You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[Psycho Circus]

When a group of grown men get together and decide to tell me how "gay I am" or that I need to "get my hair cut"! I'm nearly 25 years old, have my own place, a good job and yet I still get picked on and bullied in public! 

[Sleepyskull]

When a group of grown men get together and decide to tell me how "gay I am" or that I need to "get my hair cut"! I'm nearly 25 years old, have my own place, a good job and yet I still get picked on and bullied in public! 

They're the ones that need to get a life.

[Flick James]

When a group of grown men get together and decide to tell me how "gay I am" or that I need to "get my hair cut"! I'm nearly 25 years old, have my own place, a good job and yet I still get picked on and bullied in public! 

You mean you don't wear clown wigs all the time? I'm crushed.

[Joe the Destroyer]

One thing that really bothers me:

I'm trying to have a serious conversation about an actor, musician, etc. and one of the other people involved says, "Yeah, too bad he is/was gay.:

"Too bad he was gay?"  What the hell does that have to do with anything?  Freddy Mercury was a great musician.  Too bad he was gay.  Neil Patrick Harris is such a great actor.  Too bad he's gay.  It irritates me to no end, like being gay somehow demeans them as human beings or makes them less worthy to be considered great.  It has no place in the discussion and it's just random.  I've noticed this quite a bit on YouTube.

[Flick James]

One thing that really bothers me:

I'm trying to have a serious conversation about an actor, musician, etc. and one of the other people involved says, "Yeah, too bad he is/was gay.:

"Too bad he was gay?"  What the hell does that have to do with anything?  Freddy Mercury was a great musician.  Too bad he was gay.  Neil Patrick Harris is such a great actor.  Too bad he's gay.  It irritates me to no end, like being gay somehow demeans them as human beings or makes them less worthy to be considered great.  It has no place in the discussion and it's just random.  I've noticed this quite a bit on YouTube.

Too bad they're idiots.

[AndyC]

One thing that really bothers me:

I'm trying to have a serious conversation about an actor, musician, etc. and one of the other people involved says, "Yeah, too bad he is/was gay.:

"Too bad he was gay?"  What the hell does that have to do with anything?  Freddy Mercury was a great musician.  Too bad he was gay.  Neil Patrick Harris is such a great actor.  Too bad he's gay.  It irritates me to no end, like being gay somehow demeans them as human beings or makes them less worthy to be considered great.  It has no place in the discussion and it's just random.  I've noticed this quite a bit on YouTube.

I honestly don't get why people say things like that. At my most intolerant, I could separate somebody's work from their private life. I could like Freddy Mercury's music, while his other activities were none of my business. Very few things about an entertainer's private life will have any effect on my enjoyment of otherwise excellent work, and I'm talking about serious misdeeds, assholish behaviour and creepiness. Whether they're gay or not is, at most, a bit of trivia. It's certainly not a blot on their career.

That said, there is one situation in which "too bad he's gay" can be an appropriate thing to say. If a woman says it about a hunky guy. Then it's not intolerance so much as complaining about a messed up fantasy. Mind you, I don't think a celebrity's sexual orientation should be an impediment to fantasizing, given that the odds of living out the fantasy are virtually nil anyway. For most hot actresses, I don't know much about them other than they're hot, and if they happen to be lesbians, they're still hot, and any fantasy I might have about them is not going to get any less realistic. Still, I understand the reasoning.

I generally don't pay much attention to celebrities outside of their work, so I find it kind of annoying in general when people worry too much about their private doings.

[Mr. DS]

The outsourcing of customer service hotlines to foreign countries.  I'd rather understand what the person I'm talking to over the phone has to say. 

[Flick James]

The outsourcing of customer service hotlines to foreign countries.  I'd rather understand what the person I'm talking to over the phone has to say. 

And as the private sector dwindles the government sector grows and grows.

[ulthar]

Waste.

People using whatever resources the need to live their lives is one thing; wasting resources because they are available (and affordable) today is different.  Potable water is a biggie...

[AndyC]

The outsourcing of customer service hotlines to foreign countries.  I'd rather understand what the person I'm talking to over the phone has to say. 

I argued with a guy (presumably somewhere in India) on the phone this week for probably close to ten minutes about a balance owing on my Yellow Pages account, because he said it was "for a hundred" and I heard "four hundred." It took that long to get across to him that I wasn't arguing with there being a balance, but with the amount, and then to sort out that I wasn't arguing with the actual amount, but with what I thought he'd said. Nothing helps communication like a guy with a thick accent who sometimes phrases things oddly.

Somebody once told me that when calling customer support at a Canadian company (phone, cable, etc.), I should choose the French language option. Apparently, customer support in French is done out of Quebec, and the operators are bilingual. I haven't had the nerve to try it, though. I keep imagining the guy on the other end giving me hell for it. "Tabarnac! What da hell are you calling da French line for? You're stupeed if you do dat! Just some English pig wit no brain at all, you know! Saint-sacrament de crisse!" Seriously, I'm too much of a Canadian, afraid some stranger might get annoyed or think I was being rude.

[Joe the Destroyer]

I really wish I could (or knew how to if there is a way) customize the kind of news I get on my Yahoo Homepage.  I really hate trying to browse serious news articles and seeing, "ZOMG! Look at what Little Wayne was wearing!"  I think stupid that s**t like this is deemed news worthy. 

[flackbait]

The outsourcing of customer service hotlines to foreign countries.  I'd rather understand what the person I'm talking to over the phone has to say. 

Hola, Comos Estas?

but in all seriousness yeah, its pretty damn annoying when you can't make out how much money your supposed to owe somebody because you can't understand them.

[The Burgomaster]

When a group of grown men get together and decide to tell me how "gay I am" or that I need to "get my hair cut"! I'm nearly 25 years old, have my own place, a good job and yet I still get picked on and bullied in public! 

Don't worry.  I'm behind you.  Well, not literally . . .

[Flick James]

When a group of grown men get together and decide to tell me how "gay I am" or that I need to "get my hair cut"! I'm nearly 25 years old, have my own place, a good job and yet I still get picked on and bullied in public! 

Don't worry.  I'm behind you.  Well, not literally . . .

What does it say about them if they are taking the time to get together to tell you that?

[AndyC]

When a group of grown men get together and decide to tell me how "gay I am" or that I need to "get my hair cut"! I'm nearly 25 years old, have my own place, a good job and yet I still get picked on and bullied in public! 

Don't worry.  I'm behind you.  Well, not literally . . .

What does it say about them if they are taking the time to get together to tell you that?

A group of men taking an interest in a young guy's sexuality because he looks kind of feminine? They weren't wearing leather, were they? Big, bushy mustaches?