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

[Arcadia]

Ooooh, lucky you. I could have used one of those when I was first on my own, probably would have saved me a lot of trouble with housing. Oh well, at least I had a roommate, she shared the problems.

[Fantasy Lover]

Yeah, I'm grateful I have them despite the changes. All those systems are giving me a headache

[J.P.]

Are there really mentors for that?

[Arcadia]

There's mentors for everything.

[Fantasy Lover]

Are there really mentors for that?

Well, I'm not sure. I mean there is a system in Belgium that helps people if they they think they're not ready live alone and deal with all the administration stuff and whatnot. idk how they call it in other country's, if it exists in other country's that is

[Pseudonym]

I don't think they have those here, I live on my own and I've not heard of anything like that. 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

The US might have some non-profit organizations that help with that sort of thing, but it is not common here.

[Pseudonym]

What is wrong with people that they think it's okay to just type in two lines of their address followed by a postcode instead of typing the whole address?! As if I have nothing better to do than sit around Googling a list of postcodes to try to find the county when I'm already rushed off my feet and the courier deadline is looming. FFS!!   <---- This is the spitting image of my face right now. 

[Arcadia]

They're probably thinking "What is wrong with people who can't be bothered to look up the postcode and instead expect me to type the whole address?!" :d

[Carol the Dabbler]

That's probably the same people who never read the user manual. :P

 

Today I am once more irked by the state police phoning up asking for donations to their charity. (I think it's a summer camp for potentially-wayward youth, but I don't let them get that far into their spiel these days.)

 

As I understand, this is how it works: If you give them money, you get a bumper sticker and the police get to be the good guys for helping the kids (or whoever it is), which seems a bit unfair already.

 

But my main beef is that it feels wrong to say no to a policeman. (And come to think of it, seems like it's always a man who phones, and a notably manly sounding man at that. Dunno if he's actually a police officer, but he never says he isnt.). So it seems to me like they are (intentionally or not) intimidating people into giving, and heaven knows a lot of people are far easier to intimidate than I am.

 

But that bumper sticker kinda bothers me as well. The official word (though rarely spoken) is that having one on your car will *not* save you from a speeding ticket, but a lot of people seem firmly convinced that it will. If it doesn't, then by saying so only rarely, the police are taking advantage of the common belief, which comes close to fraud. And if it does, that's a clear case of suborning bribery.

 

Do the police have similar practices in other states? Other countries?

[Arcadia]

I'm not really sure how it works here anymore, or even if it's consistent from one locale to the other. It used to be, when we first lived here, a policeman actually came to the door asking for money ... now that was really hard to refuse! But you had a face to put to the voice, and it was sort of nice, somehow. Then they went to making phone calls, and I'm pretty sure some of them identified themselves as police; but you weren't always sure what organization they were soliciting for. When they came to the door, it was for the benefit of police injured in the line of duty, which seemed fitting to me; but later it seemed to be for a variety of things, and I stopped giving.

 

This year, I've gotten two calls in the last couple of weeks, and they both identified themselves as paid solicitors, which I think is a first. But I don't even know what organization they're calling for .... as you say, I don't let them get that far, so they could be raising money to vacation in the Bahamas, for all I know.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Sounds like Virginia has a new state law requiring paid solicitors to identify themselves as such. Not a bad idea.

[Arcadia]

Huh. I hadn't thought of that, but you appear to be right. I couldn't figure out if it's a new law or not, but I don't recall hearing any solicitors say that before this year, so it's very possible. Interesting.

[Pseudonym]

I've never had the police ring up about anything, I think I'd be a bit miffed if they did. For people collecting for charity the ones I really hate are the ones with clipboards in town who either try to harangue or flirt you into submission.

[Pseudonym]

Another day, another set of counties. Skelmersdale doesn't even sound real, it sounds made up. 

[besleybean]

I've camped near there.

[T.o.b.y]

I have never heard of a police-related charity in Germany. Not saying there isn't one, but they aren't very visible and I've certainly never been asked for a donation on their behalf.

 

Soliciting is something I cannot stand. When people approach me in the street, no matter how noble their cause, I run away. If somebody calls me on the phone, I hang up. I donate to a few organizations that as far as I know do good work and use the donations fairly efficiently and I do it entirely of my own accord.

 

Personally, I think the most effective way to get me to donate is to make a documentary / write a newspaper article about your charity / other NPO and the great work they do and then add info on how people can give them money.

[Pseudonym]

Ditto. People who knock on doors really drive me nuts because they could actually be anyone. I don't usually open the door at all unless I know who it is, that goes back to the whole living alone thing though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Alone or not, I don't open the door to strangers. I talk to them through the window, unless they can identify themselves to my satisfaction. Even if they're wearing a uniform (just call me paranoid).

[Arcadia]

Do you two live in a city or town, by any chance? I think if I lived in town I'd be more reluctant to open my door. But out here in the country/suburbs, it's just what we do. Plus, around here they don't build houses with windows near the doors. At least, not the kind you can talk through, just little ornamental panes so there's a little light in the doorway. I honestly can't think of any way to communicate with someone who's outside without opening the door!

 

Although now that I think about it, I do sometimes leave the screen door closed. Even more likely, though, is for me to actually go out on the front step and close the door behind me. Why, I don't know, just instinct.

[Pseudonym]

Yup, city for me, though a fairly small city. My living room window is right by my front door but I can't open it to talk through it, so anyone knocks on my door I normally leg it upstairs and peek through the blinds to see who it is without them noticing. 

[Arcadia]

That makes perfect sense ... I've just never thought about it, basically. But I do weird things like going for walks by myself, too. Just the way I grew up, I reckon.

[besleybean]

I could never think of taking a lone walk as weird.  Doesn't everyone do this?!

[Pseudonym]

I walk on my own if I have a reason to, like walking a dog or walking to work but I don't walk on my own just for enjoyment. Not that I wouldn't for safety concerns, I would just get bored. Saying that, when I did have a dog there were quite a few places I wouldn't walk on my own with her because it seemed a bit too dodgy.

[Arcadia]

I could never think of taking a lone walk as weird.  Doesn't everyone do this?!

 

Oh, I know women who won't go anywhere alone, on foot or otherwise. Not because anything's ever happened to them, they just think it's not safe. Part of me understands it, and part of me finds it a little sad. I wouldn't like to be that worried about my safety. Plus I like being alone when outdoors. People tend to talk.