Really annoying people

I hate it when the shops say they will call ya when its ready, and never do. or tell ya they will call ya back and never do, until you call and ask.

or ya get the call tree and ya get discussted at the number of buttons you must push to get who you want.
 
sba55 said:
There's just so many things wrong with it. Yes, it does bother me because it makes that one half of the conversation stand out a lot more. Also, people talk about things on the phone that they otherwise wouldn't talk about in person. But moreover, in a shared social space, it is impolite to act drastically different than everybody else. For example, if I go to a restaurant and start dancing on the table, I would get thrown out. If I go to a restaurant and start talking to myself (or the phone) for hours on end - and especially if I do so loudly - I should get thrown out as well. Lots of nice restaurants now will ask people to take their calls outside - just sad that people have lost this sense of propriety.

But your other point is spot on - in the vast majority of cases, people speak much more loudly on the phone than they otherwise would. Luckily, most people here are still polite enough to take their calls outside, but it only takes one....
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I think that on one hand I'm not necessarily "annoyed" by it, but it does speak volumes about the person though - carrying on a one handed conversation, talking in a high volume, etc...

What really gets me is these people that walk around the supermarket with one of those bluetooth things in their ear, carrying on a conversation where it looks like they are talking to themselves - not even holding a phone to their ear which would otherwise signal they are talking on the phone. If they could only see how they look to others.

I've had a couple times where someone next to me would ask a question, I'd answer not realizing they are talking on the cell through the earpiece, and they would look at me like I'm crazy!
 
Sac Arrow said:
I think that on one hand I'm not necessarily "annoyed" by it, but it does speak volumes about the person though - carrying on a one handed conversation, talking in a high volume, etc...

What really gets me is these people that walk around the supermarket with one of those bluetooth things in their ear, carrying on a conversation where it looks like they are talking to themselves - not even holding a phone to their ear which would otherwise signal they are talking on the phone. If they could only see how they look to others.

I've had a couple times where someone next to me would ask a question, I'd answer not realizing they are talking on the cell through the earpiece, and they would look at me like I'm crazy!
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Well put.

Yeah, those bluetooth headsets are funny. There are people who actually benefit from using one of those. But the vast majority of people have no use for it - they just think they look "cool", or that they look like they are important. Speaks volumes about that person, too. It's one of the most douchebag things you can do...
 
The first time I saw someone doing that in the grocery store I actually thought they were mentally unsound and talking to themselves - then I saw a gizmo in their ear and realized they were an Ohura wannabe
 
sba55 said:
Well put.

Yeah, those bluetooth headsets are funny. There are people who actually benefit from using one of those. But the vast majority of people have no use for it - they just think they look "cool", or that they look like they are important. Speaks volumes about that person, too. It's one of the most douchebag things you can do...
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No, the most douchebag thing you can do is be a CFI and then ask if I'm married or if I have kids during my private pilot knowledge test which I paid you $200 to administer. This is not a personal transaction, this is a professional flying school and I am already frazzled enough that I need a 70 or better to pass. Staying in the same room with me and asking me questions while I am trying to concentrate on the test is the most douchebag thing you can do........

(sorry this is a rant thread right?)
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
No, the most douchebag thing you can do is be a CFI and then ask if I'm married or if I have kids during my private pilot knowledge test which I paid you $200 to administer. This is not a personal transaction, this is a professional flying school and I am already frazzled enough that I need a 70 or better to pass. Staying in the same room with me and asking me questions while I am trying to concentrate on the test is the most douchebag thing you can do........

(sorry this is a rant thread right?)
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Did you pass?
Sounds like a douchebag.

I went flying once with a large obese man (I don't know how he passed a medical), who asked me the same questions, yes I'm married, then hit on me and asked me what it would cost to take me somewhere. Ick.
 
bluee said:
Did you pass?
Sounds like a douchebag.

I went flying once with a large obese man (I don't know how he passed a medical), who asked me the same questions, yes I'm married, then hit on me and asked me what it would cost to take me somewhere. Ick.
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OMG even after you said you were married?

That is super gross. How quickly did you descend and land the plane or gosh was he the pilot???

I got a 95 (still think it was a mistake), so yes I passed.
 
I had a passenger who we had flown quite often ask me out of the blue if I was married. "No..." But just as I was thinking how inappropriate and out of character that was he said, "I just thought you might want to bring your husband or friend along when we go on trips to nice places." Oh... :redface:

Nice of him to offer but we are not allowed.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
OMG even after you said you were married?

That is super gross. How quickly did you descend and land the plane or gosh was he the pilot???

I got a 95 (still think it was a mistake), so yes I passed.
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Congratulations on passing with a great score.

I was a student pilot at the time and my flight instructor set it up so I could fly in a nice new Cirrus. I told my instructor what happened, but since that guy spends quite a bit of money at that airport, he did nothing. That airport only cared about money anyway.
 
bluee said:
I was a student pilot at the time and my flight instructor set it up so I could fly in a nice new Cirrus. I told my instructor what happened, but since that guy spends quite a bit of money at that airport, he did nothing. That airport only cared about money anyway.
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Idiots...
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
No, the most douchebag thing you can do is be a CFI and then ask if I'm married or if I have kids during my private pilot knowledge test which I paid you $200 to administer. This is not a personal transaction, this is a professional flying school and I am already frazzled enough that I need a 70 or better to pass. Staying in the same room with me and asking me questions while I am trying to concentrate on the test is the most douchebag thing you can do........

(sorry this is a rant thread right?)
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It depends on the person. I wouldn't think asking was inappropriate given the right circumstances, and it sounds like he interpreted those circumstances differently than you. Ask him to please leave so you can concentrate, and if he _then_ refuses, you have a case for canceling his check, going somewhere else, complaining to his boss, etc.

In a related matter - and since this is the "rant" thread - I really dislike people making assumptions and being in a defensive mood as a result without giving me the chance to address the issue. Like most, I'm not a mind reader. :)
 
sba55 said:
It depends on the person. I wouldn't think asking was inappropriate given the right circumstances, and it sounds like he interpreted those circumstances differently than you.
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I would say that if he was a proctor and she was taking a test that it would count as an inappropriate setting.
 
Everskyward said:
I would say that if he was a proctor and she was taking a test that it would count as an inappropriate setting.
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If the situation was that clear cut, then yes. It's often not, though. And since these kind of things are often interpreted differently by either party, it's only fair to give the other person a chance to change their behavior. I'm not talking about this specific situation, and more about similar situations that I see every day. Someone doesn't like something, and then holds it against the other person without having given them a chance to change their behavior.

Of course, there are norms that are very clear cut, and the above isn't an excuse for violating those norms. For example, it should be obvious that assaulting someone with a knife is a crime. But asking someone if they are married....it depends.
 
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kimberlyanne546 said:
No, the most douchebag thing you can do is be a CFI and then ask if I'm married or if I have kids during my private pilot knowledge test which I paid you $200 to administer. This is not a personal transaction, this is a professional flying school and I am already frazzled enough that I need a 70 or better to pass. Staying in the same room with me and asking me questions while I am trying to concentrate on the test is the most douchebag thing you can do........

(sorry this is a rant thread right?)
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Why did it cost $200?
 
sba55 said:
Of course, there are norms that are very clear cut, and the above isn't an excuse for violating those norms. For example, it should be obvious that assaulting someone with a knife is a crime. But asking someone if they are married....it depends.
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But I think it would be inappropriate to make any kind of chit-chat with someone who was about to take a test beyond saying something like, "good luck", let alone ask something personal. By the way Felix, are you married? :D
 
sba55 said:
It depends on the person. I wouldn't think asking was inappropriate given the right circumstances, and it sounds like he interpreted those circumstances differently than you. Ask him to please leave so you can concentrate, and if he _then_ refuses, you have a case for canceling his check, going somewhere else, complaining to his boss, etc.

In a related matter - and since this is the "rant" thread - I really dislike people making assumptions and being in a defensive mood as a result without giving me the chance to address the issue. Like most, I'm not a mind reader. :)
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I can't believe you are defending the douchebag. Listen, I should say I am not a "one strike and you're a douche" type of girl. He had started off the whole encounter by asking me how long I would take because he wanted to get home and really couldn't stay the (legally allowed) 2.5 hours or whatever the time frame was. Strike two. Strike three was when I got to my first question, didn't select an answer, and he came over and started leaning over me and saying "come on, you know this one" and proceeding to explain about P-factor or something.

Strike three, you're a douchebag.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
I can't believe you are defending the douchebag. Listen, I should say I am not a "one strike and you're a douche" type of girl. He had started off the whole encounter by asking me how long I would take because he wanted to get home and really couldn't stay the (legally allowed) 2.5 hours or whatever the time frame was. Strike two. Strike three was when I got to my first question, didn't select an answer, and he came over and started leaning over me and saying "come on, you know this one" and proceeding to explain about P-factor or something.

Strike three, you're a douchebag.
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KimberlyAnne- I understand what your are saying. I was just at a meeting last week in CA (down south) and gave a seminar while my colleague worked the table. When I got out of the seminar, she was unusually glad to see me back. There was a conference attendee that was asking some of the same questions that you mentioned earlier and trying to hit on her!! For about 1/2 hour after I got back to the table he kept peeping around the corner to see if I went away. It was funny, sad, and scary all at the same time!

My women colleagues really take a lot of rubbish in the course of their work.
 
sba55 said:
There's just so many things wrong with it. Yes, it does bother me because it makes that one half of the conversation stand out a lot more. Also, people talk about things on the phone that they otherwise wouldn't talk about in person. But moreover, in a shared social space, it is impolite to act drastically different than everybody else. For example, if I go to a restaurant and start dancing on the table, I would get thrown out. If I go to a restaurant and start talking to myself (or the phone) for hours on end - and especially if I do so loudly - I should get thrown out as well. Lots of nice restaurants now will ask people to take their calls outside - just sad that people have lost this sense of propriety.

But your other point is spot on - in the vast majority of cases, people speak much more loudly on the phone than they otherwise would. Luckily, most people here are still polite enough to take their calls outside, but it only takes one....
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You make some good points. For sure some people tend to blab about things that seem totally inane to a stranger. The setting and the volume level would make a difference for me. You bet I'd be annoyed if somebody was carrying on at length at the next table in a fancy restaurant. Ditto if cell phone use was allowed on the airlines. But in a pizza joint or Starbucks it wouldn't bother me a bit if someone nearby used their phone briefly. You wouldn't find me in a Sports Bar, but I think that the deafening background noise level would drown out the offending conversation in any event. Hearing ability is a factor as well. I have a bit of high frequency hearing loss that makes understanding what is said difficult when the background noise level is high. Perhaps I don't even notice in many cases.

For myself I generally wouldn't think of making a call while eating. I will answer calls that are likely to be important - and be as brief and as quiet as possible. If neither is possible I'll either terminate the call or move to a more suitable location.

Dave
 
sba55 said:
Well put.

Yeah, those bluetooth headsets are funny. There are people who actually benefit from using one of those. But the vast majority of people have no use for it - they just think they look "cool", or that they look like they are important. Speaks volumes about that person, too. It's one of the most douchebag things you can do...
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Generally speaking, I agree. I don't care to be around anyone talking to an invisible contact. OTOH telephone headsets are wonderful if you have to be on the phone for hours. I work with people who are on the phone all day - and they wouldn't be without one. I have had episodes of conference call overload myself occasionally - and have made good use of a cordless headset phone (in an office setting). Like you say - they are fine in their place. I think they are out of place in most public locations.

Dave
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
I can't believe you are defending the douchebag. Listen, I should say I am not a "one strike and you're a douche" type of girl. He had started off the whole encounter by asking me how long I would take because he wanted to get home and really couldn't stay the (legally allowed) 2.5 hours or whatever the time frame was. Strike two. Strike three was when I got to my first question, didn't select an answer, and he came over and started leaning over me and saying "come on, you know this one" and proceeding to explain about P-factor or something.

Strike three, you're a douchebag.
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Actually, not only was he a douchebag but, given what you're describing, he was violating the rules under which those tests are given. There are typically questions at the end of the test through which you can report that sort of behavior. (The violation of proctoring rules, not being a douchebag).
 
jesse said:
Why did it cost $200?
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Most other test centers were $150 but none of them were open on weekends. I work on weekdays and so this weekend thing was better for me. Also, they had an upcharge for using a credit card, and another upcharge for me not being a club member. So $200 it was and then someone even called me saying "I don't know who you spoke with but we don't do weekends, I see you're on Sunday's schedule."

Argh. I talked them into it eventually, but only after several phone calls.

And it was more than 1 hour (each way) from my apartment. There are NO local places to test.
 
As far as the hitting on women by idiots thing, I have no comment.

On the Bluetooth thing, I pace when I'm on the phone. I got one of these...

http://www.vxicorp.com/products/blueparrott-bluetooth-mobile-solutions/bluetooth-headsets/b250-xt/

... No one's ever mistaken me for having a conversation with myself, and you can be driving down the road with the window open and a Harley can pass you and only then will the person on the other end even get a hint that you're driving. Best noise cancellation ever.

Phones and public places... I'm always on call. I try to go outside. Sometimes you're trapped in the back of a booth or something. Just talk quietly. Movie theater, it's off. Sorry boss. :) I don't do movies, plays, or concerts on my "official" on-call days.

There was a study last year or so that showed that one of the reasons cell calls are so "annoying" to the ear is that people's brains work overtime trying to fill in the other half of the conversation, even when they try to ignore it.

Try it sometime. Make up a conversation you know no one around would be interested in with a person you know that they all know. Fake the phone call. See how many people watch and listen since you're faking the call and can keep more attention to them. They'll even walk up to you and talk about whatever they assume the conversation was about.

It's very difficult on our brains to only hear one side of the conversation. Same thing happens when flying and the other aircraft is out of range of your receiver or on another frequency and the controller is simulcasting. You'll remember their callsign but you can easily "tune out" when the controller is talking to someone you can hear, and your brain will alert you at the sound of your own callsign. It's eerie.
 
I can't stand people in grocery stores. Going into a grocery store is just about the most stressful situation I encounter in my life - even worse than work. I just don't know why people lose all sense of courtesy there!

Besides kids screaming and throwing tantrums for candy/cereal with a toy/cheap toys, you have people pushing their carts like they're in some kind of demolision derby, people that take up a whole aisle (even the wide ones) to stare at the products on the shelf (instead of pulling their cart to the side), people that live right around the corner from each other stop and chat in major traffic areas like they haven't spoken in years then get miffed when you politely ask to be let through, and oh so many more annoying things!

Then we get to the checkout. I refuse to shop in a store without self-checkout. I want to toss my crap through the scanner, swipe ye olde card, and depart the fix as soon as practical. I hate getting behind the people that like to chat with the cashier, argue over price discrepencies (or "walmart sells this for 3 cents cheaper and I refuse to pay more than that"), check cashers (there's seriously people that still use checks?), extreme couponers, and again, screaming brats. Lately, the self-checkout is getting to be bad. People that don't know how to use it insist on trying anyway, especially when there's a line everywhere. On top of that, they tend to have what seems like a year's worth of groceries with them. Then they want to pay in cash, and most are $1's. Then you get the gap-toothed yokels with 5+ kids in tow that want to allow all the kids to have a chance to scan their items while letting the non-scanning kids run around like escaped zoo monkeys.

Last thing about grocery stores is that there's no policing of the stupid express line. I got in a verbal argument one day (I was off my hormones for surgery and was extremely moody) with a rude broad that thought having 14 different items and 20 of the same type of item constituted 15 items. Then the cashier let her get away with it! The person behind her had the same idea as she did. All I had was a small thing of milk, tylenol, and eggs. And, it was only a 1/2 dozen eggs at that! There was only one other register open and apparently people were prepping for a disaster as they had cartloads of stuff.

UGH! I wish we had grocery delivery here like I had in Philadelphia!!!! It's so worth the $9 delivery charge to bypass the hassles. Don't even get me started on the parking lot problem!!!!!!
 
After about ten shots of Jameson, a couple shots of Jack, a Margarita and a couple pints of Trumer Pils to wash all that down, it's probably a good thing I woke up at 2:00 a.m. this morning under a tree at the steps of the Capitol building instead of in front of a computer.

Lighten up ladies, inquiring on marital status isn't NECESSARILY a douche bag hit on move. He could be sizing up the possibility of doing a golf foresome with the husbands and the wives.

Okay yeah right, maybe it is a douche bag move, but SOMEBODY has to bust a move at some point in time, or how do relationships ever start?

(P.S. I just dragged in to the office and I'm still not 100% yet.)
 
Sac Arrow said:
After about ten shots of Jameson, a couple shots of Jack, a Margarita and a couple pints of Trumer Pils to wash all that down, it's probably a good thing I woke up at 2:00 a.m. this morning under a tree at the steps of the Capitol building instead of in front of a computer.

Lighten up ladies, inquiring on marital status isn't NECESSARILY a douche bag hit on move. He could be sizing up the possibility of doing a golf foresome with the husbands and the wives.

Okay yeah right, maybe it is a douche bag move, but SOMEBODY has to bust a move at some point in time, or how do relationships ever start?

(P.S. I just dragged in to the office and I'm still not 100% yet.)
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If he asks only once, I'd agree with the statement. If the person keeps on asking, then I'd call him a DB at that point. I'm pretty sure that women generally pick up just what sort of game the guy wants to play.
 
Everskyward said:
But I think it would be inappropriate to make any kind of chit-chat with someone who was about to take a test beyond saying something like, "good luck", let alone ask something personal. By the way Felix, are you married? :D
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Well, it would be if it happened like that, yes. And maybe it did happen exactly like that in this case.

But more often, it's not that simple. People misinterpret what others say/emote/do all the time. Maybe he thought it was an appropriate question. Either way, give him a chance to change his behavior.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
If he asks only once, I'd agree with the statement. If the person keeps on asking, then I'd call him a DB at that point. I'm pretty sure that women generally pick up just what sort of game the guy wants to play.
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Agreed. Whether or not they pick up on it, they need to clarify the situation before they can complain. It's only fair.
 
Sac Arrow said:
After about ten shots of Jameson, a couple shots of Jack, a Margarita and a couple pints of Trumer Pils to wash all that down, it's probably a good thing I woke up at 2:00 a.m. this morning under a tree at the steps of the Capitol building instead of in front of a computer.

Lighten up ladies, inquiring on marital status isn't NECESSARILY a douche bag hit on move. He could be sizing up the possibility of doing a golf foresome with the husbands and the wives.

Okay yeah right, maybe it is a douche bag move, but SOMEBODY has to bust a move at some point in time, or how do relationships ever start?

(P.S. I just dragged in to the office and I'm still not 100% yet.)
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I do not play golf.
 
sba55 said:
But more often, it's not that simple. People misinterpret what others say/emote/do all the time. Maybe he thought it was an appropriate question. Either way, give him a chance to change his behavior.
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I think there is a difference between what people should ask or talk about in a social situation as opposed to a business or classroom situation, which this clearly was. Maybe this is one of my pet peeves. :D
 
Everskyward said:
I think there is a difference between what people should ask or talk about in a social situation as opposed to a business or classroom situation, which this clearly was. Maybe this is one of my pet peeves. :D
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Maybe it is one of mine too. This is a professional situation, I am becoming a pilot, taking a test which is required for my cert. I am not there to chit chat or have you ask for my phone number.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Maybe it is one of mine too. This is a professional situation, I am becoming a pilot, taking a test which is required for my cert. I am not there to chit chat or have you ask for my phone number.
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In some scenarios, I could see benefit to try to put the student at ease. Some people are really bad at taking tests and it helps if they relax.

Of course, "you" have to be careful, because creeping out some young lady isn't likely to improve her performance on the test.
 
Nothing that a little Advil and lots of coffee won't fix.
 
Bob Noel said:
In some scenarios, I could see benefit to try to put the student at ease. Some people are really bad at taking tests and it helps if they relax.

Of course, "you" have to be careful, because creeping out some young lady isn't likely to improve her performance on the test.
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Right, exactly. It's almost never completely clear.

So, inform them once that you disagree with their behavior. -Then-, if they continue, you've got a case.
 
There's an easy solution to the problems you mention: do your shopping early in the morning. World of difference.

Dave
 
[QUOTE...

There was a study last year or so that showed that one of the reasons cell calls are so "annoying" to the ear is that people's brains work overtime trying to fill in the other half of the conversation, even when they try to ignore it...

[/QUOTE]

Being a bit deaf has it's advantages.

Dave
 
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