Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand. Their new name? PricewaterhouseCoopers. GAH. I wonder how much money it cost to come up with that abomination? [/QUOTE] Then there’s Arthur Andersen, which coincidentally changed its name to Accenture right around the time the company was linked to dodgy accounting practices in the Enron scandal. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/15 "2006-10-01T05:28:08Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] It gets ugly in the other direction, too: Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand. Their new name? PricewaterhouseCoopers. GAH. I wonder how much money it cost to come up with that abomination? [/QUOTE] Then there’s Arthur Andersen, which coincidentally changed its name to Accenture right around the time the company was linked to dodgy accounting practices in the Enron scandal. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/16 "2006-10-01T09:00:59Z")
Whatever happened to Arthur Anderson? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/17 "2006-10-01T11:14:42Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Then there’s Arthur Andersen, which coincidentally changed its name to Accenture right around the time the company was linked to dodgy accounting practices in the Enron scandal. [/QUOTE] Nope; by that point, Arthur Andersen and Andersen consulting were two quite separate entities, the former heavily implicated in the Enron scandal, the latter, not. They had split from the same parent company in 1989. Arthur Andersen were sued into non-existence post-Enron, the bare leftovers being snapped up by a range of companies such as Deloitte and Touche (as they were then), while Andersen Consulting had actually changed their name almost a year prior to the Enron scandal, having started the process to do so substantially before that. So basically, Andersen Consulting had nothing to do with Enron, and got lucky in changing their name just _before_ it was dragged through the mud. Arthur Andersen, on the other hand, most certainly got their just deserts. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/18 "2006-10-01T11:17:28Z")
All that and I didn’t make it clear that it was Andersen Consulting who became Accenture. Duh. Arthur Andersen remained Arthur Andersen until the very swift and bitter end. All of which is not to say that Accenture (innocent of wrongdoing though they may be) are not a bunch of abject arseholes who no sane person in possession of a full soul should even momentarily contemplate working for. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/19 "2006-10-01T14:57:52Z")
[QUOTE=Dead Badger] All of which is not to say that Accenture (innocent of wrongdoing though they may be) are not a bunch of abject arseholes who no sane person in possession of a full soul should even momentarily contemplate working for. [/QUOTE] Do I detect the voice of experience? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731/20 "2006-10-01T15:12:02Z")
[QUOTE=Dead Badger] Nope; by that point, Arthur Andersen and Andersen consulting were two quite separate entities, the former heavily implicated in the Enron scandal, the latter, not. They had split from the same parent company in 1989. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the info. I didn’t realize that they were separate entities. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-rant-4589382/374731.md?page=2)