# unremarkable stuff that sends you over the edge **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956 "2007-10-25T13:53:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/101 "2007-10-27T19:40:24Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] Web forms with a pull down menu for the two letter state abbreviation. I’m fine if they allow me type the two letters in, just like I had to type in all the letters in the other 50 fields of the web form…but fuck no, I have to move from the keyboard to the mouse and scroll to the middle of the list to fill in the information that is implicit in the zip code I will have to enter in the next field [/QUOTE] No kidding. Try being from Washington: scroll all the way to the bottom of the menu, where you’d _think_ you’d find “WA”, but no, the bottom of the list is filled up with APOs, FPOs, and all manner of other US territories/protectorates. > [@control-z](#): > > I’ve got a friend/customer who calls me and says “Did you get my e-mail?” ARG. On a similar note … My roommate, who is about my dad’s age (61-62), spent a few years helping out a single mother of four kids. This family moved to a different town a couple years ago. One of the kids called my roommate on the phone to say “hi” and chat for a bit. After the phone call, my roommate _wrote a thank-you note_ (“Thanks for calling me!”) and dropped it in the mail. :rolleyes: Let’s see … East Coast sportscasters who can’t pronounce “Oregon” correctly Businesses that call their own products by the wrong name. Specifically, my local Godfather’s Pizza restaurant. For some reason, at some point during the last couple of years, they’ve started saying “thick crust” instead of “original crust”, and for customers like me, who have been eating at Godfather’s Pizza since 1980, this means I sometimes get my pizza with the wrong crust. The problem comes from the fact that the “original crust” is no longer the default crust. As I heard the story, the founder of the company got divorced, and it just so happened that the original crust recipe belonged to his wife. In order to keep serving this crust, the company would have to pay a fee to the now-ex-wife. So they responded by coming up with a new recipe, which they called “golden crust”, and made that the default crust. A customer can still get the “original crust”, but it has to be specifically requested. Because “golden crust” is the default now, some newer employees assume that is what is meant when a customer asks for “original crust”. So somebody at this particular restaurant started saying “thick crust” instead of “original crust”, in a misguided attempt to reduce the confusion. The problem for me is that the “original crust” is actually _thinner_ than the “golden crust”. So I refuse to call it “thick crust” just on general principle. Instead, I point to one of the various photographs of “original crust” pizza and say, “original crust, please, just like this picture”. It’s interesting to note that every single photograph of a pizza in Godfather’s advertising depicts the “original crust”, and still some employees think that the _other_ crust is the “original”. And unless something has changed since I worked for Godfather’s many years ago, the bags of flour are clearly labeled “original crust” and “golden crust”. Not “thick crust” and “thin crust”. ---
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/102 "2007-10-28T22:26:21Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] Everything sends me over the edge, but I’ll pick two: People standing on escalators - It just makes me apoplectic with rage. They’re meant to move you up or down _faster_ while you keep walking - they’re not meant for standing on, cow-like, and staring blankly. I can’t stand people standing on them period, but when people are blocking my walking up or down them by standing in the middle or on the left, it sends me into a schizo rage. They always look so _bewildered_ when they hear you say, “excuse me!?” from behind them, like the idea that anyone would just walk up or down the escalator would _never_ even occur to them. Fuck, I’m pounding my fist on the desk now. [/QUOTE] > **[Escalator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalator)** > > An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizontal. Escalators are often used around the world in places where lifts would be impractical, or they can be used in conjunction with them. Principal areas of usage include department stores, shopping malls, airports, transit systems (railway/railroad stations), ... Go here and see if there is ANY mention that people are supposed to climb escalators. WHERE did you get that idea anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/103 "2007-10-28T23:00:39Z")
I know this is irrational, but I really get enraged by people who get overly annoyed at things that I don’t find annoying. For example, my co-worker hates it when the customer on the phone cuts him off. I personally don’t care if they do that. Many of the customers like to fancy themselves busy business men who don’t have time with small talk and dilly dallying. My co-worker however, constantly hits mute and screams…“Arrgh! That’s right, dickhead! Go ahead and cut me off when I wasn’t even done talking!” Then when he hangs up he mumbles and whines…“that customer was so brusque. Soooo brusque…” So what? Geesh. I just want to strangle him, and then I realize, it is none of my business if he is annoyed. Why should I care? Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/104 "2007-10-28T23:08:03Z")
[QUOTE=cedman] > **[Escalator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalator)** > > An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizontal. Escalators are often used around the world in places where lifts would be impractical, or they can be used in conjunction with them. Principal areas of usage include department stores, shopping malls, airports, transit systems (railway/railroad stations), ... Go here and see if there is ANY mention that people are supposed to climb escalators. WHERE did you get that idea anyway? [/QUOTE] It’s quite common, actually. When I grew up in DC, I was taught that escalators were to be rode this way exclusively: stick to the right if you wanna stand, to the left if you wanna walk. AFAICR people generally stuck to that over there. Here, people are oblivious to their surroundings in general, and love to take up entire walkways with their friends, moving VERY. FUCKING. SLOWLY. ---
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/105 "2007-10-29T11:20:50Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] It’s quite common, actually. When I grew up in DC, I was taught that escalators were to be rode this way exclusively: stick to the right if you wanna stand, to the left if you wanna walk. AFAICR people generally stuck to that over there. Here, people are oblivious to their surroundings in general, and love to take up entire walkways with their friends, moving VERY. FUCKING. SLOWLY. [/QUOTE] Oh, I have no doubt that that is accepted practice and it works in real life. I am doubtful that that was the intention of the inventors for people to be REQUIRED to walk on escalators; that was the impression I got from VC03’s post. If that was not his meaning, please excuse my impression. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/106 "2007-10-29T11:34:50Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] People standing on escalators - It just makes me apoplectic with rage. They’re meant to move you up or down _faster_ while you keep walking - they’re not meant for standing on, cow-like, and staring blankly. I can’t stand people standing on them period, but when people are blocking my walking up or down them by standing in the middle or on the left, it sends me into a schizo rage. [/QUOTE] It is actually against the rules (technically) to climb the escalators in the metro here. You are supposed to stand. Apparently, these are the rules that are issued by the escalator manufacturer and/or the building permit people. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/107 "2007-10-29T13:46:16Z")
At the homicide scene, or nasty accident, or whatever serious news we’re covering, I am unlikely to be interested in putting any “Hi Mom!” statements on tape. Seriously, when is the last time you saw a report on tv end with a montage of Hi Moms from the scene? If you are younger than 10 (and I have the time) I’ll happily chat with you and show you my stuff, ages 10-15 gets about 30 seconds of politeness until I need to get back to work, and over that I have an expectation that you will understand I’m busy doing my job. Drunk people at live shots - I know we have no _right_ to keep people out of our shot, but I have been in situations where the amusing tipsy person turns violent in less than two seconds, and I am always prepared to go there quickly. For each person who drives up behind me, blocking traffic, to ask what is going on behind the crime scene tape: really, I don’t know! Most of the time my job involves getting video without the facts, the facts will come later. If it ends up it’s not news, I rewind the tape and shoot something else. Also I feel for the poor folks stuck behind you. I am not in charge of my day. Others decide I need to be there covering that story. My duty is to complete it as efficiently and considerately as possible. If you want to vent at someone, call my boss. They hide in the building for a reason. Too many to list actually - I’ll stop here… ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/108 "2007-10-29T15:54:20Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] People who use impact as a verb. Likewise, “efforting.” Quit trying to make yourself sound corporate. It’s _trying_, for God’s sake. … When my husband eats chips right out of the bag. Sorry, put some in a bowl and portion yourself! [/QUOTE] Heh. Speaking of verb usage, I think that would be “portion the chips”, not “portion yourself”. 😛 > [@lisacurl](#): > > It’s COM-fortable. Not CON-fortable. It’s comfterble. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/109 "2007-10-29T15:54:28Z")
> [@cedman](#): > > I am doubtful that that was the intention of the inventors for people to be REQUIRED to walk on escalators Um, OK, I guess I’m just having trouble seeing the relevance. The people who made the ENIAC probably didn’t intend for people to simulate killing each other on computers, either. > [@2gigch1](#): > > For each person who drives up behind me, blocking traffic, to ask what is going on behind the crime scene tape: really, I don’t know! Most of the time my job involves getting video without the facts, the facts will come later. If it ends up it’s not news, I rewind the tape and shoot something else. Also I feel for the poor folks stuck behind you. OTOH, it’s nothing but pure jackassery for a local news crew to show up to cover some community service and then stop what everyone’s doing and realign them so it looks good on camera and then make them chant some stupid-ass thing, shoot for 5 minutes and then bounce, leaving us to pick up the pieces and try to get everyone working efficiently again. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956/110 "2007-10-29T16:01:44Z")
The use of “cum” as a euphemism for orgasm pisses me right the hell off. Especially in a book. I suppose I can expect no better from the morons at Craig’s List but dammit I really, REALLY hate it when I’m reading a nice sexy scene in a book and all of a sudden, there it is, “OH GOD I’M CUMMING, MAKE ME CUM, BLAH BLAH BLAH…” AAAARRRGHHH!! How in the hell am I supposed to get a nice fantasy going when there’s ungrammatical, stupid shit that ain’t even a word in front of me? Damn any writer who uses this to the lowest circle of the stinkiest hell. I’ve refused to finish books that overuse the expression, and by “overuse” I tend to mean “use at all.” I am pleased to report, on the other hand, that Eric Jerome Dickey writes supremely fabulous sex scenes and never once has he used that word-which-is-no-true-word. Shameless plug. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unremarkable-stuff-that-sends-you-over-the-edge/423956.md?page=5)