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

That guy sounds like the fucking idiot. "On your left" is a really common phrase that means "Look out, I am on coming around on your left." I don't even think it means that you need to move so much as it is a way of alerting the other person to the cyclist's presence so they don't go veering to the left.

Jon, he is the fuckwit, not you. He is saying he is on your left - there's not even any room for confusion. And yeah, you have right of way so screw him.

The problem with taking your backpack off is that generally if the bus/train is full you can't reach the luggage rack

let me stop you right here: LUGGAGE RACK????

now I am IA at our shitty trains/buses

That's really weird. I wonder what he thought "On your left" meant? "[I am going to pass you, but not] on your left"?

Chicago's regional commuter train (Metra) has luggage racks, and our city buses usually have a space over the front wheel well where one or two people can fit their luggage.

That's really weird. I wonder what he thought "On your left" meant? "[I am going to pass you, but not] on your left"?

don't overthink that one; dude doesn't know his left from his right

Our commuter trains might have luggage racks, now that I think about it

Thanks, I was sure I was in the right here, but his level of vitriol made me second guess myself. I thought about pointing out that he shouldn't be on the sidewalk in the first place, but didn't really want to push him considering how pissed off he was.

And, yes, luggage racks on our trains would eliminate about 10% of train related annoyances. I can totally understand not having room to remove your backpack, that can happen during rush hour crowds, but then I just ask that you be aware of your dimensions and try not to smack people.

how much room do you need to remove a backpack???

More than you often get when travelling on the train.

I just ask that you be aware of your dimensions and try not to smack people.

Or at least HOLD STILL. People with backpacks on have forfeited their right to turn around and be like, "What, huh?!" when their friend across the car says something, because their turning arc carries that mass right into the small of my back.

... Am I a weird contortionist for being able to remove my backpack while crushed in a train, then? Or does everyone keep their straps way tighter than I keep mine?

there's at least one joke in there, right?

obviously the awkward solution is to shift the backpack to your front (frontpack, lol) before getting on the train and awkwardly standing around with it on

A big backpack (like a camping rucksack) can take an awful lot of effort to take on and off. Also the amount of swing required isn't conducive to the average underground coach.

I don't even think it means that you need to move so much as it is a way of alerting the other person to the cyclist's presence so they don't go veering to the left.

this, really

Oh yeah SEE ALSO: kitchen warnings like "hot pan" and "right behind"!! Those things mean, "Stay where you are and don't make any sudden movements." They emphatically do not mean TURN AROUND REALLY FAST TO SEE WHAT I'M CARRYING.

Maybe the cyclist was callin' the ChaCha Slide.

Or maybe he wasn't.

lol I don't take a camping backpack to work with me!

for real though, it is VERY easy for me to slide the pack off of my shoulders and let it slip down my back so I can stick it between my shins, clamped between my legs and resting on top of my shoes completely out of everyone's way

Dan, I feel like if you have room to slide it off and move it around your body to the front, that train isn't crowded enough for the backpack to be an issue in the first place?? One of the trains I take every day is sometimes so crowded that I can't hold a book or even my phone in front of my face because there's no room for my arm.

Yeah, what Laurel says. There are days when I can't even wiggle enough to pull my phone out of my pocket without elbowing someone in the ribs.

Well that's the thing; I'm not actually moving it around to the front. It slides down my back and then between my legs. Oh this is destined for the out of context thread isn't it.

I worked for a night as a kitchen porter where the French head chef would warn people IN FRENCH if he had a hot plate. It's a good thing I understand what "chaud devant" is supposed to mean, or I'd be sporting the scald burns to this day.

for extremely packed trains or buses, people just need to remove their backpacks before boarding, it's not terribly complicated

Yes.

Dan, what type of backpack do you take to work with you?

Well, yeah, but there are a lot of common courtesy things people should be expected to do, but don't bother when it comes to public transport.

Oh yeah SEE ALSO: kitchen warnings like "hot pan" and "right behind"!! Those things mean, "Stay where you are and don't make any sudden movements." They emphatically do not mean TURN AROUND REALLY FAST TO SEE WHAT I'M CARRYING.

Laurel OTM. Announcing "Behind you!" "On your left!" (or "behind!" and "left!") saves everyone a lot of grief, and they are good for use in daily life outside of restaurants. I also like the phrase a server at my last restaurant job popularized: "Watch your parts!" though it wasn't specific enough to be useful.

Dan, what type of backpack do you take to work with you?

A Tumi computer backpack.

BTW the slide maneuver usually only happens after 500 people suddenly cram onto the train and I've been too engrossed in a book to notice until someone sticks an armpit in my face.

DJP posts itt today are all ripe for "ILM quoted out of context".

DJP must have i: a naturally slouchy posture (bad in singers) or ii: shoulders he can dislocate at will (cool!)

I do slouch a lot but I think the real secret is that I keep my backpack straps very, very loose

People who don't understand the Law of Conservation of Stress. I know your emotional blowup was very cathartic, but you didn't ask my permission before you offloaded your stress into my brain, or thank me afterward. Couldn't you have just screamed into a pillow for ten minutes?

Oh yeah SEE ALSO: kitchen warnings like "hot pan" and "right behind"!! Those things mean, "Stay where you are and don't make any sudden movements." They emphatically do not mean TURN AROUND REALLY FAST TO SEE WHAT I'M CARRYING.

I know it's the most stupid thing you can do (and thus rationally annoying to the other party), but I get startled easily, so coming up from nowhere and saying anything abrupt will make me jump out of my skin. It's just inevitable.

Do you work in a kitchen?

Fortunately for everybody, no.

Probably no harm done, then!

Yeah, but after the first couple times, you know what to do.

It's like folding sheets with your partner, one of you has to lift to the left and one to the right. After a couple times you do it the same way.

After the first couple of times you get a 500º sautee pan to the neck you figure out what to do.

for extremely packed trains or buses, people just need to remove their backpacks before boarding, it's not terribly complicated

Yessssss and then set in on the ground between your feet.

Some clown wearing a backpack with his filthy sneakers tied to it kept brushing the soles of his shoes against my clothes, which required we have a little conversation about train manners and resulted in him removing the bag and apologizing profusely. Cretin.

TBF clowns do have to carry quite large shoes with them

Haha he was wearing chef pepper pants, which are clown appropriate as well.

I do slouch a lot but I think the real secret is that I keep my backpack straps very, very loose

okay but don't many backpacks have the slide-adjuster conveniently located at the front of the shoulder? even if the straps are adjusted tightly, all it takes is a quick flip with your thumb and hey presto, straps are looser!

i understand that space is often hard to negotiate but phrases like "pardon me" and "i'm sorry" are perfectly suited for this sort of situation. simple courtesy is all I ask and expect of other humans, and yet they constantly disappoint.

Also bus-related: When it's packed, and a few people get off leaving empty seats, and the standing people don't sit in the seats even though it would make more room for the rest of the standing people (and usually stand blocking access to the seats as well).

How you have to click twice on someone's FB profile pic if you want to see it properly bc it takes you to the photo album first.

- putting a new game into your xbox that requires a system update and said system update changes your dashboard so it looks wrong and the menus all make slightly different noises.

- Happily anticipating a certain food and then having to eat something else instead.

People who don't understand the Law of Conservation of Stress. I know your emotional blowup was very cathartic, but you didn't ask my permission before you offloaded your stress into my brain, or thank me afterward. Couldn't you have just screamed into a pillow for ten minutes?

thank you for this

- Happily anticipating a certain food and then having to eat something else instead.

― FLIP FLOPPING HILL BILLY! (reddening), Thursday, 1 September 2011 06:43 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

- ordering reliable comfort food that's all completely wrong when it comes out

Happily anticipating a certain food and then having to eat something else instead.

i've found that i am ever-increasingly "upset" by impromptu changes of any sort -- even if the change is to something i might like better. combine this with my general inability to make plans and i've created a recipe for never doing anything happily.

ugh it's like i'm 80 yrs old already

People who don't understand the Law of Conservation of Stress. I know your emotional blowup was very cathartic, but you didn't ask my permission before you offloaded your stress into my brain, or thank me afterward. Couldn't you have just screamed into a pillow for ten minutes?

I really really fervently mentally OTMed this when I read it, but then of course I responded to the crowded-train complaint post because that offered far greater opportunities for hyperbolic blow-ups.

On a slightly related note to the backpacks in peak hour thing: whats with this sudden trend of businesspeople using those long-handled wheely bags AS DAY TO DAY WORK BRIEFCASES. Theyre for AIRPORT TRAVEL, not for you to be a lazy cunt who cant be bothered carrying your laptop in a regular briefcase or satchel in yr HAND. The amount of tools I have seen blithely walking around Flinders st station concourse, dragging one of these fuckin things behind them in such a manner they wildly careen all over the place and HIT PEOPLE IN THE ANKLES... &^%%^$%#