You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[indianasmith]

Have I mentioned watchers on EBay...yeah, f-them.

I had a guy make a $10 purchase at the beginning of last month and he STILL hasn't paid.  Jerk.

[Allhallowsday]

Me, I'm a social critter.  Love to talk to anyone about anything.

Key word there is "about."
Small Talk by definition is pointless banter.  It's goal is not to communicate anything directly.  It does serve to express friendliness, I suppose, but that can be communicated via non-verbal clues, or, uh, just saying directly something like "I'm not going to attack you, I want to be friends."   
I have for the past couple of months been fascinated by the notion of what we (humans) must look like to aliens orbiting the earth.  An image of nattering birds comes to mind....we sit around and make (apparently) incomprehensible noises at each other.  Once it's translated as "language," it's no less pointless because it's not communicating anything.  I'm talking about watching a room full of people in knots of 2 or 3 just yammering on...
"Talking" as a social function is pretty useless.  It's also harmless, so if one enjoys it that's fine.  The problem arises for those of us that do not enjoy it, and are often (explicitly or implicitly) denigrated for not liking "small talk."
The other alien image I had recently came while trying to negotiate my way to the proper gate at a busy airport.  "We must look like ants scurrying on an anthill," I thought.  It was, in a way, surreal.

I have no patience for small talk and am too often surrounded by it. 

Have I mentioned watchers on EBay...yeah, f-them.

Why would that make you angry?  Watchers often turn into bidders.  I watch auctions every week!  

[Mr. DS]

Not through my expirence ahd

[Allhallowsday]

Not through my expirence ahd

I am always glad to have watchers.  It means people are interested in your listings.  Sure, it can be disappointing when an item doesn't sell.   Still, it's better to have people looking rather than NOT looking. 

[AndyC]

Netflix. For all the technological advancement we've seen since the days of renting VHS tapes, I'm still having the same problems.

Netflix is not subject to most of the limitations of a physical video store. Limited shelf space is not a problem. There is no need to make room for new titles, free up display space or remove damaged movies. There is no need for anyone to even make a physical tape or disc. There is no technological reason why there could not be a vast selection of movies that just keeps growing.

But I'm seeing the exact same thing that used to bother me when renting from my local video store 20 years ago. I know a title is there. I've seen it listed many times. I finally feel like watching it... and it's gone. Netflix keeps doing this to me. Presumably, it's because not enough people were watching the movie. That was frustrating but understandable in the days of VHS, when there was only so much display space in the store, when whole shelves had to be devoted to multiple copies of new releases, and an unrented tape took up valuable real estate. That's all in the past. Now, getting rid of a movie because it isn't rented all the time is about as logical as never keeping any food in your house that you don't feel like eating every day.

I'm sure licencing is the culprit. It still costs money to make the movie available, even if nobody watches it. One more example of how the entertainment industry is messing up great new technologies by clinging to the same old way of doing business.

[Leah]

My brain is really irritating me- Fully awake and alert at 2:30 A.M.! when I should be sleeping! Oh, and I make stupid mistakes that my brain said is a-okay!

[Trevor]

I'm sure licencing is the culprit. It still costs money to make the movie available, even if nobody watches it. One more example of how the entertainment industry is messing up great new technologies by clinging to the same old way of doing business.

I get a lot of enquiries asking for SA films that are not available (even though we have them on 35mm or 16mm here) and I get the blame because "I am withholding the film from release". 

[tracy]

As a Christian it really ticks me off to run across other so-called Christians who are the "better-than-you","holier-than-you" type. Looking down their nose at you and acting like you just aren't good enough. I wasn't raised that way and I don't understand it.

[AndyC]

I'm sure licencing is the culprit. It still costs money to make the movie available, even if nobody watches it. One more example of how the entertainment industry is messing up great new technologies by clinging to the same old way of doing business.

I get a lot of enquiries asking for SA films that are not available (even though we have them on 35mm or 16mm here) and I get the blame because "I am withholding the film from release". 

And all because there are people who make it needlessly complicated and expensive to make the movie available, just to ensure they get every penny that's coming to them. All well and good, except that people who want to legally view or show the movie - and pay for it - are prevented from doing so. Bit of a dog-in-a-manger situation when it comes to the less-popular titles.

And it just annoys me that technology has made it possible to watch whatever you want whenever you want, and I'm still running into the same problem I've always had with television or bricks-and-mortar video stores - things I like get pulled because they aren't popular enough. But this time, there is no good reason. Having limited shelf space or a limited broadcast schedule, choices have to be made. Those limitations have been overcome, and the problem still exists.

[Leah]

I really hate a person on twitter who worships Justin Bieber as a savor in music.
I saw a tweet where she said that Justin Bieber made Christianity relevant again. The amount of fail and middle fingers raised is too high.
The person's name is Amanda Bieber (I don't think there's ANY relationship to JB.

[Psycho Circus]

I wasn't raised that way and I don't understand it.

That just about sums up all religious prejudice/snobbery/ignorance for me. No offence meant, I'm not trying to be an antagonistic atheist jerk but those eleven words are just perfect. It shall be my new "psychological bullet" for all the bigots.  

[indianasmith]

Are you applying them to Tracy or to the people she was talking about?

[Psycho Circus]

Are you applying them to Tracy or to the people she was talking about?

Neither.

[AndyC]

Are you applying them to Tracy or to the people she was talking about?

You have to admit, when you take that sentence on it's own, it does sound ironically like the mantra of the judgmental holier-than-thou types she was talking about.

Myself, being pretty moderate in matters of religion, I get frustrated by both the smug, superior bible-thumping types and snide, bitter and equally smug atheist types, because I think both sides are wrong, both are too pushy with what they believe, both can be thoughtlessly cruel in what they say, and both do a lot of damage to institutions I care about. Really, aside from whether they believe in God, I can't see much difference between them at all.

[Psycho Circus]

Are you applying them to Tracy or to the people she was talking about?

You have to admit, when you take that sentence on it's own, it does sound ironically like the mantra of the judgmental holier-than-thou types she was talking about.

Myself, being pretty moderate in matters of religion, I get frustrated by both the smug, superior bible-thumping types and snide, bitter and equally smug atheist types, because I think both sides are wrong, both are too pushy with what they believe, both can be thoughtlessly cruel in what they say, and both do a lot of damage to institutions I care about. Really, aside from whether they believe in God, I can't see much difference between them at all.

I hope someone pulls me up sometime if I ever come on here and say "this is wrong, wrong, wrong because I am an atheist. I just like the fact that I can see the bigger picture (most of the time) and try to treat people as humans who make mistakes rather than feel the need to condemn them because of the picture somebody has painted in my head.