# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 146
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3156 "2024-08-05T06:08:22Z")
Over in Beck’s thread about “Turks & Caicos Islands, luggage and bullets”, she’s wondering about travelers getting busted and sentenced for ammo in their luggage: > [@Turks and Caicos Islands, luggage and bullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-and-caicos-islands-luggage-and-bullets/1005246/15): > > The UK has extremely strict gun laws not just compared to the US (i’d assume that applies to their overseas territories too) > [@Turks and Caicos Islands, luggage and bullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-and-caicos-islands-luggage-and-bullets/1005246/16): > > This not about guns. > [@Turks and Caicos Islands, luggage and bullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-and-caicos-islands-luggage-and-bullets/1005246/26): > > Sure it is. Guns and ammo go together. For instance, in Canada, you need exactly the same permit to buy ammo as you need to buy a gun. T&C appears to take an even stricter viewpoint. I wouldn’t be surprised if the US is the only Western country that doesn’t require some sort of regulation for purchasing ammo. > [@Turks and Caicos Islands, luggage and bullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-and-caicos-islands-luggage-and-bullets/1005246/30): > > Of course there are regulations for buying ammo in the US. > [@Turks and Caicos Islands, luggage and bullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-and-caicos-islands-luggage-and-bullets/1005246/31): > > Treated in the same way as buying a gun? > [@Turks and Caicos Islands, luggage and bullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-and-caicos-islands-luggage-and-bullets/1005246/32): > > I’m not gonna get in a big gun law debate. It’s been done on the board a bunch. So someone corrects her error (that ammo is different than guns in the eyes of the T&C laws) and she responds by saying she’s not “gonna” get into a big gun law debate? Why post if you’re “gonna” reject someone answering you? Why would anyone want to answer her if that’s the response they’re gonna get? ---
**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:** [August 5, 2024, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3157 "2024-08-05T06:42:01Z")
But, it’s not what I asked. Of course they’re free to say what they want. But, I’m free to not want a gun debate or talk about something completely different. It coulda been little Debbie cakes T&C didn’t like, for all I care. Everyone knows you shouldn’t have _those_ in your suitcase. 🤭 ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3158 "2024-08-05T10:53:47Z")
Because it’s the Beck show. Everybody loooves the Beck show. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3159 "2024-08-05T10:57:10Z")
🙄 ← lousy eye-roll emoji ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3160 "2024-08-05T15:52:33Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > But, it’s not what I asked. Of course they’re free to say what they want. > But, I’m free to not want a gun debate or talk about something completely different. Do you not understand that he answered your specific comment? You’re the one who implied that ammo isn’t guns. He replied that while they’re treated differently in the US, they’re treated the same in most other countries. Hence T&C’s strictness. Then you just dismissed him. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3161 "2024-08-05T16:13:48Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Do you not understand It’s _very_ clear they didn’t. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3162 "2024-08-05T16:37:26Z")
Ok, whatever. Go back and notice the one little _question mark_. 🙄 ---
**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:** [August 5, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3163 "2024-08-05T21:46:23Z")
I’ve talked long ago about how I think this board is often lousy at advice threads. A whole lot of indignance happens when someone won’t do exactly as they’re told. But can y’all please not make fun of them in their own thread? > [@msmith537](#): > > > [@Grestarian](#): > > > > B) Watch Office Space (1999 Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston). Figure out which of those characters we think you are. PM me and tell me who you think it is. If you’re right, I’ll send you a gift. > > Apparently the OP wants to be Milton obsessing over his red stapler. Both seem to be saying that this poster is like a stupid character in the movie. That’s an insult. I actually wonder if they abandoned the thread after that. When you keep on trying to communicate with people and they keep insisting that they know better, and then they actively mock you? Yeah, that’s not a good place to get advice. Using media to mock people outside the Pit isn’t good. I don’t understand why that’s controversial. We’re not a chan board. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3164 "2024-08-05T23:52:40Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I suppose on some level it hardly matters because the grief must be so intense that responding to unnecessary questions/repeating already stated facts can’t possibly make matters worse. I guess I look at it that way, yeah. For me the most important thing is the solid community we’ve built up here that helps you out at a time like that. That’s what humanity is all about. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3165 "2024-08-06T22:52:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’ve talked long ago about how I think this board is often lousy at advice threads. A whole lot of indignance happens when someone won’t do exactly as they’re told Overall I agree w your larger point. And that the Office Space digs were uncalled-for and arguably Pit-worthy transgressions. OTOH … Asking for advice includes expecting to hear advice you don’t welcome. OPs who respond to uncomfortable advice by saying in effect “That’s really uncomfortable to hear but I admit you might / probably have a point” fall into a very different camp IMO from those who say in effect “La la la! I can’t hear you! I’m only willing to entertain advice which assures me I’m handling this perfectly and all advice MUST ignore all the elephants in my room, just as I do.” That OP has aggressively pushed back on _every_ attempt to point out her very obvious elephants. Perhaps it’s wiser to do as I did and leave that thread as the work of a hopeless loser bent on career suicide, rather than continue to engage and let one’s frustration with the wilful blindness boil over into Pit-worthy snark in a non-Pit environment. Since we are actually in the Pit here & now … As to that particular OP & thread I now actively want them to get fired short of their goal as an object lesson. It takes a lot to convert my default goodwill-to-all into me actively hoping somebody gets the painful beating with the cluestick they so desperately need. She managed that rare feat. F\*\*\* 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3166 "2024-08-08T00:41:07Z")
It’s pretty obvious that if the OP isn’t a troll, they are the problem employee, not the boss. A walking Dunning-Kruger. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3167 "2024-08-08T00:45:13Z")
And everyone’s favorite razorback is oh-so-concerned about the averted Ariana Grande terrorist attack causing a Taylor Swift concert to be canceled. She’s becoming our own Roseanne Barr. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2024, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3168 "2024-08-08T00:54:46Z")
You dang right, buster. I am concerned. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2024, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3169 "2024-08-08T01:02:05Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You dang right, buster. I am concerned.   **Beck** , I usually support you in these confrontations, but come on – “Aww. Tay-tay concerts cancelled in Austria” makes it sound like you have less than zero concern for thousands of fans who are not only terribly disappointed, but probably very rattled about what might have happened, such as being killed by terrorists. There were three Taylor Swift concerts cancelled, so many thousands of fans that you seemed to be sneering at. Not a laughing matter. Not a good look for you. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3170 "2024-08-08T01:03:24Z")
She did say she has petitioned the mods to change it. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2024, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3171 "2024-08-08T01:09:09Z")
It’s changed. No worries. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3172 "2024-08-09T03:53:22Z")
Offered without any comment being fucking necessary, > [@How has the disgraced, CONVICTED FELON, former President Trump pissed you off today?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today/942178/7738): > > Okay, then let me be clearer. You are being a conspiracy theorist right now. This is like 9/11 talk. “We don’t really _know_ what happened to the towers.” Don’t be that person. > > > [@Yelling at each other about 9/11](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yelling-at-each-other-about-9-11/1005482/1): > > > > Gotta confess, 9/11 is one of those disasters that I don’t fully comprehend, from how did WTC7 collapse, to where’s was the wreckage of TWO airliners, both in Shanksville and the Pentagon? > [@How has the disgraced, CONVICTED FELON, former President Trump pissed you off today?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today/942178/7742): > > Theres a lot more that doesn’t add up but no one wants to believe people would do something like that so no reason to question the government. They wouldn’t lie. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3173 "2024-08-09T11:23:16Z")
And that, dear reader, is a prime example of why Trump and his cronies have gotten this far. JFC ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3174 "2024-08-09T13:09:21Z")
Likewise here, courtesy of **Loach** and his “concerns”, as so beautifully called out by **ShadowFacts** : > [@Kamala Harris's choice of Tim Walz as VP](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/254): > > This lengthy discussion of Walz’s military record is a perfect example of how the Right is so often successful in changing/framing a conversation on their own terms. (And also somewhat reminiscent of Jonathan Swift’s oft-remixed quote: “Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it.”) The whole discussion here started with Loach vaguely mentioning how Walz’s military record is “being turned against him in a way I’m having a hard time disagreeing with.,” When challenged, he posted as fa… Gotcha is how **Loach** completely failed to research any of Walz’s backstory before deciding to open his fat yap. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3175 "2024-08-09T13:11:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’ve talked long ago about how I think this board is often lousy at advice threads. A whole lot of indignance happens when someone won’t do exactly as they’re told. > > But can y’all please not make fun of them in their own thread? > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > > [@Grestarian](#): > > > > > > B) Watch Office Space (1999 Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston). Figure out which of those characters we think you are. PM me and tell me who you think it is. If you’re right, I’ll send you a gift. > > > > Apparently the OP wants to be Milton obsessing over his red stapler. > > Both seem to be saying that this poster is like a stupid character in the movie. That’s an insult. The character of Milton isn’t characterized as particularly “stupid”. He is characterized as being disproportionately obsessed with something that is ultimately of little consequence to anyone but him (his red Swingline stapler) and as someone who is subject to the whims of a chaotic and dysfunctional organization without any agency to change it. The stapler is a symbol of his only sense of control. In contrast Joanna (Aniston) understands her job is just a means of making money to pay the rent and that most jobs come with day to day frustrations. But she also knows she is not indentured to the Chotchkie’s Corporation and has no problem quitting when she no longer feels she can no longer working under those conditions. Although I do think she could have handled the conversation differently as it went from “so you want me to wear more pieces of flair” to “fuck you” pretty quickly". But I suspect at that point, the flair thing was the last straw. Peter (Livingston) is similar to Milton in that he feels like he has no agency and is subject to the whims of his boss. He’s internalized and personalized every interaction with InaTech to the point where it’s ruining his life both at and outside of work. Embezzlement / cyber-fraud subplot aside, Peter only becomes more relaxed and actually more successful at work when he speaks openly and candidly to The Bob’s about his job and detaches himself emotionally from chaos of his workplace. As someone who works as a “Bob” (management consultant) IRL, I get to meet a lot of people in a lot of companies and learn a lot about how they work. One of the challenges with working in large corporations is that people do become emotionally vested (invested? both seem applicable) in their jobs and careers to the point they become all-consuming. Mostly because corporations are designed that way. Which is the case with the OP of the other thread. His manager tells him not to do XYZ, stop doing XYZ. He should not be obsessively going behind her back because he thinks it’s helping other teams. If those other teams need that TPS report so badly, tell them his circumstances and ask them to make the request to his boss. Let her SEE him doing this as it shows she can trust him to follow instructions and makes everyone aware of this operational need. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=145) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=147)