You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[ghouck]

Ratings inflation.  I swear, there are so many people who never score anything under a 3 on a 5 scale that it's almost useless to look at their ratings.  I rated something 2.5/5 on another site and someone wrote me saying, "so it's awful?  Too bad, I was looking forward to it."  No, you nincompoop, 2.5/5 is about average---do the math!

it's like the 10-point system in boxing and mma. They should just call it the 2-point system, just subtract 8 from all the scores since rarely is anything below 8 used.

By contrast, I see people on Netflix that never score anything but 5's and 1's. Those people must really be drama queens in real life, as if there is no such thing as middle of the road.

[AndyC]

Ratings inflation.  I swear, there are so many people who never score anything under a 3 on a 5 scale that it's almost useless to look at their ratings.  I rated something 2.5/5 on another site and someone wrote me saying, "so it's awful?  Too bad, I was looking forward to it."  No, you nincompoop, 2.5/5 is about average---do the math!

People just aren't used to thinking in those terms. If they're happy with it, they give it a 5, and if they find it a bit lacking, they give it a 4. Maybe people think of it in terms of school grades, where a passing grade is usually much lower than the class average. They don't usually think of a 4/5 as excellent and 5/5 as being reserved strictly for things that blow you away.

I got the same thing when I organized a Christmas lighting competition. I got together three judges and gave them a scoring sheet I'd put together, with each house being rated on a scale of 1 to 10 for four or five different criteria (use of colour, use of building/landscape, overall impression, etc.), figuring that adding up several numbers from several judges for each house would give me some very different scores. I mean, once it was all added up, each house would have a score out of about 150. Just to be sure, I explained to the judges that 5 is an average score. If it's OK, it's a five. I told them the numbers would be seen by nobody but me, so be brutally honest. I even encouraged them to be conservative in their scoring, to leave plenty of room for higher scores if needed later in the judging. By the end of the tour, they'd painted themselves into such a corner, they were adding decimal points to fit in higher scores. They were giving houses 9.5 or 9.6 or whatever, and not because a scale of 1 to 10 wasn't enough, but because they didn't use half of it. They started out giving average houses 6 or 7, and slightly better ones 8 or 9, and then we got to some that were really outstanding and there was nowhere to go.

What saved me was one elderly artist, a successful local painter, who looked at every house with a very critical eye. He was like the Simon Cowell of the group - serious about what he was doing, not easily impressed and not shy about saying so. I could have had him judge the whole thing and ended up with the exact same three winners, because most of the spread between the different entries came from his numbers.

[Newt]

Tresspassers.  I can't stand people who think a sign that says, "Keep Out" applies to everyone but them. 

Grrr!  Or they say, "But I wasn't hurting anything!"

Similar: some time ago, I could not figure out why one day every few weeks my horses would go ape and try to kill eachother: they would come in all scuffed up, even injured and sweaty as though they had been fighting.  In addition, a couple of them had tummy upsets - which could have come from just being upset in general, but might be due to having eaten something they should not have. After the better part of a year of this, I finally caught sight of a neighbour family, four young kids plus mom, trekking down the road and across their field next door with bags full of vegetable scraps which they then fed to the horses through the fence.  The horses were squabbling and jostling for access to the treats, as is their nature, and there were many bites, kicks, chasing and body-slams exchanged.  It turned out this family was making a family outing of visiting my animals periodically and feeding them lord-knows-what every few weeks.

The part that grinds my gears: Not so much that they should have *asked* if they could feed the horses; not so much that they should have asked what the horses could eat safely; not so much that they should have asked HOW to feed the horses safely - for the kids' safety: they were in real danger of getting kicked or bitten, even through the fence - and I would have been liable!; not so much that they did not figure out that maybe the horses were getting hurt; no: what grinds my gears is that I had to watch for them to come again, and then when I went out to meet them, I was the 'bad guy', for spoling their fun!  I was nice about it: I explained that the horses were getting hurt (the mom insisted the horses never fought over the treats: but I knew better!) and that the kids could get hurt, and that some of the horses were getting upset stomachs from the food they were giving them (which they then insisted they were not: they came with full shopping bags of stuff, and left with empty bags - guess I should have been thankful they took the bags away!)  AND I told them they were welcome to come visit the horses any time: I would just like to be aware they were coming and to be there to supervise. I even said if they came the front way (up my driveway instead of through the back field), I could allow them to 'meet' the horses properly and to have an opportunity to pet them better and learn their names and learn a bit about horses in general.   But no; I was the nasty person, in the wrong for speaking to them.  They never came back.   And all those mysterious problems with the horses disappeared!

So what really grinds my gears after all this was over is that I still feel badly for having spoiled their nice little outings for them!!   

[Mr. DS]

^ I have many issues with tresspassers.  We live in a community where the houses are really close together.  People think its just fine to walk through my yard to get to the next street.  Nope, I pay rent on the land and they walk right by my house and look in the windows. 

Secondly, my grandfather in law owns a farm.  He has a nice pond they use for irrigation purposes.  Many times there will people down there fishing.  There are signs all over the damn place and they still ignore it. 

If I could shoot people on my land legally I would and I'd shoot to kill. 

[Doggett]

Tresspassers.  I can't stand people who think a sign that says, "Keep Out" applies to everyone but them. 

ahem.



....I'm guilty of that....

[Mr. DS]

Tresspassers.  I can't stand people who think a sign that says, "Keep Out" applies to everyone but them. 

ahem.



....I'm guilty of that....

Yeah, stay away from my house...I'm tired of you peeping in on me.

[Flick James]

Tresspassers.  I can't stand people who think a sign that says, "Keep Out" applies to everyone but them. 

ahem.



....I'm guilty of that....

Yeah, stay away from my house...I'm tired of you peeping in on me.

If you own a gun, let them see you cleaning it once in a while.

[AndyC]

Tresspassers.  I can't stand people who think a sign that says, "Keep Out" applies to everyone but them. 

ahem.



....I'm guilty of that....

Yeah, stay away from my house...I'm tired of you peeping in on me.

The Atlantic Ocean should discourage him from cutting across your yard.

[Doggett]

Tresspassers.  I can't stand people who think a sign that says, "Keep Out" applies to everyone but them. 

ahem.



....I'm guilty of that....

Yeah, stay away from my house...I'm tired of you peeping in on me.

The Atlantic Ocean should discourage him from cutting across your yard.

Actually it just makes the whole thing more exciting...

[Olivia Bauer]

I hate people making jokes about the flooding in Japan. People say things like "Look at all the little Toyotas floatin' around!"

One guy even said this... "Who lives in their homes under the sea? THE JAPANESE PEOPLE!"

What heartless prick could ever say that? I dare you to sing that song again after thinking about all the people who died in the flood and their grieving families.

Did you hear that Gilbert Gottfried got fired as the voice of the Aflac duck for making joking comments about the tragedy in Japan on his Twitter page?

Yes

[Jack]

Tresspassers.  I can't stand people who think a sign that says, "Keep Out" applies to everyone but them. 

ahem.



....I'm guilty of that....

Yeah, stay away from my house...I'm tired of you peeping in on me.

Hey, don't shoot Doggett, he's my friend!

A little pepper spray should be all that's needed 

[AndyC]

Tresspassers.  I can't stand people who think a sign that says, "Keep Out" applies to everyone but them. 

Grrr!  Or they say, "But I wasn't hurting anything!"

Similar: some time ago, I could not figure out why one day every few weeks my horses would go ape and try to kill eachother: they would come in all scuffed up, even injured and sweaty as though they had been fighting.  In addition, a couple of them had tummy upsets - which could have come from just being upset in general, but might be due to having eaten something they should not have. After the better part of a year of this, I finally caught sight of a neighbour family, four young kids plus mom, trekking down the road and across their field next door with bags full of vegetable scraps which they then fed to the horses through the fence.  The horses were squabbling and jostling for access to the treats, as is their nature, and there were many bites, kicks, chasing and body-slams exchanged.  It turned out this family was making a family outing of visiting my animals periodically and feeding them lord-knows-what every few weeks.

The part that grinds my gears: Not so much that they should have *asked* if they could feed the horses; not so much that they should have asked what the horses could eat safely; not so much that they should have asked HOW to feed the horses safely - for the kids' safety: they were in real danger of getting kicked or bitten, even through the fence - and I would have been liable!; not so much that they did not figure out that maybe the horses were getting hurt; no: what grinds my gears is that I had to watch for them to come again, and then when I went out to meet them, I was the 'bad guy', for spoling their fun!  I was nice about it: I explained that the horses were getting hurt (the mom insisted the horses never fought over the treats: but I knew better!) and that the kids could get hurt, and that some of the horses were getting upset stomachs from the food they were giving them (which they then insisted they were not: they came with full shopping bags of stuff, and left with empty bags - guess I should have been thankful they took the bags away!)  AND I told them they were welcome to come visit the horses any time: I would just like to be aware they were coming and to be there to supervise. I even said if they came the front way (up my driveway instead of through the back field), I could allow them to 'meet' the horses properly and to have an opportunity to pet them better and learn their names and learn a bit about horses in general.   But no; I was the nasty person, in the wrong for speaking to them.  They never came back.   And all those mysterious problems with the horses disappeared!

So what really grinds my gears after all this was over is that I still feel badly for having spoiled their nice little outings for them!!   

That is the annoying part. At least have the decency to acknowledge what you're doing and apologize. In that situation, I'd have been very chagrined and apologetic, and at the same time, I would have appreciated your kind offer. It's not as if you came out yelling obscenities at them, as some farmers might have. Of course, I'd never be in that situation, because I know better than to feed someone else's animals. You clearly embarrassed Mom, who was probably playing the horse expert for her kids. People these days tend to get defensive when questioned by anyone about anything though. It's as if they revert to being a kid in trouble.

That reminds me of something that bugs me. Everybody thinks they're freaking dog experts just because they happen to have owned one at one time or another. They don't teach their kids how to approach a strange dog. They don't even know how. They can't read a dog's body language to know if it's happy, scared, stressed, etc. They understand nothing of dog behaviour. And yet, they're just full of bad advice supported by little anecdotes and second-hand stories, and they will refuse to acknowledge that it's even possible to have some knowledge of dog ownership beyond whatever half-hassed information they've picked up. To these people, it's stuff everybody knows. Having owned a dog makes you an expert, and your opinion is as valuable as someone with a much deeper and broader experience, who has done their homework. Bugs my wife even more, because she's more of a dog person than I am. She's done agility, field trials and conformation with dogs, taught obedience classes, served on the executive of a breed association, done rescue work, associated with a lot of breeders and serious dog owners. I shouldn't say it bugs her when somebody offers her bad advice or blows off her advice. It p!sses her off.

[Flick James]

Here's one that gets on my nerves.

People who send an email to a group of people asking if everybody knows something that every individual could not possibly know.

For example:

"Team,

Did everybody hear about the meeting at noon in the conference room?"

Okay, how in the hell would I know if everybody heard about it? I know whether or not I heard about it. Is that what you're trying to find out? Or maybe you want me to walk around and ask the entire team if they did it and then tell you.

Sometimes I feel like replying back "I don't know."

[ghouck]

Here's one that gets on my nerves.

People who send an email to a group of people asking if everybody knows something that every individual could not possibly know.

For example:

"Team,

Did everybody hear about the meeting at noon in the conference room?"

Okay, how in the hell would I know if everybody heard about it? I know whether or not I heard about it. Is that what you're trying to find out? Or maybe you want me to walk around and ask the entire team if they did it and then tell you.

Sometimes I feel like replying back "I don't know."

This reminds me of some funny crap that went on when I ran the furniture shop. Some people could send an email to 'all corrections' where EVERY person in the entire department of corrections would get it.  There were several lists, all PO's, all at one institution, all admin staff, etc. Once in a while someone would accidentally send something to 'all corrections' that was meant for only a smaller group. One time in particular it was from someone at a very remote location (a village that could only be accessed be boat or plane, as many here are), asking who all was going to go to a retirement party. 99.9% of the people in the department never even knew the guy, so they aren't going to take of a few days off work and fly all the way to said village for a piece of cake. That said, there were literally HUNDREDS of people that replied to either let them know they weren't interested, complain about getting the message, or even politely tell them they accidentally sent the message to all of corrections. The result was a few hundred people that did so by clicking 'reply to all', then people were hitting 'reply to all' to tell EVERYONE NOT to hit 'reply to all'. I'm sure there were a few doing it on purpose, as I had a hard time keeping from doing so myself. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen: dozens of emails per minute, knowing EVERYONE in the department was also getting them. 

[Leah]

Tresspassers.  I can't stand people who think a sign that says, "Keep Out" applies to everyone but them. 

ahem.



....I'm guilty of that....

Yeah, stay away from my house...I'm tired of you peeping in on me.

but didn't Sleepyskull did that once, about your love of Justin  bieber?