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Shoot the Wall (A.K.A. The Rant Thread)


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7 hours ago, besleybean said:

I confess I neither take any notice of ratings or give any feedback...

I need to start one day.


Better hurry, while such things are still an option.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm currently boycotting Amazon, for a number of reasons:

1. The last time I ordered something from them, I accidentally clicked on the "join Prime" button (primarily because the language they used was deliberately misleading) and there was no way to undo it. I don't shop online often, certainly not often enough to warrant paying for "free" shipping.

2. I finally figured out how to go into my account and "unjoin" Prime, but again, their language was so misleading that I almost accidentally re-registered, and you have to click through "Yes, I really don't want Prime" about 6 times before they'll finally let go of you.

3. They're building their latest facility near my community and we're already seeing an increase in traffic, development and prices in an area that is already gridlocked, overdeveloped and too expensive. 

Plus they are wrecking small business in this area and in general I think Amazon's gotten too big and powerful. I'm rooting for whoever can bring 'em down.

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22 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I'm currently boycotting Amazon ....

I don't shop online often....

You do realize that they're not likely to notice?   ;)

22 hours ago, Arcadia said:

... they are wrecking small business in this area ....

If people who could buy something locally are deciding to buy it from Amazon, why not blame the buyers instead?  Or Covid, for that matter?

There's a nice little locally-owned health-food store in a nearby town, and we make a point of buying a good many things there (even some things that we could get cheaper online) because it's to our advantage for them to stay in business.  They carry some things that we can't find elsewhere, and if we want something they don't carry, they'll special-order it for us, and they're very helpful in general.  They've recently been able to get some items for us that were out of stock on Amazon!  That doesn't mean we're avoiding Amazon, though -- they get plenty of business from us.

Shopping habits have changed many times before this.  Consider the affordability of the Model T Ford, enabling farmers to drive to an actual town in the same length of time it had formerly taken them to go by horse and buggy to their local village -- which put those little village stores out of business about a hundred years ago.  Then the rise of shopping malls put a lot of those town stores out of business a few decades later.   Obviously the current trend is toward online buying (which is putting many malls out of business), and I seriously doubt that anything will stop that -- until the next big change (whatever that may be) occurs.

 

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On 7/11/2021 at 12:00 AM, Arcadia said:

I'm currently boycotting Amazon, for a number of reasons:

1. The last time I ordered something from them, I accidentally clicked on the "join Prime" button (primarily because the language they used was deliberately misleading) and there was no way to undo it. I don't shop online often, certainly not often enough to warrant paying for "free" shipping.

2. I finally figured out how to go into my account and "unjoin" Prime, but again, their language was so misleading that I almost accidentally re-registered, and you have to click through "Yes, I really don't want Prime" about 6 times before they'll finally let go of you.

3. They're building their latest facility near my community and we're already seeing an increase in traffic, development and prices in an area that is already gridlocked, overdeveloped and too expensive. 

Plus they are wrecking small business in this area and in general I think Amazon's gotten too big and powerful. I'm rooting for whoever can bring 'em down.

I know how you feel. I've been boycotting Wal-Mart for years due to an incident over a customer service issue. I know it doesn't matter to them but it matters to me in principle and I told them so in the letter I sent their headquarters telling them I thought their customer service sucked. Surprisingly, or maybe not, I got no reply from them.

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2 hours ago, kimber8ada said:

I know how you feel. I've been boycotting Wal-Mart for years due to an incident over a customer service issue. I know it doesn't matter to them but it matters to me in principle and I told them so in the letter I sent their headquarters telling them I thought their customer service sucked. Surprisingly, or maybe not, I got no reply from them.


If they had replied, they would presumably have said what companies usually say under such circumstances, namely "We're sorry you were dissatisfied with our customer service," which is of course no help at all.

There are some places that I'll never do business with again, though, so I know what you mean.

 

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11 hours ago, Fantasy Lover said:

... they treat their employees horrible.

This is the first I've heard of Amazon mistreating their employees -- but maybe it's only in Belgium.  What sort of mistreatment are you talking about?

 

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Wish that were the case, Carol. Try googling "Amazon mistreating their employees" and examples from lots of places including the US will pop up; quote from this one, for example (and note that this is a business site, too):

Quote

You gaslight employees and deny reports they’re peeing in bottles to maintain productivity quotas—and sneer at congressional representatives who question the situation, thereby mocking the challenges of hourly workers and government oversight. You intimidate people who attempt to unionize and work with local authorities to recalibrate traffic lights to thwart union officials that try to engage employees as they leave warehouses. You don’t pay workers a living wage, pushing many full-time workers to rely on government benefits such as SNAP to support their families. You squeeze out competitors, whether they’re small bookstores or small businesses that make products you decide to knock off. And now you’re facing a class-action lawsuit for price-fixing brought by indie bookstores. Abuse, union busting, and cutthroat capitalism isn’t just a bad look. It’s bad business.

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Thanks, Caya.  That's disturbing news.  I wish I knew how accurate it is, or how widespread the alleged misbehavior is.  A lot of things seem to go viral without much basis -- but of course that doesn't mean everything on the internet is made up!

 

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I have just been called ma'am by a teenager, I officially feel old. I have been called ma'am by people older than me except by seniors who call me young lady, this is the first time I've been called ma'am by someone younger than me.

He wanted directions, but I was tempted to say "Excuse me young whippersnapper, but it's miss. Historically, it's always been miss until some people decided it was offensive that women were reduced to their marriage status and changed it so miss was only used for minors. Personally I find it ageist and propose the following: miss is used until the age of 30." But I didn't and gave him his directions. What do you think? Do you hate being called ma'am? What you propose about when to use miss or ma'am?

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In German, Miss (Fräulein) is rarely ever used anymore, and personally I'm fine with it - it's literally the diminuitive form of Frau (Ma'am), so it means "little female", as if a woman weren't a true female without a husband, and that got some ugly undertones. Of course, in Vienna, the standard way to adress pretty much any woman is "Gnä' Frau" (short for Gnädige Frau, which was how servants used to address their mistresses, and as such one of the many holdovers of imperial Vienna) anyway. :lol:  

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12 hours ago, Fantasy Lover said:

I have just been called ma'am by a teenager, I officially feel old. I have been called ma'am by people older than me except by seniors who call me young lady, this is the first time I've been called ma'am by someone younger than me.

[....]  What do you think? Do you hate being called ma'am? What you propose about when to use miss or ma'am?

Personally, I always disliked being called miss, because (around here, at least) it often carries a connotation of speaker superiority.  For example, a waitress is likely to be called miss, pretty much regardless of her apparent age or the age of the speaker.  I will add that "young lady" was even worse, for similar reasons, and also because it frequently accompanied a scolding of some sort.

I currently find myself addressing just about any adult or late-teen female as ma'am, especially on the phone, where it's hard to judge ages.  I have no idea how younger women take being called that, but to me it's a term of respect.

All this depends on where you are, of course.  I've heard that in some places it's considered servile to use any such term, rather than calling a person by name or just saying "you."  But around here, it's always been sir and ma'am.

Also of course, it depends on what language one is speaking, since translations are rarely precise.

10 hours ago, Caya said:

... in Vienna, the standard way to address pretty much any woman is "Gnä' Frau" (short for Gnädige Frau, which was how servants used to address their mistresses ....

In which case "ma'am" would be a very good translation!

 

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When I went for my first jab, the young nurse here in Scotland called me 'lassie'.

I pointed out to him that it was long time since anybody ahd ever referred to me as a 'lassie'!

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  • 1 month later...

I like the sound of that! :lol: 

Nobody uses anything comparable to "sir", "ma'am" or "miss" where I live. It's just last names and "Sie", the formal German "you". Sometimes when people are deliberately trying to be ironic, rude or condescending, they'll say "junge Frau" or "junger Mann" ("young lady" / "young gentleman"). 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not so much a rant as a whine, but: I got stuck in a traffic jam today on the way to work, had just gotten out of it when my son's daycare called, telling me to pick him up immediately because his mild cold is a violation of their current (and apparently very recently updated) pandemic policy. 

So I had to drive back while frantically holding 3 cell phone conversations at once with husband, boss and babysitter. 

Ah, the joys of working motherhood... All of you around here who don't want children, I hope my woes at least serve to make you feel validated... 😅 

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I sometimes wonder what my life might be like now, if I had decided to have children, years ago.

Some of my friends have wonderful children who are good friends and companions to them. Others have grown kids who see them only as a continuing meal ticket.  I guess you never know.

 

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You never know... 

I feel guilty sometimes for bringing a child into this world with all its dangers and the dismal prognosis of climate change etc but on the other hand, has it ever been a "good" time to reproduce...? 

I took a fatalistic approach to it all in the end. Chances were slim enough that even though I'm not religious at all, I told myself well, if it works out I guess it's meant to be. 

I'm not so worried about how it'll all be for myself long term ("companionship" vs "meal ticket"), more about this little human whom I chose to be responsible for having a decent life and not cursing me for causing his existence. 

For myself, I have zero regrets already, the past four years have already been worth everything I can imagine. Still, traffic jams and covid rules, sniffles and babysitting can sometimes put a big strain on my nerves... 

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8 hours ago, T.o.b.y said:

I feel guilty sometimes for bringing a child into this world with all its dangers and the dismal prognosis of climate change etc.

Prospective parents probably had similar concerns back in the 50s, with thoughts of The Bomb hanging over their heads.  Fortunately most of them went ahead and procreated, or there wouldn't be anyone alive now who's young enough to reproduce!

 

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On 9/9/2021 at 1:46 AM, T.o.b.y said:

Ah, the joys of working motherhood... All of you around here who don't want children, I hope my woes at least serve to make you feel validated... 😅

Hey, don't worry about that 😁

I am very validated now, even some of my busybody relatives told me I made the right decisions. Also, people and kids around me in public places validate me every day.  😁

 

My rant, I like cakes. I don't have sweet tooth, I don't eat a lot of cakes, but sometimes I crave it.

And it's not easy to find good cakes that is not ridiculously priced around here. So, I decide to make my own lately. Been quite happy with the results, anyway, I always explore baking when I have time to do so, and feedback have always been positive (free will no threat I swear), but it's quite annoying strolling through forever to find the recipe after the author decides to tell you their whole life story before the recipe, or worse, it is hidden after another click/the need to navigate among those.

Anyone feel the same? Do you actually read the blablabla?

I know, I know, appreciate the creator. Nope, I just want my cake.

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Good heavens, I know exactly what you mean!  I sometimes read the blather, either because it's interesting/informative, or because I don't want to accidentally skip some crucial part of the recipe.

Most of them do have a Print Recipe button that takes you to s just-the-facts page that you can print if you want to.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Biting the inside of my cheek, and for some reason, it's very likely that I will bite it again accidentally a couple more times on the same spot.

It's painful, eventually becomes annoying ulcer. Gah gah gaaaaah!

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21 minutes ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

Biting the inside of my cheek, and for some reason, it's very likely that I will bite it again accidentally a couple more times on the same spot.

I hate it when that happens!   :(

 

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