# Remember the Emperor of the World? I think I met his wife today. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 6, 2005, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312 "2005-09-06T06:32:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/81 "2005-09-08T23:13:29Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Well, I’ll stop if you will. You should probably stop regardless, as the more you try to defend yourself the more obnoxious you seem. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/82 "2005-09-08T23:57:13Z")
I am not being obnoxious. I’m not the one who got on a high horse and started in about “EVERYBODY knows that seven is the age of reason.” I’m not going to sit there and take it when people call me stupid, that’s all. **That** is obnoxious. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/83 "2005-09-09T00:27:08Z")
Maybe if both sides in this little “tiff” would just shut up about it(the cud has been chewed pretty darned well, mooo), then we could get back to the fun thread we used to have. ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/84 "2005-09-09T03:00:42Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Well, I’ll stop if you will. Just what the fuck is it you’d like me to stop? I haven’t even been participating, dumbshit. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/85 "2005-09-09T03:07:39Z")
> [@SisterCoyote](#): > > Well, TCK finally cries herself sick, and pukes. At which point TM looks up at me and says, “Well, you’ll _have_ to do something now.” > > Internally, I’m thinking WTF? Externally, I smiled at her, walked over to the phone and called custodial to handle the code V before getting a bag of “pixie dust” (scented sawdust) to dump over the, um, spill. > > Seriously. What was _I_ supposed to do before that to prevent the situation? > > 😕 My GOD!!! The absolute epitome of entitlement, as if “doing something” was somehow your responsibility. I really truly despise this type of parent, of whom there are WAY too many in this day and age. You certainly were under not even the remotest obligation to prevent the situation, she WAS, and failed miserably, what a lousy human being, poor little kid. I mean for crying out loud, no mom worth her salt can possibly be unaware of a “tired” cry. Here you are, not even a parent and YOU recognized it. This person was an excellent advertisement for enforced sterilization. If she’s that clueless about her child’s needs on a simple outing, imagine what the rest of this child’s life is like. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/86 "2005-09-09T03:24:00Z")
> [@galt](#): > > … People whose kids are acting like shits rarely take comments about it well, no matter how well-deserved. Which is, **Rilchiam’s** issue totally aside, a shame really. When I was a child it was welcomed. And when I was raising my kids I sure as HELL welcomed input from strangers when my child was misbehaving. Particularly with my daughter, this darling, gorgeous little creature that managed to somehow convince people that she was a perfect angel. I LOVED when people saw through her little act and helped me out by calling her on her BS. Mom’s who don’t accept this, (unless of course it is not true or totally over the top) are idiots, they’re cutting off a valuable source of support for themselves. Kids generally believe that mom or dad, in trying to lay down rules are just doing it because they are big meanies, the “heavy” so to speak, and that there is no real reason for mom and dad’s rules. The “takes a village” intervention by a stranger, done right (of course not a screaming lecture or even any kind of punishment0, in no uncertain terms lets a kid know that No, in fact, his or her behaviour really isn’t just mom or dad syaing it is bad, and really IS the problem. For some reason, this is much more effective, embarrassing and makes a much bigger impression on a kid that if it is just “ole mom or dad”. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/87 "2005-09-09T03:47:46Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I am not being obnoxious. I’m not the one who got on a high horse and started in about “EVERYBODY knows that seven is the age of reason.” I’m not going to sit there and take it when people call me stupid, that’s all. **That** is obnoxious. Am I the only one imagining a kid shouting this at the top of their lungs? “I’m not the poopyhead! YOU’RE the poopyhead!” It’s time to back away from the keyboard and take a deep breath. You’re just digging yourself in deeper with each post. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/88 "2005-09-09T04:08:21Z")
You’ve got to be kidding me. I have not insulted anyone in this thread. Nor have I gone on any rant, nor am I shouting and hurling accusations. But I get called stupid, obnoxious and a dumbshit, and that’s supposedly my fault. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Alatariel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Alatariel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alatariel)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/89 "2005-09-09T04:11:14Z")
Mr. Alatariel chiming in here: I used to work 3rd shift cashiering at a 24 hour grocery. When I didn’t have customers (there could be stretches for as long as two hours) I had to clean the other checkout stations and stock the front end. One morning, about 3 a.m., I was cleaning the belt two stations down from the open register when PotW (Prince of the World) came up and slapped down some beer and junkfood on the open belt. I paused for the time it takes to make two wipes (literally 3-5 seconds) on the belt wet belt I was cleaning… so it wouldn’t leak beneath the checkout stand… and came over to check PotW out. PotW didn’t like the fact that I had paused before coming over. He got even angrier when I told him that we can’t sell alcohol after 2 a.m. He made oh so witty comments about being sorry that he had interrupted my break and that I was too stupid to hold a real job ( 10.50 an hour back in '83 for a 24 hour a week job while in college). He then went on to comment on my mustache as I was scanning his snacks. That’s when I had enough, so I canceled the order and took his stuff off the belt. Me: “You can leave the store now sir. I do not have to put up with personal insults.” PotW: “You gonna make me?” Me: (picking up intercom/phone) " Grocery to the front please." and then smiling as I came around the belt: “You are going to leave now.” At that point two regular customers come up from the store and watch the scene with a bit of curiosity. The stock crew is also coming up to see why I called for help. PotW: “You trying to scare me, fucker?” Me: “Rick (head of the stock crew) call the police for me if this gentleman doesn’t leave. Now sir, you are going to leave now and never come back to this store. You’ll be arrested if you do.” PotW just stands and stares. Me (rasing my left arm and pointing out the door): “LEAVE NOW.” PotW shuffles and says he’ll call in the morning. I hold my name badge out for him to see and he finally walks. Nothing was ever said to me by management and no calls were made to the best of my knowledge. It was sweet being able to tell off a jerk like that, but I was given some slack because a week earlier I had been robbed at gun point. Management also said we night people had greater leeway in ejecting potential troublemakers than the earlier shifts because we had become so good at catching shoplifters (usually 1 every night or two…except one night when we nailed 5 seperate lifters…different story there). That’s the ONLY thing I miss about nightshift, the ability to call a jerk a jerk, and throw him/her out. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/90 "2005-09-09T04:12:44Z")
When my sister was little, she had a habit of running away from my mother-she’d NEVER stay with her. (Mom finally went and bought one of those wrist-to-wrist leashes). Well, one day, finally, my mother was so sick of it, she said to Baby Sis, “You know, someone could grab you and take you away from me, and I’d NEVER see you again!” And this little old lady happened to be passing by, and winking at my mom she said, “That’s right-I’m going to snatch you up and take you away from your Mommy!” My mother said my sister didn’t leave her side for the rest of the day. And yes, Mom was extremely grateful to that woman. How many parents nowadays would be? Now, I think I saw a future Empress of the World years ago. I was sixteen and my first job was working at a local grocery store after school. One evening, it was pretty dead, and one of my co-workers was waiting on this woman and her daughter (probably about five years old). Now, said co-worker is a kindergarten teacher who works here part-time, and she’s EXCELLENT with little kids. The little girl apparently liked it when the counter belt was moving, so she could put her fingers on it and feel the belt “rolling” under her hands. So she looked at my co-worker and said, “Roll it!” Co-Worker: (very sweetly) Now what do you say? Future Empress: I _said_ “roll it.” The whole time the mother’s just standing there laughing, and as they walked out she said, “Oh, Lauren, you’re such a card!” Eep. That was over ten years ago. I shudder to think how the future Empress is now. ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/91 "2005-09-09T06:31:31Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > You’ve got to be kidding me. I have not insulted anyone in this thread. Nor have I gone on any rant, nor am I shouting and hurling accusations. But I get called stupid, obnoxious and a dumbshit, and that’s supposedly my fault. :rolleyes: I’m still trying to figure out what you meant when you told me, “I’ll stop if you will.” Since it doesn’t seem to make any sense, then yeah, it **was** your fault you got called a dumbshit. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/92 "2005-09-09T06:58:50Z")
You said “For fuck’s sake, are you just about done?” when I hadn’t been talking to you, either. Who even asked you? It’s not my fault that other people are choosing to continue this. I **could** eat shit and smile, but I see no reason why I should. It’s other people’s choice to insult me; it doesn’t make me **look** stupid to be **called** stupid. (And before you say it, I know you, **galt** did not call me stupid.) What am I supposed to do when people insult me, tell them I love them? This has gone way beyond the bookstore incident, and I am **not** the one who pushed it there. I did not make personal attacks. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/93 "2005-09-09T07:34:16Z")
> [@Alatariel](#): > > …snip…That’s the ONLY thing I miss about nightshift, the ability to call a jerk a jerk, and throw him/her out. I wish we’d have had the support of management in my recently vacated interim job. The shame of it was, that the job itself was fun, the PEOPLE and the utter lack of support from management made it suck. It was a local chain gym, a very large one with a lot of locations. And due to the huge number of members, a goodly number of regulations that members were “supposed” to follow. Quite reasonable ones too, ones designed to make as many members comfortable and happy as possible. The trouble is, that they way it really went was that the members who bitched, whined and complained to management about being held to the rules by we lowly managers were coddled and allowed to pretty much do what they wanted, hell with their fellows members and however they were inconvenienced by it. This gym, and in particular the extremely hoity toity location where I worked was the absolute TRAINING ground for Jr. EoTW. Particularly several of the Tennis members It kindof reminded me of that one episode of Frasier, where the Spa had levels and then higher levels of membership? Well same thing here. A lot of members really took to heart their status as “Gold” members or Tennis members and just absolutely made the poor front desk girls’ workdays miserable with all of their petty posturing and attitudes. I wish I had a really good revenge story, but I don’t. Other than the old “living well is the best revenge” adage, by which now that I’ve left that job and am back in my normal industry, I’m making nearly three times what I did there. One guy in particular just stuck in my craw despite my best efforts. I’d really like to run into him somewhere and have some really great “put him in his place” scenario go down. But for now, I’ll have to live vicariously through all your stories here. 😃 Not to mention, fight the good fight for service people everywhere by stepping in and verbally bitch-slapping an EotW fellow customer if need be. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/94 "2005-09-09T12:43:39Z")
Nearly-full-grown Empresses galore [here!](http://www.mtv.com/onair/dyn/sweet_16/series.jhtml) The kind of show you know you shouldn’t watch but just can’t resist, and you end up spending half an hour like this: :eek: :mad: :eek: :mad: :o :mad: :smack: Their Royal Highnesses abounded when I worked at a bookstore during my college summers that was one block from Wall Street. Yes, ma’am, we have a huge stock of \ in The Back Room that we are deliberately not selling to our customers. We hold orgies on the pallets, in fact. Only good news is that since their time is oh-so-important, the encounters are brutal but fast. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/95 "2005-09-09T15:59:18Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > My GOD!!! The absolute epitome of entitlement, as if “doing something” was somehow your responsibility. > > I really truly despise this type of parent, of whom there are WAY too many in this day and age. > > You certainly were under not even the remotest obligation to prevent the situation, she WAS, and failed miserably, what a lousy human being, poor little kid. I mean for crying out loud, no mom worth her salt can possibly be unaware of a “tired” cry. Here you are, not even a parent and YOU recognized it. > > This person was an excellent advertisement for enforced sterilization. If she’s that clueless about her child’s needs on a simple outing, imagine what the rest of this child’s life is like. Well, Disneyland (and I would guess most amusement parks) bring out the worst, most selfish behavior in some people, too. But, yes. We (Cast Members) were frequently expected somehow to know how to parent other people’s children, because the parents were too distracted to bother. On the other hand, we were told, explicitly, in training that if a parent ever tried to leave their small child with us to “watch” while they took in an attraction that the child was too small to ride, we had free leeway to call Security and have the child taken to lost children. Babysitting != our job, and Disney wasn’t going to have us taking responsiblity for someone’s child. I never had to do that, though I did once tell a parent flat out that if she left her stroller-bound child in my shop I would follow through. She went out in a huff. Occasionally, I’d see a kid left in a stroller outside one of the “E-ticket” attractions. That was always fun, ( :mad: ), although usually Security was standing with the kid. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/96 "2005-09-09T19:02:18Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > If children are disruptive, I ask their parents to quiet them, **curb them** , or remove them. :eek: Like _American History X_? ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/97 "2005-09-09T20:33:17Z")
> [@cruel butterfly](#): > > It’s been my experience that very few people EVER read signs placed for their benefit. How many times have you borne witness to someone pulling with all their might on a door labeled “push”? My standard response to people doing things that the sign tells them _not_ to do is, “Good thing that sign didn’t say ‘If you {do whatever}, you will die.’” Sometimes they laugh. Mostly they just get red-faced and quiet. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/98 "2005-09-10T04:55:26Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > Nearly-full-grown Empresses galore [here!](http://www.mtv.com/onair/dyn/sweet_16/series.jhtml) The kind of show you know you shouldn’t watch but just can’t resist, and you end up spending half an hour like this: :eek: :mad: :eek: :mad: :o :mad: :smack: > > . You are a much braver woman than I am. I have teken in bits and pieces of that show. I couldn’t take it. Not so much because of the girls who, after all, are only doing what overindulged children do, but at the beyond enough bad words to describe IDIOCY and utter parental cluelessness of the parents. Talk about boggling the mind. We’d have been drawn and quartered at dawn had we even THOUGHT of telling our parents to “fuck off”. Hell, we’d have been grounded for life had we even said “fREAkin”. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/99 "2005-09-10T05:03:43Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > We’d have been drawn and quartered at dawn had we even THOUGHT of telling our parents to “fuck off”. Hell, we’d have been grounded for life had we even said “fREAkin”. Oh, I tried it. My reward was a slap on the mouth. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312/100 "2005-09-10T14:15:21Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > \Talk about boggling the mind. We’d have been drawn and quartered at dawn had we even THOUGHT of telling our parents to “fuck off”. Hell, we’d have been grounded for life had we even said “fREAkin”. I got my mouth washed out with soap when I was wee for telling my sister to shut up (it was and is considered rude in my family). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-the-emperor-of-the-world-i-think-i-met-his-wife-today/320312.md?page=6)