And I’m REALLY worried about cancerous hamburgers.
Hmmm…so if we can only congratulate the man, but not the woman, isn’t that kind of sexist too? :dubious:
I’m with you on this one. I hate, hate, HATE it when someone sneezes and 15 people cry out versions of “God bless you!” Yeah, 'cause when I’m blowing snot all of the sudden and scrambling for a tissue, I’d like to draw as much attention to myself as possible (not).
If we (as a society) are going to bless sneezes, then why don’t we bless farts, or belches?
For crying out loud, just ignore it and let the person have some shred of dignity.
When I make a purchase at a store and say “Thank you” to the cashier, and get a “No problem” back, I want to say. “It better not be a problem, it’s your job after all.” I have told some proprietors in small places where I’m known well they should tell their cashiers not to say that, but say “You’re welcome.”
I have no problem with hearing “No problem” after I say “thank you” when you agree to do a favor for me.
I’d like to think so, but with the way political activism is these days, you can never be sure.
OMG, this.
The one that gets me is when I’m trying to cross a busy two or three-lane (each way) street as a pedestrian.
Now, I’m jaywalking, so I have no expectation that traffic adapt to me. I’ll just wait until it’s clear and then I’ll cross. It’s not going to be dangerous, it’s not going to startle any drivers. I’m an adult and I know what I’m doing.
But then you get the person who sees me standing there, waiting to cross, and they get this whole “Oh, Golly!” look on their face as if I’m about to fling myself into the stream of metal and glass like I’m playing Frogger and they better do something quick!
So they come to a stop, right there, and look at me expectantly while waiting for me to cross. And traffic is backing up and drivers are looking over their shoulders for a chance to dart into the other lane.
“Uh… Thanks? I guess? And can you stop the other two lanes, as well? Because they’re still in full swing and I can’t do anything with this.” How do they not anticipate or understand that?
So I indicate for them to go, just go. Keep driving. And they get this sort of huffy, unappreciated look and then they blast off again. And I hope they’re annoyed. So they don’t do it again.
Just drive, people. We got this.
That’s exactly what my mother drummed into me. No congratulations for the bride.
I don’t have the cites handy, but the Traffic campaign in Euskadi a few years back was “90% of pedestrian deaths happen while jaywalking, please don’t”.
Since you can’t be arsed find the properly-marked crossing, I am not going to assume that you can be arsed wait for me to pass.
I’ll join the chorus on too nice drivers when I am on a bicycle.
I have been at an intersection at a full stop with my foot on the ground and my hand signaling a stop and have had cross traffic cars (who do not have a stop sign) stop.
This does no good, because unless traffic from the other direction also stops I can’t go. Please just keep going.
I realize bikes sometimes don’t stop – but If my foot is on the ground and I am signaling a stop, I am stopped. full stop.
Brian
Even worse when people hold the doors open on the tube for people. It just delays the train and can cause the doors to break. The next train is usually no more than 3 mins behind, but a train taken out of service for a broken door will lead to a much longer delay for several hundred people.
People riding the elevator in silence and then saying goodbye as they get off. Annoys me to no end. If you want to be pleasant, do so while I have the chance to say something back. Otherwise, just remain quiet.
AKA Zeno’s Doughnut.
To build off what iljitsch says, elevator chit-chat. IMO and in my perception, people in the south feel the need to natter at strangers more. “How 'bout the JAGWARS yesterday? How 'bout them Dawgs?” “Who are your people?” Dude, none of your business. Also, I don’t care and I’m not bonding with you over football.
I love stereotypically taciturn New Englanders. If anyone tries to chat with a stranger in the elevator, it’s via the weather. “Cold out today.” “Ayuh” is an accepted and complete response to these statements.
(I can tell people “from away”. They chat you up. If they aren’t from away and they’re chatting up a stranger, they’re salespeople.)
I just saw this in action a week ago at a family gathering. Two people there who never met before were both from St. Louis and right away the high school question arose. One was Mr. Hoity-Toity for the rest of the visit. (The other was “merely” middle class.)
This really is a disgusting and repulsive tradition. I’m glad most people don’t know about it these days.
I used to have a manager at Target that would always end her requests with “please and thank you” and it drove me insane.
She didn’t mean it this way, but I always thought it sounded so smug. I realize I don’t have a choice in it, but saying “please and thank you” just rubs my face in it.
Or when a complete stranger asks, “Hey, didja see the game last night?” I have to stop and think of what season it is, which sport is played in this season, what’s the local team, etc. I suppose I should reply with “Yeah, great game!,” but that would lead to more specifics. Replying “I don’t follow sports” results in a look as if I had three heads, and demands that I follow with “And yes, I’m gay.”
Username/post combo :).
If you think about “you’re welcome,” doesn’t it run into exactly the same problem? Of course you’d better be welcome to the service, you’re a customer! You should complain to the proprietor.
Or, y’know, you could regard both expressions as idiomatic, and find other things to worry about than the fact that idioms have changed slightly since the Korean War.
Back in Jacksonville, I couldn’t even claim to be lesbian since the ones I knew back home were all huge football fans. Not following football in the land of the South East Conference means you’re a commie.