# Things You Shouldn't Need To Tell People **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674 "2021-07-04T19:29:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/63 "2021-07-06T16:30:05Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > And don’t eat while you are on the phone. Or while you’re on Zoom. It’s a CAMERA, people. It sees you and transmits that picture to other viewers. That’s kind of the point. 🤦🏽‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/64 "2021-07-06T16:55:44Z")
I learned in kindergarten to keep my hands and arms close to my body when walking from one place to another. I also learned to walk in line on the right. I’m pretty sure if you are of walking age you went to kindergarten as well. And you learned it also. Arms and hands in, schooch over toward the right. Always. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/65 "2021-07-06T16:59:03Z")
Pass left. Walkers, bicyclists, stoners all do it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/66 "2021-07-06T19:16:54Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Another one I’ve heard is when they say the number to you out of whack with the expected grouping of numbers: Area code…exchange…last four. So instead of _one two three_ …short pause… _four five six_ … short pause… _seven eight nine ten_ , they’ll say something like _one two_ … short pause… _three four five_ … short pause… _six seven_ … short pause… _eight nine ten_ . My _voicemail_ does that. Very annoying; and I can never get the number right the first time through (though that matters less when it also shows on the phone screen.) > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Learn to deal with the world as it is, not the world as you would wish it to be. Sometimes, however, you can help to change it. (Presuming, of course, that you’re not talking about the laws of physics.) ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/67 "2021-07-06T19:18:41Z")
I assume most people even older people own a smart phone. Even flip phones have text capability. Tell whoever is repeating the Need help getting a device or internet number to you to text their number to you. You have a copy that you can add them directly to your phone contact list. Plus you can refer to the text later then write the number down. Just about all business contacts have the option to call them directly from the link you googled, just press the phone icon. Done Then go to calls sent if you need to add that business to your contact list. I know I haven’t received a phone book since 20015. Where I live our carrier doesn’t provide land lines. I am in a rural area. If you or anyone else needs assistance with financial, age related, and a new phone or internet services please refer to the link. They even have free classes on how to use a smart phone and basic computer skills. https://www.aarp.org/home-family/personal-technology/info-2021/programs-older-adults-computers-internet-access.html ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/68 "2021-07-06T19:27:02Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Sometimes, however, you can help to change it. Agreed. But your starting point, the one you have to deal with, is the world as it is… There are a million political examples of people voting in the expectation of absurd outcomes, because they have no understanding of the actual real world (none of which I’m going to address, because I don’t want to get myself modded). But one I can address, one which comes up from time to time: someone or other that I know will get it into their heads that they can just start up a business “Doing some buying and selling”. Oh, I see - and what area of your particular expertise are you planning to exploit. “Oh, anything, really, it doesn’t really matter what…” The world as you would wish it to be. j ---
**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:** [July 6, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/69 "2021-07-06T19:35:11Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Food does not suddenly become inedible at 12:01 EST on a certain date regardless of how it’s stored, without leaving any detectable sign. And food should not be eaten out of a dumpster, unless you’re dying of hunger. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2021, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/70 "2021-07-06T19:37:47Z")
If there’s fragile art work hanging on a wall, don’t hold your kid up and encourage her to bang on it with her fists. I actually had to tell a woman that once, and she was indignant that I didn’t want her daughter destroying my artwork that took me several weeks to create. Grrrrrr. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/71 "2021-07-06T20:28:23Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Agreed. But your starting point, the one you have to deal with, is the world as it is… This is true. Understanding a problem as it exists is very often necessary to the potential success of trying to fix it. > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Cheese lasts more or less for ever. Cheese does not go off - it has gone off already, that’s why it’s cheese. > > (BTW - the cheese thing - joking Do not eat the moldy cheese. Especially not the green mold cream cheese. Just ask my brother-in-law. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/72 "2021-07-07T04:40:49Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > [@jtur88](#): > > > > Food does not suddenly become inedible at 12:01 EST on a certain date regardless of how it’s stored, without leaving any detectable sign. > > And the opposite: food does not last indefinitely, especially dairy and meat. Yes you should throw out that milk that is three weeks past its expiration date. If you are extremely careful not to contaminate the contents with mouth or fingers, milk remains very tasty, but sour and lumpy, for 3 weeks past expiration. I do it regularly. And your example does not equate 3 weeks with 12:01. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/73 "2021-07-07T11:33:35Z")
At a 1950s-60s dinner, my grandma would say: “[name, name], strong and able, get your elbows off the table. This is not a horse’s stable, [name, name] string and able.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/74 "2021-07-07T12:16:44Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Pre-pandemic I had our three dogs on leashes at the marina, heading toward our pontoon boat. A woman with kids asked, as she and her horde approached, “do your dogs like kids?” - “Yes. They find them quite delicious.” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/75 "2021-07-07T12:38:53Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > If you are extremely careful not to contaminate the contents with mouth or fingers, milk remains very tasty, but sour and lumpy, for 3 weeks past expiration. I do it regularly. Your digestion’s different than mine. I’d be in the john all day if I tried that. – unless, just possibly, you’re starting with raw milk, which sours differently than pasteurized. I’m not sure how my digestion would react to that, and am unlikely to try it, except in the form of cheeses or other cultured products made by somebody who knows what they’re doing. A couple of things you shouldn’t need to tell people, but in practice apparently do need to: Don’t try to pet, handle, or otherwise approach other people’s livestock (including crossing fences into pastures) without checking with their humans first. A cow, horse, or even chicken is not a stuffed toy, and is not guaranteed to act like one. A dog behaving in one fashion on the other side of a fence, door, or car window from you may suddenly behave entirely differently if you breach that dividing line. This is not all that different from the likelihood that you might smile as you pass a stranger or slight acquaintance on the street but freak out if they broke into your house. Stream banks, oceanside or lakefront cliffs, etc. are not guaranteed to stay put. The assorted geological and weather factors that caused them in the first place are still in existence. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/76 "2021-07-07T12:43:44Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Don’t wear perfume. > > **Seriously**. Don’t wear it at all, including using soaps and shampoos and lotions that are scented. Perfume chemistry is often hazardous, and many people have respiratory systems that react badly to them. You’re subjecting random strangers to toxic chemicals, and they have no warning or recourse. What are they supposed to do, stay at home? And all this is for what, to amuse yourself? Seriously? I think you’ve mistaken this for the “Things I personally don’t like and wish people would stop” thread. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/77 "2021-07-07T12:49:48Z")
Something that came up this weekend… It doesn’t matter what your taste in music is, your neighbors do not want to hear it pounding out of an outdoor PA system on your deck all day long and late into the night. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/78 "2021-07-07T13:28:11Z")
Interpreting the OP to include “things that you should understand about life” (OK, bending the rules a bit) allows me to propose two aphorisms from unlikely sources. _You are what your record says you are._ Bill Parcells was talking about football, but I submit that this can be applied to life in general. _Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth_. Mike Tyson was talking about boxing, but hell - ain’t that life through and through? j ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/79 "2021-07-07T15:37:42Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > but not SSDs, flashdrives or SDs, which are not archival What do you mean by ‘archival’? Solid state is a perfectly fine backup medium. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/80 "2021-07-07T16:24:55Z")
Archival usually means cold storage. SSDs require powering up every so often to retain data. There are two schools of thought on this with real world reports of data corruption occurring: [[ssds lose data - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=ssds+lose+data&rlz=1C1ASVC_enUS940US940&ei=iNDlYJ3aEdDi-gSEv7Zg&oq=ssds+lose+data&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIFCAAQhgMyBQgAEIYDMgUIABCGAzIFCAAQhgM6BQgAEJECOggIABCxAxCDAToECAAQQzoFCAAQsQM6CAguEMcBEKMCOggILhCxAxCDAToLCC4QsQMQxwEQowI6BQguELEDOgcIABCxAxBDOgIIADoICC4QxwEQrwE6BAgAEAo6CAgAEBYQChAeSgQIQRgAUN54WL6fAWDKowFoAXACeAGAAc4DiAGAGZIBCjAuMTEuNC4wLjGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6sAEAwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwidvs6Jq9HxAhVQsZ4KHYSfDQwQ4dUDCA4&uact=5)] ([ssds lose data - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=ssds+lose+data&rlz=1C1ASVC_enUS940US940&ei=iNDlYJ3aEdDi-gSEv7Zg&oq=ssds+lose+data&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIFCAAQhgMyBQgAEIYDMgUIABCGAzIFCAAQhgM6BQgAEJECOggIABCxAxCDAToECAAQQzoFCAAQsQM6CAguEMcBEKMCOggILhCxAxCDAToLCC4QsQMQxwEQowI6BQguELEDOgcIABCxAxBDOgIIADoICC4QxwEQrwE6BAgAEAo6CAgAEBYQChAeSgQIQRgAUN54WL6fAWDKowFoAXACeAGAAc4DiAGAGZIBCjAuMTEuNC4wLjGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6sAEAwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwidvs6Jq9HxAhVQsZ4KHYSfDQwQ4dUDCA4&uact=5)) [https://www.google.com/search?q=ssds+are+not+archival&rlz=1C1ASVC\_enUS940US940&oq=ssds+are+not+archival&aqs=chrome…69i57.4800j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8https://www.google.com/search?q=ssds+are+not+archival&rlz=1C1ASVC\_enUS940US940&oq=ssds+are+not+archival&aqs=chrome…69i57.4800j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=ssds+are+not+archival&rlz=1C1ASVC_enUS940US940&oq=ssds+are+not+archival&aqs=chrome..69i57.4800j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8https://www.google.com/search?q=ssds+are+not+archival&rlz=1C1ASVC_enUS940US940&oq=ssds+are+not+archival&aqs=chrome..69i57.4800j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) The bigger issue is that if/when SSDs fail, they’re likely to fail all at once and recovery if possible is extremely difficult and extremely expensive, $$$$, The same holds true for flash drives and SD cards which are the modern day equivalent of floppy discs meant for temporary storage as they also tend to fail completely and without notice [https://www.google.com/search?q=flash+media+failure&rlz=1C1ASVC\_enUS940US940&oq=flash+media+failure&aqs=chrome…69i57.6522j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=flash+media+failure&rlz=1C1ASVC_enUS940US940&oq=flash+media+failure&aqs=chrome..69i57.6522j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) Ahhh…this is confirmation bias! IMO, no, because I believe I’ve presented both sides. Hard drives can also fail completely without notice, but there’s a greater chance of at least partial data recovery, though it’s still expensive, $$$-$$$$. Neither is perfect, but SSDs less so because of the potential issues stated above, plus their higher cost per TB. That’s why we have backups! ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/81 "2021-07-07T17:13:51Z")
So what _do_ you consider ‘archival’? Your summary seems to say “nothing is”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674/82 "2021-07-07T17:24:24Z")
Move on top of the magnetic sensors right in back of the thick white line at the traffic light, lest ye be stranded there unmoving for the rest of eternity… [I actually had this happen 2 weeks ago. I pointed out the window (I was waiting in the next right-hand lane) to the white line, the person STILL didn’t get the point, and of course the left turn arrow didn’t come on.] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-shouldnt-need-to-tell-people/945674.md?page=5)