You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[Mr. DS]

Going back to the "dumb clerk" comments.  Just had a situation happen to me over the past week.  The local store had items on sale 2/$3.00 and you get an instant store coupon for $1.50 when you bought them.  There was nothing on signs saying "one per customer" or "restrictions" just a cut and dry deal.  So I bought 4 of the items and received only one coupon for $1.50.  I was in a rush so I only briefly question why I didn't get two cpns.  The manager gave me a half assed story so I brushed it under the carpet.

So I went back two days later and bought two more packs and inspected the sign (as above).  I used my one coupon and waited for my coupon for $1.50...it didn't print.  Then I proceeded to get into a p!ssing contest with the clerks about why I was entitled to at least $3.00 in coupons.  They insisted that since I used a prior coupon for the purchase I wasn't entitled to one.  Well after getting nowhere I called the corporate line...I'm expecting my check in a few weeks.

Moral of the story...$3.00 is worth the effort and stupid excuses should NEVER be bought.  I simply can't stand when people give me shovel loads of BS and expect to smile and say "Oh ok, silly me". 

[3mnkids]

Argumentative children. My 8 yr old has been irritating everyone today with his attitude so he was sitting at the kitchen table pouting. I go in to talk to him..

Me~ Are you alright now?

Him~ No! Are you mad at me?

Me~ No

Him~ Dad is

Me~ No, he isn't. He just wants you to stop being so argumentative. Do you know what argumentative means?

Him~ Yes! (with an attitude)

Me~ okay, what does it mean?

Him~ hmmph! why should I tell you, you wont listen!

He may not know the definition but he sure knows how to do it.

[Mr. DS]

Fat people who think they are thinner than they are so they squeeze into uber tight clothing and their body looks like cottage cheese stuffed into a stocking. 

[The Gravekeeper]

Fat people who think they are thinner than they are so they squeeze into uber tight clothing and their body looks like cottage cheese stuffed into a stocking. 

On the same token, people who think they look great in skinny jeans. The vast majority of people who actually are fit/thin are too fat for them! When people can fit into them, they tend to look like they're walking on sticks rather than flesh-and-bone legs. Mind you, there are a rare few individuals who genuinely do look great in skinny jeans.

For the record: very, very few people have an accurate mental image of themselves. We think we're in better or worse shape than we really are, more/less talented, more/less well-liked, etc.

[Paquita]

On the same token, people who think they look great in skinny jeans.

No one looks good in skinny jeans! Or high-waisted pants!  I'm convinced that they were invented to make devastatingly gorgeous women look normal and everyone else look like side-show freaks.

[Mr. DS]

Just for the record, I really like shapely women.   However I don't like "shapes".  I find that women who try to squeeze into clothing way too small are often the ones that just lost about 20 lbs.  I mean, great you lost 20lbs keep up the good work but a 250 lb girl shouldn't automatically think that gives her a right to throw on a halter top. 

Another thing, women who don't shave their legs or armpits.  Yep, thats real sexy alright.   

[AndyC]

Going back to the "dumb clerk" comments.  Just had a situation happen to me over the past week.  The local store had items on sale 2/$3.00 and you get an instant store coupon for $1.50 when you bought them.  There was nothing on signs saying "one per customer" or "restrictions" just a cut and dry deal.  So I bought 4 of the items and received only one coupon for $1.50.  I was in a rush so I only briefly question why I didn't get two cpns.  The manager gave me a half assed story so I brushed it under the carpet.

So I went back two days later and bought two more packs and inspected the sign (as above).  I used my one coupon and waited for my coupon for $1.50...it didn't print.  Then I proceeded to get into a p!ssing contest with the clerks about why I was entitled to at least $3.00 in coupons.  They insisted that since I used a prior coupon for the purchase I wasn't entitled to one.  Well after getting nowhere I called the corporate line...I'm expecting my check in a few weeks.

Moral of the story...$3.00 is worth the effort and stupid excuses should NEVER be bought.  I simply can't stand when people give me shovel loads of BS and expect to smile and say "Oh ok, silly me". 

Might as well share another dumb clerk story. In this case, it was the type I really get annoyed with - the guys who are determined to argue with the customer and just refuse to use their heads, even when something makes no sense.

This was quite a few years ago, an electrician friend of mine had to stop into Canadian Tire to replace some tools. The stuff he bought came with a lifetime guarantee, so he was always going back with something. This particular time, he had a tape measure he dropped from some ridiculous height. It was a good, brand-name 25-foot tape. He couldn't find another like it, and it turned out the exact product he had was discontinued. So he got something comparable, but when they rang in the exchange, he was apparently supposed to pay for more than half of it.

My friend naturally asked what was up, and this guy pointed to the price on record for the old tape, which was something like $11.99. My friend explained that he paid over $20 for it, and was flatly told it didn't cost that much. He asked why the new, very similar tape of the same brand would cost twice as much, and this idiot claimed it was better than the other one. Both were 25-foot Lufkin tape measures, a quality brand name. I suggested that if it was discontinued, maybe it was put on clearance at half off, which would be pretty much exactly the price on file. And when that argument was blown off, we all went back to look at the tape measures. There was nothing even close to a 25-foot tape measure for what the computer said this thing cost. By this time, there were two of them arguing with us. I pointed out that the cheap store-brand 16-foot tapes were about $18, and got some b***hy remark back about the store brand not being cheap. Point was, I said, the store brand usually costs less than the name brand, so it doesn't make any sense for it to be significantly more expensive than a bigger, sturdier brand-name product.

My friend eventually told them to forget it, and we drove across town to another Crappy Tire store, where an older clerk looked at the tape, looked at the price on file, rolled his eyes at the stupidity of the other guys, and made an even swap for the new tape without any fuss at all.

Three things I don't like in a store clerk: when they don't think, when they insist on arguing with the customer, and when they don't have the foggiest idea what they're talking about, but try to bulls**t their way through a situation anyway. This had all three.

[Leah]

On the same token, people who think they look great in skinny jeans.

No one looks good in skinny jeans! Or high-waisted pants!  I'm convinced that they were invented to make devastatingly gorgeous women look normal and everyone else look like side-show freaks.

not even Mannequins?

[Mr. DS]

Three things I don't like in a store clerk: when they don't think, when they insist on arguing with the customer, and when they don't have the foggiest idea what they're talking about, but try to bulls**t their way through a situation anyway. This had all three.

Same as me sir.  Same as me.  As previously stated I worked in the field for quite some time in my younger years.  I certainly do NOT go into a store looking for a fight which I know some customers do.  Those people are just sadists and bullies looking to pick on someone.  However, I do believe customer service has lapsed into such a "I don't give a sh!t" land lately.  That and apparently the public are all morons who will buy anything a store tells them or at least that seems the attitude you get lately.  Due to my time spent in the field during college, I know the ins and outs and what managers say to get rid of customers.  Those things will not work on me.  I will also say I don't pop off at the mouth or start a disagreement if I don't have all the facts.  If there's something wrong, you better believe it's the store's fault.  If I don't get my way, I leave and call corporate lines.  

[Mr. DS]

I can't stand it whenever there is a party, people hound at me to eat.   "COME ON, EAT SOMETHING" or "YOU SURE YOU DON'T WANT ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD TRY THE......"  

Then I get a "whatad!ck" stare from people when I don't.  If I want to eat I friggin will when I'm ready. I really hate this at pizza parties because I'm very picky about my pizza.  Usually I end up at one where they order the greasiest, floppiest pizza around.  I've just decided in my life I'm not eating bad unless I can truly enjoy it.  

[Flick James]

I can't stand it whenever there is a party, people hound at me to eat.   "COME ON, EAT SOMETHING" or "YOU SURE YOU DON'T WANT ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD TRY THE......"  

Then I get a "whatad!ck" stare from people when I don't.  If I want to eat I friggin will when I'm ready. I really hate this at pizza parties because I'm very picky about my pizza.  Usually I end up at one where they order the greasiest, floppiest pizza around.  I've just decided in my life I'm not eating bad unless I can truly enjoy it.  

Haha. Good one, sir. It's particularly bad when what they're offering is something they prepared. Like, you go to a party at their house and they made their famous family recipe of something you're totally not fond of. This happens with me and cole slaw. I don't like cole slaw. But for some reason, I'll be at a party or a potluck and they're like "you gotta try my family recipe cole slaw. It's the best cole slaw ever." Then you gotta find a polite way of declining.

Saying "I'm sorry. Thanks, but I'm not really a fan of cole slaw" doesn't work, because they'll just say:

"Oh, but you'll love THIS cole slaw. Everyone who hates cole slaw ends up loving this stuff. You gotta try it."

There's no winning. No matter what you do you're the scum of the earth if you don't try the damn stuff.

[AndyC]

I can't stand it whenever there is a party, people hound at me to eat.   "COME ON, EAT SOMETHING" or "YOU SURE YOU DON'T WANT ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD TRY THE......"  

Then I get a "whatad!ck" stare from people when I don't.  If I want to eat I friggin will when I'm ready. I really hate this at pizza parties because I'm very picky about my pizza.  Usually I end up at one where they order the greasiest, floppiest pizza around.  I've just decided in my life I'm not eating bad unless I can truly enjoy it.  

Yeah, while I understand the need to include people and make them feel welcome, there needs to be some point at which you just take their word for it that they're fine. A lot of people just aren't aware that there is a certain threshold at which hospitality starts to become counterproductive.

I tend to be the same way at potlucks and barbecues. I'm not a big fan of the kinds of salads, casseroles, etc. that people traditionally bring to those. Plus everybody cooks differently, which can be good, but frequently isn't. If I see something interesting, I'll take some, or I'll just take a hamburger, or whatever the basic food is. My wife rolled her eyes at a church function last week, when I returned to the table with a plate of ham, rolls and mustard, and proceeded to make little ham sandwiches. Sorry, but there were several different variations on scalloped potatoes, and none of them were the way I like them. And with the salads all being the kind of noodly, chickpea-filled, raisiny, mayonnaise-saturated typical potluck salads I don't care for, I took what looked good.

I come by it naturally. When I was a kid, our church had an annual baked bean supper. Everybody theoretically followed the same recipe, with surprisingly inconsistent results. We'd get to this dinner, and while we're all getting served, my dad would stroll into the kitchen and get a plate of Mom's beans that hadn't been put out yet. I will admit baked beans were one of the things my mom made extremely well, and the general impression was positive. People took from it that Dad was crazy about his wife's cooking, rather than the truth that he didn't trust anyone else's, at least as far as baked beans were concerned.

I'm usually pretty wary of dinner invitations that involve a home-cooked meal, unless I'm somewhat familiar with the person's cooking, and they're making something simple. Otherwise, I might either be pleasantly surprised or spend a lot of time politely fending off extra helpings. I'll smile and shovel in just about anything within reason if I have no alternative besides offending my host, but I'm really very particular about my food.

[Flick James]

Here's at least a partial solution to the problem, but it requires lying, so use your own moral compass. If the dish involves wheat to ANY degree, you can just say you're on a gluten-free diet. That takes care of a decent portion of those scenarios.

But not my cole slaw issue. DAMN.

[AndyC]

Saying "I'm sorry. Thanks, but I'm not really a fan of cole slaw" doesn't work, because they'll just say:

"Oh, but you'll love THIS cole slaw. Everyone who hates cole slaw ends up loving this stuff. You gotta try it."

There's no winning. No matter what you do you're the scum of the earth if you don't try the damn stuff.

That is so true, especially with coleslaw. I like coleslaw, but it's one of those foods that varies widely from person to person, and when it's done badly, it's awful. There is very little mediocre coleslaw out there. It's either good or it's awful.

I once went to my brother's for Christmas dinner, and he and his wife seemed to be into fancying up things that should have been simple and dependable. Apples and raisins in the stuffing, sultanas in the coleslaw, some tangy flavour in the gravy I couldn't quite put my finger on. As far as I'm concerned, any fruit other than a tomato has no business being in anything that isn't dessert. And I hate raisins. Hate them. So, after smelling turkey all day and really looking forward to dinner, I'm sitting there with a plate of dry turkey and potatoes, probably looking noticeably bummed out, and somehow I was the bad guy when my mom chewed my ear off about it later on.

Here's at least a partial solution to the problem, but it requires lying, so use your own moral compass. If the dish involves wheat to ANY degree, you can just say you're on a gluten-free diet. That takes care of a decent portion of those scenarios.

But not my cole slaw issue. DAMN.

My wife can escape the coleslaw, since any dairy products disagree with her. However, people then try to insist that their dishes aren't a problem. Either they've made them with lactose-free milk (because people always assume it's lactose no matter how often she explains it isn't), or they say it doesn't have any dairy in it because again they're thinking milk and cheese and completely ignoring butter. When you figure in milk, cheese and butter, my wife also has the problem of nothing at the potluck she can eat, which actually takes some of the heat off me, even though it's not my problem.

[Flick James]

Funny. I've got this image in my head of Alex from A Clockwork Orange bound to a chair, but instead of forced-open eyes, it's a forced open mouth, with some old lady cheerfully spooning cole slaw into his mouth and exclaiming what a great family recipe it is.