# Things You Shouldn't Have To Tell People **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320 "2010-02-09T19:57:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/61 "2010-02-10T06:18:43Z")
Again…cold weather does not make you sick! Germs do! Do not chastise me for taking your bundled up toddler out in 30 degree weather rather than staying inside your loft where we’re all sick and passing our germs around! ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/62 "2010-02-10T07:35:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > If you are trying to switch lanes/merge/turn onto the road I’m on, and I let you in, give me the fucking wave. You _know_ the wave. Don’t pretend you don’t. > > Quick twitch of the hand. Trust me, you won’t crash. > > If your rear window is so darkly tinted that I can’t see the wave in daylight, it’s _too fucking dark_. You aren’t getting roadhead, so get that stupid midnight tint removed. Honest, please-fight-my-ignorance question: you mean when you let me merge in front of you (like on the freeway)? I’ve always done the four-fingered wave when I am FACING the driver who let me drive in front of them (like, at an intersection with a stop sign), but not if I’ve, say, made a lane-change and the driver letting me in is BEHIND me. (In fact, I’m always afraid it could be interpreted as giving them the finger, so I try to avoid gestures that could be seen by the driver behind me.) I’ve never been instructed to do so in any formal or informal setting. Am I doing something wrong? The shortened, less nonsensical version: I do the wave when I can see the other driver’s face in front of me, I typically don’t if I can’t. (Also, a disclaimer: I am not a licensed driver, so I don’t drive as often as the general populace does. Hence my ignorance. Though I DO drive with an experienced driver in the car, so…maybe they’re the ones in the wrong, too?) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/63 "2010-02-10T07:56:37Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > It’s that hard to remember walk on the right, pass on the left? Really? Yay, another entry for me: Habits are hard to break. Just because it seems easy to you doesn’t mean it’s easy for the other person. Especially when you’ve made a habit of doing the opposite. Here’s another one: insisting on being right will often cause more problems than merely being wrong. Doubly so trying to force someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/64 "2010-02-10T08:05:09Z")
When shoveling snow off your car – especially if it’s a deep snow – it’s NOT OKAY to dump the snow you’ve removed into the freshly-shoveled public sidewalk to save yourself a few steps. Ever. For any reason. What are you, stupid? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/65 "2010-02-10T10:13:56Z")
Fun With Student Teaching time! When you have a week to write a one-page paper, do not ask the teacher (that would be me) for an extension on the basis that you have other homework the same week. I know you have other homework the same week. I would be highly disappointed in your other teachers if you didn’t. If I can hear your music even though you’re wearing headphones, it’s too loud. And remember, it’s not my hearing you’re damaging - it’s your own. The school is a tobacco-free zone. [Snus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus) is tobacco. I don’t care if you’re not smoking it. Laptops say “click” when they close. When I tell you to close your laptop, I’m not getting off your case until it says “click”. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/66 "2010-02-10T10:29:55Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Meh. That sorta varies by work environment. Same as posting here from work. And sometimes, when I’m outside smoking and apparently not working to the casual observer, I’m actually deep in thought about something for work…how to respond to a discovery request, whether to accept a case, how to word a paragraph in a pleading, yadda yadda. Agreed. I’m amazed by the people who don’t understand this. Sure, in my case, cultural differences apply, but there are still a lot of people who wrongly think that sitting at your desk means you are ‘working’, and gabbing about crap with colleagues also means you are ‘working’, but going off to a quiet place to sort out a complicated problem in your mind before committing to it, means you’re goofing off. It’s the clock-punchers, mainly, who think this way because once they leave the office they can forget about work completely. Not the same for us. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/67 "2010-02-10T10:46:28Z")
In my defense, I did mention “assigned work times”, thinking back to my days of clock punching, and I also specifically mentioned start times. (Kinda also mentioned that it doesn’t apply to me now, which has both its good and bad aspects). ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/68 "2010-02-10T13:24:44Z")
If you need to get out of your car to let your child out, you do not belong in the drop-off lane in front of the school. If you need to watch your child walk into the building, you do not belong in the drop-off lane in front of the school. If you have to run inside for any reason, you do not belong in the drop-off lane in front of the school. From these examples, we may deduce that the drop-off lane is for parents whose kids can exit the car themselves and walk into the building themselves. We all have kids who have to be on time, and we all have places to go and things to do. ---
**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/69 "2010-02-10T13:24:50Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Here’s a small thought - > > maybe, just maybe when you > > take one step off of the escalator/stairway/doorway > > its not the best place to > > stop and look around/hold a conversation/arrange your clothes/look in your purse/turn off that marvelous brain > > Here’s a suggestion - step to the side, out of the way, and take your time to do that incredibly important chore. Is this haiku or something? Leave your damn Enter key alone if you don’t need it… this is one of the things I shouldn’t have to tell people. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/70 "2010-02-10T14:21:45Z")
It is not necessary to douse yourself in perfume before a workout. Your fellow gym patrons can’t hold their breath while working out, it smells up the locker room, and if you use the perfume because you’re afraid of getting smelly, here are two things to think about: A) marinating in perfume _makes_ you smelly and b) if your sweat is that smelly, all the perfume is going to do is make you smell like sweat _and_ perfume, which is much worse than sweat on it’s own. If you’re afraid of smelling, wear deoderant. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/71 "2010-02-10T14:28:43Z")
Yes, I have a candy dish on my desk and yes, you can have a piece. However, I am not here to supplement your daily dietary needs and it is not appropriate for you to come over and take 10 pieces of the kind you like so you can stow it in your desk for later. And no, I don’t require that you contribute to keeping the candy dish filled. I do appreciate those who chip in but I don’t look less upon you if you don’t. Unless, of course, you are being an obnoxious ass who complains when the dish is low or there’s not enough of a particular candy you want. Then I look at you with hate in my heart and Mr. T is in my head saying, “Pity the fool who fraks with my candy dish.” Oh, and just so we are really, truly, crystal clear. If I have a donation cup out - that is not free change for you to get a soda with. And just because you say, “can i borrow a dollar?” as you are taking it out of the cup and then walking off without waiting for an answer - that does not make it okay. Asking permission is not the same as receiving permission. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/72 "2010-02-10T14:31:39Z")
AND! If the work is generous enough to sponsor a paid lunch for the staff - you do NOT make yourself a to-go plate for later before anybody else has even had a chance to walk through. Especially not a to-go plate that would feed a family of four for a week. And especially not when you then walk through again to eat your actual lunch. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/73 "2010-02-10T14:33:17Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’d say this is something you shouldn’t have to tell people, but no one seems to realize this - sidewalks and mall corridors are like roadways; walk on the right, pass on the left (adjust as necessary for your location). Just like you don’t suddenly slam on your brakes on the highway, you can’t just stop walking in a busy mall or veer suddenly across everyone else who’s walking. And if you’re coming out of a store into the mall foot traffic, you need to look for people who are walking in the mall corridor already. > > I guess people need to be told this, but in Canada we walk and drive on the right; if you’re walking on the left on the sidewalk here and you’re walking towards me, I _will_ stop and make you go around me rather than moving aside for you. I’m not doing the “you go this way and I go that way” dance when I’m the one on the right side. Really? Is this “walk on the right” law written down somewhere then? Can you lose your pedestrian licence if you fail to obey it? It sounds more like an informal custom to me, and if “no one seems to realize” it exists, you may have to face up to the possibility that it’s one that only you have heard of. It’s certainly not obvious to me that the rules that govern road vehicles automatically extends to behaviour of pedestrians. Do you check your mirrors and signal before turning, too? By all means continue to insist on your imagined right of way, but be prepared for other people to think you’re being unnecessarily rude. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/74 "2010-02-10T14:33:47Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > Honest, please-fight-my-ignorance question: you mean when you let me merge in front of you (like on the freeway)? I’ve always done the four-fingered wave when I am FACING the driver who let me drive in front of them (like, at an intersection with a stop sign), but not if I’ve, say, made a lane-change and the driver letting me in is BEHIND me. (In fact, I’m always afraid it could be interpreted as giving them the finger, so I try to avoid gestures that could be seen by the driver behind me.) I’ve never been instructed to do so in any formal or informal setting. Am I doing something wrong? I thought it was pretty much universally taught that you do the wave in front and behind, but maybe _I’m_ wrong. Still, it’s pretty hard to interpret a whole hand wave as a finger. You should start. 🙂 > [@flodnak](#): > > Laptops say “click” when they close. When I tell you to close your laptop, I’m not getting off your case until it says “click”. I thought this was the case too, but I just bought a Toshiba laptop that does not click. In fact, the only thing holding it closed is the tension in the hinges. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/75 "2010-02-10T16:51:59Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > AND! > > If the work is generous enough to sponsor a paid lunch for the staff - you do NOT make yourself a to-go plate for later before anybody else has even had a chance to walk through. Especially not a to-go plate that would feed a family of four for a week. And especially not when you then walk through again to eat your actual lunch. Related note: Before you get seconds at a pot luck, make sure everyone has had firsts. My six year old knows this. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/76 "2010-02-10T17:00:58Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > (Also, a disclaimer: I am not a licensed driver, so I don’t drive as often as the general populace does. Hence my ignorance. Though I DO drive with an experienced driver in the car, so…maybe they’re the ones in the wrong, too?) Before I add something else to the list of things people shouldn’t need to be told (Like, if you don’t have a licesne, you shouldn’t be driving), I need to know if you have some sort of permit that allows you to drive with an expereinced driver, or if you just decide to drive unlicensed because you like it. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/77 "2010-02-10T17:01:43Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Really? Is this “walk on the right” law written down somewhere then? Can you lose your pedestrian licence if you fail to obey it? > > It sounds more like an informal custom to me, and if “no one seems to realize” it exists, you may have to face up to the possibility that it’s one that only you have heard of. It’s certainly not obvious to me that the rules that govern road vehicles automatically extends to behaviour of pedestrians. Do you check your mirrors and signal before turning, too? > > By all means continue to insist on your imagined right of way, but be prepared for other people to think you’re being unnecessarily rude. It’s written down in the same place don’t come to a dead stop at the end of an escalator and just stand there is. It’s not imaginary; the majority of people here use these walking rules. It’s the ones who don’t that are frakking it up for everyone. I think they could notice that everyone is doing something one way, but I also think that I overestimate how much your average person actually thinks. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/78 "2010-02-10T17:27:18Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Laptops say “click” when they close. When I tell you to close your laptop, I’m not getting off your case until it says “click”. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I thought this was the case too, but I just bought a Toshiba laptop that does not click. In fact, the only thing holding it closed is the tension in the hinges. At the school where I’m doing my student teaching, nearly all the kids are using the laptops that the school loans out, which do click. A few have chosen to use their own personal laptops, but so far I haven’t come across any kids with non-clicking laptops. I’ll keep that in mind, though. Mostly I’m just trying to deal with laptops that have springs in them - they open themselves as soon as I turn around to write something on the chalkboard :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/79 "2010-02-10T17:36:48Z")
> [@](#): > > When you work in an office of 40 people or so, and there’s a single company provided microwave, don’t wander off while you’re nuking your lunch. And when you do return a full 5 minutes after your meal finished, don’t bitch that someone dared to take it out of the oven so they could heat their own lunch I am pushing for legislation to put an ‘F’ chip in all workplace microwaves. This chip would detect anybody putting fish in the microwave and blow their freakin head off with a cannon. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320/80 "2010-02-10T17:36:49Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Really? Is this “walk on the right” law written down somewhere then? Can you lose your pedestrian licence if you fail to obey it? > > It sounds more like an informal custom to me, and if “no one seems to realize” it exists, you may have to face up to the possibility that it’s one that only you have heard of. It’s certainly not obvious to me that the rules that govern road vehicles automatically extends to behaviour of pedestrians. Do you check your mirrors and signal before turning, too? > > By all means continue to insist on your imagined right of way, but be prepared for other people to think you’re being unnecessarily rude. If there are a lot of people on the sidewalk, and everyone just wanders around in whatever direction they bloody feel like, no-one will make progress anywhere. This may be classified under the category of “common sense”, a quality your possession of which I am barely able to decline to speculate. Most of these things one should not have to tell people could be summed up this way: there are lots of other people in the world besides you, and their lives are as important to them as yours is to you. If you behave with that in mind, you will be much less inclined to act like an entitled moron. Roddy [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-have-to-tell-people/528320.md?page=5)