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

[Arcadia]

To be fair, the media do seem to get carried away, which can be annoying.

 

You mean, you think the media blows some of the "bad manners" out of proportion? Hmmm, true. But I was thinking more of people who make sweeping racist comments simply because they've heard, e.g., that there's a person of color who gets welfare. Too much of that kind of thinking in this country, always has been, and everywhere else too ... and I'm all for the press exposing them at every turn.

 

We've got a big ole storm rolling in off the Atlantic, and in response to the wind the powers that be (damn you, Mycroft) decided to close off an entire section of the M4 - the equivalent of a major interstate. It took me forever to get home, and likely would have taken even longer if I hadn't happened to leave work late and miss the worst of rush hour. Missed a class I wanted to go to, had my phone in the boot so couldn't even potter about online whilst sitting there with the engine off. Finally, finally got home - and immediately did the one thing that fixes all ills. Made tea. 

 

You might be interested in seeing the bizarre skies we had here this morning thanks to the smoke and sand caught up in the storm. Here's how it looked in London, that's not sunrise or sunset, that's mid morning. 

 

 

Wow. That's a beautiful photo but a bit ... apocalyptic. If you hadn't identified it I would've thought it was something to do with the fires in California.

 

Agree about attention seeking. I suppose some of those feel left out as the world opens up. Apparently it's lost to them about the struggle, challenges and real difficulties of the actual coming out term.

 

..., had my phone in the boot so couldn't even potter about online whilst sitting there with the engine off.

I wanted to say that the picture is gorgeous and I don't sympathize with your suffering since it looks gorgeous and now you are safe and sound, but then I restrained myself because for the possibility of feet smelling phone landing on my face, but now I say it anyway because apparently I misunderstood that 'boot' means compartment in your car, so I wasted two minutes thinking about what kind of nuts are you for putting your phone in your boot and risk passing out smelling that when you make a call.

See what your language does to non speaker??

 

But, we can always talk about boot, the one that wrap around feet, again. :P

 

What? No! That's just another shoe "conversation!"

[Van Buren Supernova]

Something I want to ask about the picture but I forgot. Why was the plane flying so close to the building?

I know it could be trick of angle etc, but it still looks too close. Don't they have some kind of no fly zone area near high buildings?

 

Oh ya, shoes! Why not? Or you prefer my term, feet wrap?

 

 

Actually, I tried to eat play-doh once.

Almost miss this.

Define once.

The one I read in Webster doesn't sound suitable with your situation.

[Carol the Dabbler]

To be fair, the media do seem to get carried away, which can be annoying.

 

You mean, you think the media blows some of the "bad manners" out of proportion? Hmmm, true. But I was thinking more of people who make sweeping racist comments simply because they've heard, e.g., that there's a person of color who gets welfare. Too much of that kind of thinking in this country, always has been, and everywhere else too ... and I'm all for the press exposing them at every turn.

I mean, I think the media blows virtually *everything* out of proportion.  Apparently that's how they sell newspapers, attract viewers, and encourage clicks.

 

Different people will be annoyed by different things being blown out of proportion, because different people are different (which is a damn good thing).

[T.o.b.y]

I think there are trends in the news as well as everywhere else. And I understand that people get tired of reading / hearing about "hot topics", especially if they aren't (or at least don't seem) very relevant to their own lives.

 

But It isn't fair to visit this displeasure on the people or groups currently in the spotlight. I actually tend to do that with fiction, btw. If something is being "hyped" (or if I just feel like it is), I am often way more critical about it than I otherwise would have been, just because I get so sick of hearing about it.

 

Fortunately, fiction doesn't have feelings and the authors / creators of very popular work do very well without my approval.

[Pseudonym]

Just had some stupid little sh*t (teenager most likely) calling me a goth out of the window of a car. First of all, I do not look like a goth, I'm not even wearing all black. Second of all, if I was a goth, so what?! Ignored 'em anyway, stupid little sods, so it became, "goth... goth... goth... goth..." all in the same monotone call, making him sound like a complete idiot. They were obviously hoping I'd turn around and, I dunno, say something? I don't get people's logic, what are you hoping is going to happen there? Maybe they thought I was a teenager from the back or something (not that that makes more sense)? Who knows. I'm a grown woman, I've been called worse, and I don't give much a crap what you think I am - what irritates me is people doing stuff like that for no apparent reason, I really don't understand the point. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

You're probably right, it was a teenage boy. I think they've always been like that. At least, some of 'em were like that when I was a teen, which has been a while.

 

Alex used to wear his hair shoulder length, so some people would take him for a woman, especially from the back. We'd get "May I help you ladies?" a lot in stores. When we go for walks, we sometimes hold hands, and if we went over by the high school, we'd often get jeered at for supposedly being lesbians. Which of course would have been none of their business anyhow. I once got a chorus of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" shrieked at me by a cluster of teens because I was wearing bib overalls. (Hey, they're comfortable -- which is presumably why farmers wear 'em.)

 

Near as I can figure it, teens (perhaps especially boys) don't yet have much empathy. To them, a joke is a joke, and the idea that it might hurt someone's feelings is pretty theoretical, especially if they're teasing someone for being something that they are not. For example, if we had said to those boys "how would you like it if somebody called you lesbians?" they'd probably have replied that nobody would do that because they were obviously not lesbians -- so the concept of being teased about it was meaningless to them.

 

I can recall making a pun on another girl's name when I was a kid. It was actually a pretty good pun, but the problem was, it basically implied she was fat, and the girl actually was a bit chubby, so she may have been sensitive about it. I would never have intentionally teased her about it, but all I saw was the pun. Every time I remember that, I feel like giving myself a talking-to.

[Pseudonym]

As a teenager I was probably just as vile as every other teenager... I just don't get what they were hoping for. I suppose any kind of reaction to alleviate their boredom. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Why do teens do *anything*? Are you even sure they were talking at you specifically? Maybe it was the background lyrics to a new song.

[Pseudonym]

Pretty sure. It was out the window from a car stopped at lights behind me and there was no one else around. 

[Arcadia]

Something I want to ask about the picture but I forgot. Why was the plane flying so close to the building?

I know it could be trick of angle etc, but it still looks too close. Don't they have some kind of no fly zone area near high buildings?

 

Oh ya, shoes! Why not? Or you prefer my term, feet wrap?

 

 

Actually, I tried to eat play-doh once.

Almost miss this.

Define once.

The one I read in Webster doesn't sound suitable with your situation.

 

Once: one time. One time only. On one occasion. Of or relating to a single occasion. 

 

:P

[Van Buren Supernova]

Once: one time. One time only. On one occasion. Of or relating to a single occasion. 

 

:P

My webster and your definition are broken then. Aiz.

 

 

@teenagers

*flail hands around*

In my time.. and my generation.. bla bla :p we as teenagers had some respect to elderly XD (duck feet smelling shoes).

 

Thanks heavens I don't get to meet too many obnoxious teenagers. Those I encounter mostly have good manners.

 

Grown men though, live their days by cat calling. Pretty sure they don't even mean it, it's like they are those motion activated garden accesories that whistles and hoots whenever a female passes by. Just for the sake of it.

If society permits, I'd like to tie a pretty knot to nearest pole using their tongue.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Pretty sure. It was out the window from a car stopped at lights behind me and there was no one else around.

 

You were in a car too, then? Seems unlikely they could have seen you well enough to have any opinion of your appearance. Or were you in/on some sort of open vehicle?

[Pseudonym]

No, I was standing at the crossing waiting for the light to turn green. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Ah! Well then, you could well have been the target. Maybe "goth" has become the new generic insult?

[Pseudonym]

I suspect they were chavs, in which case 'goth' would be the ultimate insult. 

 

Here's an example of a chav... 

 

[Arcadia]

Which ones were the chavs? (I'm guessing all of them...)

[Pseudonym]

Nope, just Kelly, the one no one can understand. 

[Arcadia]

Got it.

[Fantasy Lover]

Because it's THAT time of the year again

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Easy, stores typically get there Christmas items sent to them the end of August/beginning of September (at least here in the US) and it goes out right away as there is not much room for stock. I used to work retail and that is what we did. As soon as the trees arrived, Christmas was in the sales floor.

[Pseudonym]

I used to moan about it, but now I've stopped caring. I do draw the line at Christmas music being played too early though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Somebody suggested that we have just one long holiday, called Hallowthankmas.

 

Regarding the chavs, my impression from internet reading is that they're basically what used to be called punks (back before that became a style).  Some people interpret any put-down of "chavs" as a slam against working-class people in general, but I suspect that's mostly another case of "political correctness."

 

[Pseudonym]

No a chav is definitely a particular type of person, though it's hard to describe exactly. 

[Van Buren Supernova]

I actually don't mind early Christmas ambience. I like end of year mood, always welcome holiday season. But of course I don't hang around commercial areas much so it doesn't annoy me. Pretty much can imagine the torture of hearing christmas music in October if you are in proximity of commercial areas.

[Pseudonym]

I worked a few months on a night shift stacking supermarket shelves, and they played the same CD across the shop on repeat every shift. It got to the point that I thought if I heard The Beach Boys singing Fun, Fun, Fun one more time I would go on a homicidal rampage with my boxcutter.