# What Rants May Come (Monthly Mini-Rants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** monthly-mini-rant\ **Created:** [May 1, 2026, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688 "2026-05-01T05:08:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/21 "2026-05-04T18:43:40Z")
What a weird day. Or it just seems weird now, since I’m high (for the first time in almost two months). I was productive in spite of the universe conspiring against me. My dad and I managed to change out a leaky valve and some sort of flow switch on his pool system … and we nailed it. No miscues; almost like we knew what we were doing - well he knew what he was doing, anyway … but I was the labor). While we were doing that, the sprinkler guy was doing something on the lawn and clipped right through the cable. Like, the cable cable. My parents’ modem is cable fed, so … no TeeVee no Internets. So I made the best of it and took a ride out to a head shop because I heard they can legally sell THCA products. [For those not in the know, THCA refers to a cannabis product with no psychoactive effects unless heated over something-something degrees]. I was a little leery, but I went to this cool weed store and picked up a 2gram cart for less than $40. And guess what? It works. It works really well. I’m feeling fine right now. I get home from my drug excursion, burrito in belly, to find that they won’t be able to fix the cable until Wednesday! WTF? Sucks for my parents more than me. I’m on my phone hot-spot, as is my TeeVee, so if I want to watch any sportsball (or sportspuck) game, I can crackstream it easy enough. My parents have nothing to do but to talk to each other. Can you imagine? I don’t see us all snuggling up in my bed to watch _The Midwife_, ya know? Oh, and I broke my goddamned glasses too. Shit. In the process of drowning them with Gorilla glue now. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/22 "2026-05-04T18:49:47Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Oh, and I broke my goddamned glasses too. Shit. In the process of drowning them with Gorilla glue now. [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTslJJOmMWjsaBLUguwcl0Lu7ykMpPe8c4i-ZPetaq2v_PPWC0aaUIaU4U&s=10) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTslJJOmMWjsaBLUguwcl0Lu7ykMpPe8c4i-ZPetaq2v_PPWC0aaUIaU4U&s=10) (Sorry, first thing that popped in my head reading that.) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/23 "2026-05-04T18:57:08Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Seriously, WTF? He specifically said “take it back in the store for you”, not “hey, I’ll take your cart” or anything that indicated he wanted to actually use it, just like he thought he was doing me a favor. Which he wasn’t, because the cart corral was only like a dozen steps away. And like I said he seemed kind of angry from the get-go. Very weird. The most charitable interpretation (not necessarily the correct one) is that the guy had decided to do you a kindness and was offended by your rejection. I sometimes have people heading to the store while I’m schlepping my cart back there offer to take it for me, for which I’m always grateful. I don’t take it to mean that they want to use that particular cart (there are small carts and large carts) but just that they’re heading that way anyway. I admit that someone doing that in a situation where there’s a cart corral right beside you is a bit weird, but still, it’s better for the poor guy responsible for herding shopping carts if more are returned to the store than the corral, or worse, just abandoned in the parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/24 "2026-05-04T19:15:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Damned shame, but it sucks to be them a lot harder than it sucks to be the person they accost. Wise words. I would have just said “it’s not a very good one.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/25 "2026-05-04T19:21:57Z")
In USAF we had a bureaucratic process for all officers and senior enlisted. It was called a “Continuity Notebook” and back then it was a physical 3-ring binder notebook. It was the recipe book for doing your job. With every on-demand, daily, weekly, monthly, and annual task outlined in sufficient detail that if you choked on a ham sandwich at lunch your replacement could read your book and do your job adequately starting tomorrow morning. Woe betide the staffer whose book was not up to date, or the commander who allowed an out of date book amongst their underlings. A vast amount of each Inspector General’s visit was devoted to scrutinizing those books. Sure be nice if all of corporate America and all of non-military government had a similar dedication to continuity no matter what disasters befall their workforce. Even the self-inflicted kind. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/26 "2026-05-04T20:23:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Sure be nice if all of corporate America and all of non-military government had a similar dedication to continuity no matter what disasters befall their workforce. Even the self-inflicted kind. It is a big deal in much of corporate America, if not totally ubiquitous. Just about every organization I’ve worked for that is a relatively large size has a formal “business continuity plan” which covers how to keep operating when various crises occur. My current organization has one (though it’s a government agency, not a corporation). They don’t usually do a great job of determining what happens if a particular person is no longer available, but there is usually some element of that involved. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/27 "2026-05-04T20:33:20Z")
As you rightly say, continuity at the departmental or above level is a popular form of planning. Sarbanes / Oxley really got it going in Corporate America. Before that it was big in civil government as the concept of COOP/COG: Continuity of Operations / Continuity of Government. Which gets a lot more than lip service at most levels that are not chronically under-resourced. I’m talking exactly and only about continuity at the individual worker bee level. If you are one of 20 (or 200) clerks who answer the phones and take orders for widgets from consumers, there don’t need to be 200 different manuals for each of you. But there sure ought to be one manual you all learn from and work from. And your immediate supervisor sure ought to have built a manual for how they do their job. A roster of every human or software entity they interact with, how they do it in sufficient detail for an outsider to execute those steps reliably, what work products they & their team deliver, and what work products they and their team consume. And on what schedule all those interactions happen. What parameters go into each decision they make. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/28 "2026-05-04T20:40:54Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m talking exactly and only about continuity at the individual worker bee level. If you are one of 20 (or 200) clerks who answer the phones and take orders for widgets from consumers, there don’t need to be 200 different manuals for each of you. But there sure ought to be one manual you all learn from and work from. Oh yeah, no, there is nothing like that. True. If there is nobody to show you the ropes, you are going to have a hard time. When I started here, my supervisor had only started about 3 months earlier. There wasn’t really anyone to tell me how to do things properly. A lot of turnover had happened in the year prior, and we were pretty much all new. There was definitely no manual. I joked at the time that the only way I could learn was by trying to do something, do it wrong, get yelled at by someone, and then that’s how you learn to do it right. And even though that was a joke, there was a lot of truth to that. Fortunately, as stressful and uncomfortable as that was, _most_ people were graceful about it because they knew that I was new and there was no training and there were no instructions. Most people were patient. Honestly, I couldn’t even write instructions. It’s impossible. What you are supposed to do and how you are supposed to do changes so often that any instructions you write are partially obsolete in a year and probably fully obsolete in 5 years. It just changes so fast. We do have a “knowledge base” with articles that have instructions, so people can look up how to do some things, but it’s far from comprehensive. That’s why I have always tried to be very open to any new folks needing help, and I’ve mentored quite a few of them over the years, as I’ve been here over a decade and in my area I am one of the most experienced people left. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/29 "2026-05-04T20:47:47Z")
The military accepts that personnel turnover is real. Both planned and unplanned. And they accept that locally-clueless newbies thrust into a chaotic situation have real costs. No matter how generally skilled and dedicated those newbies are. As you’ve just demonstrated. So they expend the resources to mostly mitigate that. And yes, keeping your manual up to date is a constant extra job on top of your work tasks. Corporate America foolishly assumes no turnover, while simultaneously creating lots of it. And foolishly assumes no need to document processes while churning them mightily. And they reap what they sow: chaos and expense and failure. Which they can always somehow blame on worker misfeasance rather than systemic designed-in failure. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/30 "2026-05-05T16:10:29Z")
The Met Gala happened recenlty, and 14 of the top 20 trending articles on Buzzfeed are about who wore what, or how shocking someone’s outfit was, or what have you. I will go to my grave not understanding this obsession with celebrity clothing. Somehow the Met Gala became THE place for celebrities to show off ridiculous outfits designed by high-end designers, often to Make a Point. Rarely does anyone know what the point IS, but that doesn’t matter. I doubt it matters to Big Celebrity if she even goes or not; her whole point in wearing that outrageous outfit to the Met Gala was to Be Seen wearing it. Why any human on earth would care about any of this is beyond me. Not just Met Gala-related, but truthfully as regards anything related to fashion. Not once in my life have I cared what someone wore, anywhere, much less who designed the clothes they wore. I’m reminded of the song “Space Oddity,” where the vocalist, portraying Ground Control, says “…and the papers want to know whose clothes you wear.” Who the fuck cares who designed someone’s clothes? Seriously? The British press are notorious for this; I’ve oft joked that if King Charles III were abducted by aliens in broad daylight in the middle of London, the British press would cover what he was wearing at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/31 "2026-05-05T16:28:47Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Why any human on earth would care about any of this is beyond me. Not just Met Gala-related, but truthfully as regards anything related to fashion. Not once in my life have I cared what someone wore, anywhere, much less who designed the clothes they wore. Think of it as a form of artistic expression. Not everyone appreciates every kind of art, and that’s okay; that’s how art is. It’s very subjective. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/32 "2026-05-05T16:30:45Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Think of it as a form of artistic expression. Not everyone appreciates every kind of art, and that’s okay; that’s how art is. It’s very subjective. Thank you, this is an informative answer and I truthfully never thought of it that way. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/33 "2026-05-05T16:51:30Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I’m reminded of the song “Space Oddity,” where the vocalist, portraying Ground Control, says “…and the papers want to know whose clothes you wear.” Who the fuck cares who designed someone’s clothes? _The papers want to know whose shirt you wear._ As in which premier league football team does Major Tom back. Still an insipid request, but insipid for an entirely different reason. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/34 "2026-05-05T16:53:57Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > As in which premier league football team does Major Tom back. Really??? Is that what the request was all about? Ignorance fought. Now I need to look up if David Bowie was a football fan… …and it turns out, he was not. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/35 "2026-05-05T17:34:32Z")
Ranting totally at myself. How could I have been so stupid. After my ex died in Sept. I was, Im done, if God wants to bring me someone decent, fine. But. Decided to check this guy out online( hes famous in Cleveland). Sent him an innocent God bless you on fb. 2 days later, a reply. Hey pretty. Next day I send, Morning. Morning baby comes the reply. We start talking, where do you live? He lives downtown. Im in lake county. If you can get downtown I can pick you up; I dont have gas money to get you til next week. This from someone with a manager and merch. “We were praying for something and God answered our prayers, havent been with a woman for 12 years, I dont do booty calls.’ I take bus’s and will stay Sat & Sun. He drives to the next street to pick me up. I would not have recognized him, hes 56 now, teeth are mostly gone, not as cute as he was. All he had in his fridge were containers from his restaurant job It was a small studio apt, mine actually looks more modern. Good conversation. Sex happened. I will buy you lobster and shrimp, will take care of you ( this is after the sex so no need to play and Im not about that anyway. I am dropped off at the bus Monday morn. " text me til you are home safe.” Not even halfway home, texts are delivered and not read. Fb gone. Ive been blocked! Damn. Smh. Now I will avoid media tomorrow as he will likely be mentioned for what wonderful thing he did 13 years ago. And he did. But he was a two-bit player back then and still is. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/36 "2026-05-05T21:00:48Z")
I’m retiring in two weeks. Mostly because I’ve had enough, with the accumulation of small in themselves things changing about the job, that I can’t stand. I’m trying to finish up several complex projects which nobody else will be able to understand because they’ve never been to the buildings. So I’ve got to make the plan as clear as possible (having inherited other people’s shittily planned projects in the past). I’ll probably be working right up to the end. “Now hand all company property back and get out!” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/37 "2026-05-05T21:27:49Z")
They will promptly lose all that last two week’s hard work. Possibly out of malice, but more likely out of indifference. Stop caring today. Quit showing up in 2 weeks You’ll find your transition to non-work will go more smoothly with that mental head-start. That’s exactly how my previous career transition worked. I was all stressed about closing out all my work in process that only I could do. All of which work they forgot even existed before the weekend was out. That scenario wasn’t applicable to the job I retired from, but I was sure ready in case something similar started to occur. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/38 "2026-05-05T22:27:44Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Thank you, this is an informative answer and I truthfully never thought of it that way. Also it’s the **Met** Gala as in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the gala is to benefit their Costume Institute. The theme is literally “Fashion as Art.” ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/39 "2026-05-05T22:49:10Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Who the fuck cares who designed someone’s clothes? Honestly, if I could look as sharp as Bowie in a suit just by buying a shirt, I’d be all over that in an instant. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way for me. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688/40 "2026-05-05T22:49:10Z")
I don’t understand fashion shows either, but they are a big deal to some people. In some ways it’s like sports. Not everyone enjoys sports, or at least not every sport, but whatever sport there is, there are fans of it, or it wouldn’t exist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rants-may-come-monthly-mini-rants/1029688.md?page=3)