THE RANT THREAD!

[ChainLightning]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Took my night dose of Zantac an hour before eating like directed. Then ate PIZZA and took my night dose of Metformin and Glibizide. Started feeling iffy again. Two hours later my sugar is 91 and dropping and I'm not hungry. THIS SUCKS. New rule. When I go to bed at night I'm skipping my Metformin.

I'm worried about you!

[Medusa]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I'm worried about you!

Yeah, taking new meds within an already medicated regimen is always hard. I was having a bad day. I still had a queesey tummy today, but it was better. No Metformin at night for me anymore. I think I just need to get a good timetable for my meds and not make them too close together.

[Bjorn]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Found a helpful infographic: To Tip or Not To Tip

It's complete & utter b.s., but here in the US, if you work in a 'tip-compliant' field, you're taxed on estimated tips that you may or may not actually receive. The IRS felt that income made through tips was under-reported and therefore under-taxed.

As a night auditor, I'm not tip-compliant, but I always, always over-tip any service people I deal with. My husband gets annoyed by it, but I'm like, "Hey, they pay taxes, too". And even when there's a line at the coffee shop, the baristas have my usual waiting for me before I even hit the register, so there are perks

That graphic is awesome.

Also, ever since I accidentally tipped someone badly, I am supremely paranoid about not giving enough. It was an accident -- how, you ask? Ashamedly, I am embarrassingly bad at math. No joke, if you ask me a simple math question and just put me on the spot my chest will tighten up and my cheeks will redden and I simply won't be able to think of how to produce the answer. I got the check, I saw that it was less than the bill that I had, so I threw it down on the table and didn't think twice. As I was leaving, my waiter came screaming after me swearing and whatnot. I was fucking mortified.

So yeah, ever since then I overtip. I know what it's like to work paycheck to paycheck, I gotta spread some of the love around, yanno?

[Willow]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Well, my "references" cost me one of the internship openings. But I got the other one, so... maybe it simply wasn't meant to be. Or maybe it's the Universe's way of telling me I'm supposed to sleep sometimes.

Either way, I'm rather peeved at my "friends" and at the department that chose to be extremely snotty regarding their rejection of my application due to my references' inability to respond on time. -.-

[Ophidia]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Also, ever since I accidentally tipped someone badly, I am supremely paranoid about not giving enough. It was an accident -- how, you ask? Ashamedly, I am embarrassingly bad at math. No joke, if you ask me a simple math question and just put me on the spot my chest will tighten up and my cheeks will redden and I simply won't be able to think of how to produce the answer. I got the check, I saw that it was less than the bill that I had, so I threw it down on the table and didn't think twice. As I was leaving, my waiter came screaming after me swearing and whatnot. I was fucking mortified.

Omg, what an ass! (The server, not you). People like that waiter are what gives the service industry such a bad rap!

[DanieMarie]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

As an international traveler who isn't American but gets mistaken for one by people abroad, I can't believe the bad rap you guys get worldwide.

I mean, yeah - I've met some pretty shitty Americans traveling. And I'll admit - when I see a group of slightly overweight, middleaged white people looking at maps, I'm like "Oh god, the American tourists are here" and I usually try to leave, but it's groups like that (and businessmen assholes) that gave you the bad rap traveling.

Most people when they find out I'm Canadian, try to buy me a beer and tell me how polite Canadians are. It's just crazy.

Same. I've actually encountered very few horrible Americans. They're clueless at worst, but never abrasive, too drunk (or, rarely anyway), or offensive.

Aside from living in two tourist trap cities over my lifetime, I've worked in tourism briefly on two different occasions. In my personal experience, the Russians were the worst. I worked in a gift shop in the middle of nowhere, and a bus of Russians came in once and in the course of an hour made the entire staff cry. I got yelled at for giving a guy Canadian money in change (this was in Canada, well past the border, nowhere near a bank...we couldn't have that many American coins if we tried!) He just couldn't understand why I wouldn't give him American money, and was very abusive about it. They yelled at other staff members for various, similar reasons.

I used to work in a high end lingerie shop as well for a while. We got a lot of shoppers coming in on shopping trips in Russia...apparently designer clothing is cheaper in Germany than it is in Russia. The women were lovely. The men were horrible. One guy also screamed at me for speaking to him in English. He was struggling with his German and was clearly comfortable with English, so I just switched. He screamed at me, and I said "sorry sir, it's my first language and I thought you might be more comfortable speaking English."

When I worked at the gift shop/hotel, the Chinese drove everyone crazy, but I found that it wasn't out of disrespect or rudeness. They used to yell and push a lot to get help, even when it wasn't crowded. I just think that most people on bus tours haven't left Asia before, and if you don't get pushy in a crowded Asian city, you'll never get help. Therefore, it never bothered me. They were never rude or abusive to anyone on purpose.

Generally, I forgive people for being clueless. It can happen to the best of us when we're in a foreign place. Failure to tip in a country that tips, struggling with "please" and "thank you" because you feel uncomfortable in the local language, and other, more general blunders are no biggie. It's when you're purposely rude, abusive, and demanding to people that's a problem.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, 10-15% tip in Germany...LOL (regarding the infographic)

There are culture clashes about that within the country, but I've never seen a German tip more than 10%. Maybe it's different now in the South. In Berlin a lot of people still give the change of the bill (which was what you did up until about 10 years ago here). So if your bill comes to 39.60, they just pay 40 Euros and say keep the change.

Also, "Dollars are accepted but euros are appreciated." I've never been ANYWHERE that wasn't a tourist trap nightmare around Potsdamer Platz that accepted American dollars. Almost nowhere does, and if you leave the horrible restaurants around main tourist attractions in big cities, people will look at you like you're insane.

[anunitu]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Ok,Damn produce people. I just get into eating salads again,they are good for you right,then the recall cause of some bad bug. This is why I stopped eating salad before. Is there any food I don't have to worry about eating? It is getting to the point that food becomes kinda like Russian roulette as far as being good.

[Ophidia]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Ok,Damn produce people. I just get into eating salads again,they are good for you right,then the recall cause of some bad bug. This is why I stopped eating salad before. Is there any food I don't have to worry about eating? It is getting to the point that food becomes kinda like Russian roulette as far as being good.

Just wash, rinse or soak all your produce, and use a scrub brush on those with rough rinds, like cantaloupes and citrus.

According to this NPR article, water and a scrub brush can remove about 85 - 98% of microbes on food surfaces. A vinegar-water solution works effectively, too.

[Shahaku]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Do they not teach people how to use wheelchairs before sending them out in them anymore? I swear I see more people half scooting, using their feet more than their hands to move their chair these days. And then, when they ask you to push them, they don't even have the wits to lift their feet up. Well no s**t I ran over your ankles, you didn't pick your feet up idiot. There's only one person I've seen who had a good reason for being in a wheelchair and still using his feet. He had a stroke and can only use one arm so he has to use a foot in order to go straight. And his balance is all screwy because of the stroke. And also, being fat is not enough of a reason to go around in a wheelchair/scooter. This is a huge pet peeve. Seriously. Walk. Ugh.

[Maria de Luna]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Do they not teach people how to use wheelchairs before sending them out in them anymore?

No, they really do not. Sometimes if they are in therapy the PT will go over wheelchair use, but people get stuck in them all of the time with no basic knowledge of how they work...

[thalassa]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

And also, being fat is not enough of a reason to go around in a wheelchair/scooter. This is a huge pet peeve. Seriously. Walk. Ugh.

I had a patient once, that I overheard a couple of assholes make fun of because he was really huge and he was in a scooter. He looked like a lazy ass fatty that couldn't be bothered to walk...he didn't look sick or injured. Never mind that they guy blew his knees out jumping out of airplanes for a living until he got shot in the leg shattering his tibia and still managed to do his job, ended up with a massive infection and barely got to keep his leg, which was never strong enough to put his full weight on...much less work out.That man had three purple hearts to match his three bronze stars (with V's for valor) and was on his second round of cancer, and third round of chemo and radiation.

Those little marine fucktards right out of bootcamp weren't worthy to lick his fucking boots. That's my pet peeve.

[Heka]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

There is that difference though isn't there? The people who are so fat that they end up in a wheelchair/scooter, and the people who actually damage themselves, end up in a wheelchair/scooter, and unfortunately get fat.

You just can't tell the difference when they're riding past you down the street

[thalassa]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

There is that difference though isn't there? The people who are so fat that they end up in a wheelchair/scooter, and the people who actually damage themselves, end up in a wheelchair/scooter, and unfortunately get fat.

You just can't tell the difference when they're riding past you down the street

Is it really a difference? I mean...I don't know why someone actually got fat, even if there is nothing else clinically wrong with them. There are so many factors that contribute to obesity--its nowhere as simple as eat less/eat better and excessive more. How much you weigh and how your body treats food is about genetics and the ecology of your gut and the quality of your food and how efficient your body is just as much as it is calories in vs calories out. Yeah, some people eat too much and move too little---and some of those people are skinny. I guarantee that 99% fat people have a story...if people would bother to listen. And I guarantee that some of those stories involve being bullied, being molested, being abused, being injured or ill, being on certain medications, losing the genetic lottery for skinniness, etc....far more that "I ate too much and am lazy".

Is a kid with a genetic propensity to obesity who is never taught good nutrition or how to cook well (because his/her parents never learned how), was born big and never really unable to lose weight, that ends up in a scooter because they get too fat to cart themselves around a wal-mart (which is all they can afford because obesity is connected very strongly to income level) less defensible and less worthy of my compassion than a decorated war vet with cancer?

[Heka]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Is it really a difference? I mean...I don't know why someone actually got fat, even if there is nothing else clinically wrong with them. There are so many factors that contribute to obesity--its nowhere as simple as eat less/eat better and excessive more. How much you weigh and how your body treats food is about genetics and the ecology of your gut and the quality of your food and how efficient your body is just as much as it is calories in vs calories out. Yeah, some people eat too much and move too little---and some of those people are skinny. I guarantee that 99% fat people have a story...if people would bother to listen. And I guarantee that some of those stories involve being bullied, being molested, being abused, being injured or ill, being on certain medications, losing the genetic lottery for skinniness, etc....far more that "I ate too much and am lazy".

Is a kid with a genetic propensity to obesity who is never taught good nutrition or how to cook well (because his/her parents never learned how), was born big and never really unable to lose weight, that ends up in a scooter because they get too fat to cart themselves around a wal-mart (which is all they can afford because obesity is connected very strongly to income level) less defensible and less worthy of my compassion than a decorated war vet with cancer?

To your question, no, they are certainly worth of compassion. But where I live, while yes there are some people who have the bullied/molested/depression/abused etc, most people that are overweight just plain refuse to make good choices. There is PLENTY of education and opportunities etc to make good choices and to begin to eat better and begin to exercise. A gym membership here costs $100 for the whole year. 50% of people are overweight here (and think they are 'healthy'). There is not really any excuse for these people. In some ways I'm one of them. I'm a few kilos overweight, I have a gym membership, and I don't lose weight. I cannot make excuses for people I've known my entire life who pretty much just refuse to lose weight.

Yes these people aren't so morbidly obese they are in wheelchairs. But I can't make excuses for those people that are 5-20 kg overweight. The majority of those people are just lazy.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

This is a huge pet peeve. Seriously. Walk. Ugh.

I miss my daily mileage more than I can express. Just sayin'. Things like arthritis aren't visible, whether someone's thin or fat. Not everyone can walk all over the place. I think all those "10,000 steps a day" plans are actually harmful. I will always wonder if perhaps I'd exercised a bit LESS if I'd be in less pain now.