# Workplace griping, anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 12, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401 "2010-11-12T06:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 41
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/801 "2011-03-05T00:47:19Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > No, what I’m saying is that anyone who has as violent an allergic reaction as you say you do shouldn’t be going about without treatment as you are simply taking your life in your hands. It’s like a pedestrian saying they don’t need to watch for traffic because they have the right of way - all it takes is that one driver who isn’t paying attention. You can try to control your environment, and insist that others help you do it, but the time is going to come when there is going to be an animal nearby that you didn’t plan for and cannot control, such as a service animal on an airplane. OTOH, it sounds like all you have to do is take an OTC pill to control your symptoms? If so, it rather sounds like you exaggerated your allergy. > > If you do really have allergies that badly, have you ever gone to the doctor to find out just what you are allergic to and how easily it can be treated? It would be highly unusual for someone with a severe inhalant allergy to one thing to not be allergic to other things. You also may not actually be all that allergic to pets, you just may be overwhelmed by those owned by friends who don’t vacuum often for example. But, no matter what, it still boils down to either you getting treatment, or trying to control the whole world. > > Yes. I find it extremely difficult to believe that it takes $10 a night’s worth (and apparently that’s cheap) to vacuum up hair and dander, yet it doesn’t take that to clean up after messy humans like my previous examples. I also find it extremely difficult to believe that there are all that many people out there who are so allergic to only pets, and untreated, that they have a reaction in a freshly cleaned room. I stay in motels at least one weekend a month and some times of year far more often, and I do it on a corporate card so I’m easy to find, and I have never had a complaint, nor have I ever paid extra. This thread is also the first time I’ve ever heard of a motel setting aside separate rooms for pets, but since I almost always stay in a handicapped room I most likely am not staying in a pet room. > > Also, a vast majority of motels have separate rooms for smokers and non-smokers, yet they don’t charge extra for the smoking rooms to “clean” them - why is that? > > Because of my experience of the difference between myself and my friends staying with our dogs, and my experiences with various folks staying with children, or chaperoning a kid’s sports team, or the various drunks. Sure, there are people who are slobs with their dogs, but why are those of us who aren’t required to pay up front when those who are slobs without dogs are not? > > Well, yeah, I suppose that was poorly worded. It’s more that they don’t see the bias in doing so, in automatically assuming that because there is a dog in my car, I must be leaving the room in a condition where it will need extra cleaning. I’ve been “tricked” by motels that advertise that they are pet friendly, only to find they want to charge extra - singling me out for extra charges doesn’t seem all that friendly to me. To clarify about my allergies: I take a rescue inhaler with me, but I hate using it, because it induces a kind of withdrawal to stop using it. That’s why I prefer to control my environment so I don’t have to use it. Beyond that, please don’t lecture me about allergies I have had all my life and have seen numerous doctors about, because You Are Not A Doctor. For rest, I have come to the conclusion, at long last, that you are either unwilling or unable to deal with rational discussion in this area. If someone has a pet allergy, it’s their problem. Somehow hotels should be able to tell which animals are going to leave allergens behind, and which aren’t (as if!) so they will know whom to charge. Allergens are no extra trouble to clean sufficiently that persons with allergies should not be bothered. These are all views which you seem to hold. None of them are reasonable. You are not going to convince anyone that you are right; neither is anyone going to be able to convince you to consider yourself anything else but 100% right. I have never, and I mean never in my life, interacted with anyone who was as imperviously stubborn as you are; you never even seem to consider the possibility that you might be even a little bit off base. You will forgive me, therefore, if I decline to interact with you further on this matter. Roddy ---
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/802 "2011-03-05T00:49:30Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Give it up. You won’t win this one. I promise you, this will just devolve into a multi-page headdesk event. Thank you for the advice, even though I didn’t follow it. I didn’t really expect to win, per se, but I thought I might induce some actual thought. That didn’t happen. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/803 "2011-03-05T01:18:19Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > Ooooh, you know how much I love it when you go with ‘hon’. It’s so scathing! And hilarious. Well, it isn’t meant to be either, so again you are misinterpreting what I write. The only question is if you do it on purpose or not. > [@](#): > > Almost as hilarious as you thinking that there’s any evidence that you know anything about anything at all. I see you have no answer to my points (eg. you relized how dumb it is to claim that a well trained dog will not shed or drool), so I will accept your implicit admittance of defeat. I didn’t bother with it because you started from a false premise, i.e. that all dogs drool, which they don’t. Some breeds, such as St Bernards do, but most don’t. Also, shedding isn’t a big issue with many breeds - as I said previously, I tend to shed more than my dogs do and my cat outsheds all of us combined. But since you don’t have much background in dogs, you wouldn’t know any of this and since your only purpose here is to stalk me and repeat falsehoods, it just didn’t seem worth the time to respond. > [@](#): > > Wait, are you saying you use your hubby’s corporate card (it’s blue!) to pay for your own personal travel to your little dog shows? I can’t wait until his company finds out about that. Another falsehood - I said long long time ago that card was for a company he _used_ to work for, and that he doesn’t have it any more. Not that I would ever consider charging personal expenses to a company card. Also, that corporate card is not a credit card, it is merely a way to show the ID to get the corporate rate. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/804 "2011-03-05T01:25:34Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > To clarify about my allergies: I take a rescue inhaler with me, but I hate using it, because it induces a kind of withdrawal to stop using it. That’s why I prefer to control my environment so I don’t have to use it. Beyond that, please don’t lecture me about allergies I have had all my life and have seen numerous doctors about, because You Are Not A Doctor. Well gosh, I didn’t realize that you would be so sensitive. No, I am not a doctor but I am someone who has had what were life threatening allergies all my life and who now doesn’t have to use an inhaler (altho I still carry one) to stop severe asthma attacks due to allergies. I still have what are technically life threatening food allergies but those are easily controlled. You presented yourself as someone that didn’t want to have anything to do with medicine to deal with your allergies, and I was merely pointing out that you could live allergy free - you don’t want to, that’s your loss but I certainly wasn’t lecturing you. > [@](#): > > For rest, I have come to the conclusion, at long last, that you are either unwilling or unable to deal with rational discussion in this area. If someone has a pet allergy, it’s their problem. :rolleyes: If someone has an allergy that could easily be treated but they insist on going about demanding that the world adapt to their needs, _that_ is their problem. You refuse to use medication to deal with your allergies, that is your problem - not mine. > [@](#): > > Somehow hotels should be able to tell which animals are going to leave allergens behind, and which aren’t (as if!) so they will know whom to charge. Of course, I didn’t say that. > [@](#): > > Allergens are no extra trouble to clean sufficiently that persons with allergies should not be bothered. Didn’t say that either. > [@](#): > > These are all views which you seem to hold. None of them are reasonable. You are not going to convince anyone that you are right; neither is anyone going to be able to convince you to consider yourself anything else but 100% right. I have never, and I mean never in my life, interacted with anyone who was as imperviously stubborn as you are; you never even seem to consider the possibility that you might be even a little bit off base. It would help if you actually read what I write and don’t use your bias to interpret it. Geez, you are as bad as **Meyer6** > [@](#): > > You will forgive me, therefore, if I decline to interact with you further on this matter. > Roddy Don’t care either way. People who have decided the rest of the world must bow to their needs tend to be bad company anyway. Those who take debate personally tend to be boring. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/805 "2011-03-05T01:41:58Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Don’t care either way. People who have decided the rest of the world must bow to their needs tend to be bad company anyway. Like how you’ve decided that the rest of the world just has to deal with you and your little yappers, wherever you want to go? Just has to bow to you to the extent of taking special medication in order to sleep in a room _that they’ve paid for_, just so that you can sleep with a stinky puppy in your bed? Just because you’ve decided that people should drug themselves up for your own convenience doesn’t mean that they actually have to. You live a life of incredible, and totally undeserved, privilege. The fact that you think you’re so hard done by anyways only speaks to your inability to appreciate that, and that’s why you’re such bad company that you have only your dogs to turn to in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/806 "2011-03-05T01:48:53Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > Like how you’ve decided that the rest of the world just has to deal with you and your little yappers, wherever you want to go? Just has to bow to you to the extent of taking special medication in order to sleep in a room _that they’ve paid for_, just so that you can sleep with a stinky puppy in your bed? Just because you’ve decided that people should drug themselves up for your own convenience doesn’t mean that they actually have to. > > You live a life of incredible, and totally undeserved, privilege. The fact that you think you’re so hard done by anyways only speaks to your inability to appreciate that, and that’s why you’re such bad company that you have only your dogs to turn to in the first place. Wow. Just wow. I thought you had hit the heights of what has to be complete misunderstanding of me, my opinions and my life and then you post this. You are so far off that I am now totally convinced that you just make shit up on the fly. Have fun with it alone as you now join **SFG** on my don’t bother with list. > [@Kolga](#): > > Give it up. You won’t win this one. This idea of “winning” always startles me. Do you all try to “win” IRL whenever you come across someone who dares to have a different opinion than what you have decided is “right”? ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/807 "2011-03-05T01:53:58Z")
Also: > [@curlcoat](#): > > But since you don’t have much background in dogs, you wouldn’t know any of this and since your only purpose here is to stalk me and repeat falsehoods, it just didn’t seem worth the time to respond. You should really get off your high horse about dog ownership, like you’re the only one who has done it. I get that it’s the only thing in the world that you feel you have experience in, but it’s not unusual and it’s not difficult. Everyone in the world knows that some dogs drool or shed more than others. What do you suggest, that the hotel should have a $15 charge for a St.Bernard but only a $5 charge for a beagle? Should the clerk inspect mutts to determine where on the scale they should fall? Anyways, I’m done with this, I am going to follow **Roderick** s advice. Feel free to revel in this as a victory if you’d like, I know you have very little to feel good about in your life. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/808 "2011-03-05T01:54:37Z")
Powerpoint Slide Readers. That is, they click to each slide, and just read the entire text from start to finish, then go to the next slide and repeat, until there are no more slides. You see this in schools too. People who present slides, but don’t make them available for distribution to the team members who were at the meeting. People who delegate decisionmaking authority to a subordinate, then you, the worker, go to that subordinate to get a decision, then the supervisor comes around and tells you that you’ll have to redo the work because you were given the wrong requirements. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/809 "2011-03-05T14:20:28Z")
I work for an industry which is often maligned by environmental activists – bottled water. In fact, a local group has organized a protest march for this afternoon. It’s frustrating to listen to the wholly unreasonable demands this organization makes in order to “consent” to the continued existence of my workplace. Some gems include: - the water should be bottled in glass, not plastic. This is presumably to save oil, which we could then burn to haul all that extra weight around. - the factory should reduce its water consumption by 1.5% per year. This is reasonable, because that’s what a nearby city has managed to do. Never mind that nobody in that city is actually drinking less water – what they’re doing is using high-efficiency washing machines, and not watering their lawns with tap water. It’s comparing apples to oranges. - the water should not be shipped outside of the watershed it’s removed from. It’s already almost entirely kept within the Great Lakes watershed – but that’s not good enough. They want to keep it within the watershed of the much less significant local river, 2600 square miles of rural land with a population of about 800,000. Of course, adopting any of these practices would quickly cause my employer to pack up and move elsewhere. This is the unstated goal of the activists, I have no doubt – the “fuck you, I’ve got mine” attitude so prevalent in human society. Bottled water is a maligned industry, and often for good reasons – carting millions of gallons of water across the world from a tropical Pacific island is patently ridiculous and wasteful, but bottling water from what may be the most water-rich region of the planet, and selling it for a reasonable price, is not the unsustainable ecological destruction it is portrayed to be. Yes, my local tap water might be among the best in the world, and so I don’t really need to buy bottles. That’s just not true for everywhere, though. And even many people here in my city are serviced by lead plumbing and can’t safely drink their tap water anyway. Is bottled water evil for them, too? The fact is, despite this organization’s claims, my company is a major local employer. My wife and I are both employed thanks to its continued existence. My mom works for a company which has a major contract with mine; my brother does freelance work for that company and my dad worked there until recently. Close the plant and my whole family hurts, hard. The whole area hurts. This is one of the very few local employers which actually produces something of value. Tangible wealth. A service economy is great, I’m sure, except that it doesn’t actually increase the amount of wealth in society. Someone, somewhere, needs to produce some sort of stuff for the world to function. It’s not just crazy whackjobs who are doing this, either. The mayor of the nearest city, the mayor of a nearby town, and other major local political candidates are trying to put us out of work. They want to kill a major source of local revenue based on half-truths and outright lies\*, and they’ve got a lot of local support to do it. I’ve been out of work too often, I don’t want that again. - They make a lot of ridiculous claims, like “it’s only tested once every three years,” “it takes three times as much water to make it as it does to fill it,” and “it costs more than gasoline”. (I wish I could get gasoline at 33 cents a liter.) ---
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/810 "2011-03-05T15:34:54Z")
:eek: What the hell city do you live in that still has lead pipes in it? ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/811 "2011-03-05T16:00:06Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > :eek: What the hell city do you live in that still has lead pipes in it? The municipal water mains (beneath the center of the roadway) are not lead, and have all been modernized. However, the water services (connecting a house to the main supply) in many older houses (pre-1960) are lead. Lead soldering was also used until 1990. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/812 "2011-03-05T16:48:02Z")
I can somewhat relate, **Baffle** , living in a city and a province that have a mostly oil and gas based economy, and a whole lot of our money is (and will be) coming from oil sands. Until we have safe and clean nuclear powered cars, all the friggin’ oil is coming out of the oil sands, and nothing [James Cameron](http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20100929/cameron-oilsands-100929/) has to say is going to change anything. I still think most people don’t need to drink bottled water, though. Sorry. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/813 "2011-03-05T19:22:25Z")
> [@Baffle](#): > > A service economy is great, I’m sure, except that it doesn’t actually increase the amount of wealth in society. Someone, somewhere, needs to produce some sort of stuff for the world to function. All economy is service. There are no exceptions. Economeis demand some ration of products to services, and in truth, as it becomes wealthier, it will demand more of the latter. Goods are not “real wealth”. Aside from which, while it might be silly to sell tropiocal isalnd water, it’s hardly more stupid than what you’re doing. It’s all the same in the end. That said, my heart bleeds for you. If they do move, why don’t you suggest Knoxville to your employer. We’re not as big on bottled water here, but it sells pretty well and we live a damn temperate rainforest! Hopefully, whatever happens you’ll keep your job. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/814 "2011-03-05T20:42:18Z")
> [@Baffle](#): > > - the water should be bottled in glass, not plastic. This is presumably to save oil, which we could then burn to haul all that extra weight around. I think that the glass bottle thing is not for the oil, but to keep plasticizers from leaching into the water. But I think the environmentalists are totally attacking the wrong end by fighting with you guys. If they think people are needlessly buying bottled water, they should be working on the people to reduce demand, not on you. Closing your plant down would just mean that they buy it somewhere else, instead. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/815 "2011-03-06T14:01:21Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > I think that the glass bottle thing is not for the oil, but to keep plasticizers from leaching into the water. Polyethylene teraphthalate isn’t really known for leaching into water. Unless of course you believe science is a conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/816 "2011-03-06T14:48:30Z")
> [@Baffle](#): > > Polyethylene teraphthalate isn’t really known for leaching into water. Unless of course you believe science is a conspiracy. That wasn’t really meant to be insulting, I swear. It just sounds that way. :smack: Here’s my attempt at a serious answer: I’ve heard of phthalates causing endocrine disruption, but though similarly named, that’s really referring to a different isomer (teraphthalic acid vs. orthophthalic acid). There is a minor concern with antimony, but studies show it’s an order of magnitude below a dose that should concern a human. There’s also the possibility of benzene being present in recycled PET, and potential contamination with acetaldehyde, a fruity-smelling chemical that naturally occurs in ripening fruit. (It’s also one of the steps in ethanol metabolism.) ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/817 "2011-03-06T22:32:34Z")
> [@](#): > > What do you suggest, that the hotel should have a $15 charge for a St.Bernard but only a $5 charge for a beagle? Should the clerk inspect mutts to determine where on the scale they should fall? I have two beagles and I can assure you that they shed quite a bit so you might wanna charge that $15. They drool too, but usually only when they’re trying to guilt trip you into giving them a piece of your dinner. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/818 "2011-03-07T00:01:50Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > What do you suggest, that the hotel should have a $15 charge for a St.Bernard but only a $5 charge for a beagle? Should the clerk inspect mutts to determine where on the scale they should fall? I grew up with a Saint. There is no money that can get some of that drool out of furniture. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/819 "2011-03-07T03:44:14Z")
> [@stegon66](#): > > I have two beagles and I can assure you that they shed quite a bit so you might wanna charge that $15. They drool too, but usually only when they’re trying to guilt trip you into giving them a piece of your dinner. 😃 Hmmm, well how about $5 for one of those weird hairless Chinese crested dogs? Clearly we would need a dog expert to create a complex sliding scale to charge the correct amount for every kind of dog that shows up. Or we could devise some kind of shedding/drooling test to be performed in the lobby. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/820 "2011-03-07T03:55:07Z")
What about my cat? She sheds like a mofo AND she drools! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=40) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=42)