Innocuous things that make you irrationally angry (a list thread)

How is Brian Eno in any way like anyone out of the Human League, wtf

synths iirc

mmmm

I think Oakey is a baldy now too fwiw

he is but i mean

http://www.glam-ou-rama.co.uk/users/276/gallery/potm.jpg

y

will not post pic of baldy oakey with tubby goth fan

oh shit aa just did

'It looks like you're trying to get away!'

btw this competes in the lol stakes

http://popshifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/phil-oakey.jpg

the shading makes the position of the nip look really really odd

Holy shit I actually thoguht that was a photo of myself for a split second.

That first pic i mean not the one just above!

Haha, I did too.

I dont even have hair like that anymore! but it made me spittake.

the shading makes the position of the nip look really really odd

also the way he's standing. but it looks like he has one nip and it's in the middle.

phil oakleela

ia: the name "bethany." whenever i hear it i refuse to believe it's a real name -- that it's just some mashup of "beth" and "stephanie" and the parents couldn't make up their mind. yes, i know "bethany" is actually a biblical reference, that's why i posted this on the innocuous/irrational thread.

btw i stopped myself from writing "portmanteau" instead of "mashup" because i was self-conscious of sounding like that awl nyt parody.

2 unrelated things this morning:
1) I take a bus to the nearest metro station and everyone morning at least one person will run from the bus stop OUTSIDE the station like they are going to catch the last train. They run every 3 minutes at this hour ffs.
2) iphone autocorrecting apple's fucking 'i' words so you always look like some pedantic fanboy writing iPhone, iPod, iPad, etc.

having to attend 2 day wedding celebration, including getting up at 7am!!!1!!1 on saturday

It's bad enough when I go to a chain grocer to get the lazy junk food pitch at the check-out. ("Are you interested in any of out special value deals today?" Points to strawberry-flavored Cheetos.) But I've noticed over the course of the last year or so that Trader Joe's has started to do this, too, albeit slightly more subtly. Today, for instance, the woman at the register, apropos of nothing (apart from promotion) mentioned off-hand that she tried their new buffalo jerky (on display nearby) and found it "spicy," but also "sweet" and "tangy." I looked at her and was, like, OK. Glad you liked them.

I have good feelings for TJ's in general, but this annoyed me a lot.

Oh, that's not going to be a good trend.

I've yet to have that happen in my grocery shopping, but when it does, a little part of me will die.

That said, I'd like to hear more about these strawberry-flavored Cheetos.

"15 stamps please"

"would you like this packet of jelly babies?"

...

Suggestive selling sucks. Worked at KFC for abt 5 years through high school/college and even when someone had ordered a 21pc family meal with everything you had to upsell them freaking icecream or something. And so you have do it in a way that seems friendly but you hope is secretly code for "look, I have to do this, I know you hate me for it but please just say no thank you and we'll get out of this quickly and painlessly."

It felt even more awful bc this was back home in Australia in a tiny small town. I mean, we didn't even have McDonalds at the time and there were tons of farmers who would only come into town once a week to sell livestock or whatever who really didn't get out much otherwise and they just stare at you like "I asked for chicken, just give me chicken wtf is wrong with you."

This suggestive selling is about to completely chase me away from Caribou Coffee. They just added breakfast sandwiches and have been really adamant about the hard sell. My conversation this morning after ordering my coffee:

Barista: Would you like a breakfast sandwich too?
Me: No thanks, just the coffee.
B: Are you sure? They're really good.
M: I'm sure they are, but no thanks.
B: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! You should get one.
M: Nope, it's okay. (in my head: SHUT THE FUCK UP I DON'T WANT A DAMN BREAKFAST SANDWICH)

That's over the line. And you would thnk they'd know better than to push coffee customers in the morning, lol

I had a clerk at JC Penny's try to upsell me their company's credit card. "You'll save five dollars today!"

I said no, I didn't need another credit card and her haughty reply was "If you apply for one, I GET A BONUS."

"I'm sorry that they tie your bonus to the credit card but I need more debt like I need a hole in the head so go peddle your bullshit somewhere else sister"

^ woman after my own heart

My supervisor at Best Buy told me he didn't mind us throwing gaming accessories in peoples carts. I mean not sneaking them in there, but discreetly putting it in while telling them why they needed it for "optimal gaming experience".

They also had different store types, used by a codename. Iirc if you were a "Ray" store, you focused more attention and tave preferential service to those o the more wealthy side...there was another type for "soccer moms", etc. My store naturally catered to people with money. They essentially wanted us to profile customers.

That and the idiotic ad campaign they ran where they had a white dude on one cutout, black dude on the other, both with genres of music stereotypical to their race written on their faces convinced me I worked for a shit company.

target is famous for this one...would you like to open a red card and save 5% on your shopping. Yes why not, i just bought a 12 pack of soda for $3.99 i would love to save 5%. FUCK OFF.

When I work on a farmer's market vegetable stall my up-sell is not annoying but I stick to things like the garlic bulbs and herbs they might have forgotten. Also, we know our customers well enough to stash things for them lest we run out before they arrive.

Back in MN I noticed Caribou Coffee breakfast sandwiches are made with turkey bacon and turkey sausage and that's a deal-breaker/excuse to make the person stop suggesting breakfast right there. #vom

I love that FYE tries to sell repacement plans on cds...like if scratched within two years.

Yes let me pay two extra dollars for this already overpriced cd to insure my valuable cd that I can't possibly know how to take care of

Approximately a quarter of the pistachios in this eight ounce bag are unopened or have a slight millimeter mocking gape along the side. To be thwarted by a nut.

Gnggghhh I hate that.

2) iphone autocorrecting apple's fucking 'i' words so you always look like some pedantic fanboy writing iPhone, iPod, iPad, etc.

THIS. I'm surprised it doesn't remove the word 'the' in front of those devices tbh.

I just listened to a call where the caller said "I don't want to ask your advice or nothin', but isn't the option I chose the best one for me since I'm single?"

Priceline near work, EVERY time I bought something, even a $2 packet of mints, would do this:

'Do you have a Priceline card?'
'No'
'Do you want one?'
'No'

They know now and they don't ask me anymore, which is good because I was about an inch away from stabby when they stopped.

Re the point y'all're making about corporate upselling: the receipt always passively-aggressively says 'YOU COULD HAVE EARNT 3 PRICELINE POINTS'

Oh have I done loyalty cards in this thread?

DO IT

LOYALTY CARDS

lol

The reason that stuff makes me angry is partly that I start to think about the economics of it and I think about how they could probably give slightly lower prices to everyone instead, but I'm being forced to make this choice of either mildly degrading myself for savings or paying a higher price than the people who have the cards.

Mandatory pitches (loyalty cards, store credit cards, double meat on your sandwich, etc.) are basically a way of keeping the masses against each other imo.

Also about carting a million of these bastards everywhere with you. If it's the local barista and you go there three times a day, fine, but if it's some sandwich shop that you visit once a month it's ridiculous.

That reminds me -- every website now having a "registration" with a login and password. How the fuck am I supposed to remember my login and password for a concert ticket vendor or some random foreign newspaper?

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh and when some twat on radio/the telly says 'for more information log on to the web site' EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NO ACTUAL LOGGING IN. FUCK FUCK FUCK GWAGWHAHAHHAHHH

omg I hate that

Do think that's at least partly from when people had dial-up and had to "log on" to being connected to the internet at all? I wonder that sometimes.