Major pet peeve: Americans are greedy and corrupt, and don't donate in Haiti.

 

Fact:

 

"Americans gave nearly $300 billion to charitable causes last year, setting a new record and besting the 2005 total that had been boosted by a surge in aid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and the Asian tsunami... Individuals gave a combined 75.6 percent of the total. With bequests, that rises to 83.4 percent... About 65 percent of households with incomes less than $100,000 give to charity.

 

We also gave twice as much as the next charitable country, according to a November 2006 comparison done by the Charities Aid Foundation."

 

Philanthropic giving as part of the GDP: US (1.7%), Britain (.73%)....... France (.14%). France was lower than South Africa, Singapore, Turkey and Germany.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19409188/

 

Yet, France just blasted our efforts in Haiti as "not being enough." Yeah, our 3,000 troops over there stabilizing the region, the millions of food aid packages manufactured by American corporations just aren't enough. And our military forces out there regulating the once swamped and out-of-control airport...

 

I would also read The Greater Good: How Philanthropy Drives the American Economy and Can Save Capitalism by Claire Gaudiani.

Major pet peeve: Americans are greedy and corrupt, and don't donate in Haiti.

 

To clarify, I never intimated that Americans are greedy and corrupt, I indicated that local moms on my board are not interested in giving to Haiti for 2 apparent reasons: 1) "What have they done for us?" 2) We shouldn't be sending money out of America, we need to help Americans because We Are Suffering So Much.  Both "reasons" are just wrong on so many levels.  I'm GLAD to hear that most Americans are not like these ladies.

I don't have a problem with people preferring to give to domestic charities, but like RNR said, let's have some perspective. Yes, there are poor people here, but they are not suffering--generally speaking--to the extent that those in Haiti, or in other desperately poor third-world countries are, to say the least. I just think the "charity begins at home" comment is really obnoxious. It makes me wonder why someone who is presumably generous in giving at home (and therefore possessing an inclination to help the poor) would even make such a remark in response to a request to help people in another part of the world--where just basic survival is a day-to-day goal--where people cannot even dream of living a lifestyle that even the poorest in this country enjoy, especially in the aftermath of a devastating catastrophe. As an aside, this all reminds of the rich who give thousands of dollars to already rich arts institutions like the NYCity Ballet, the Met Opera and museum--in other words, institutions that benefit them--yet nothing or a pittance, to an organization to help someone in Haiti, or for that matter, the homeless here.

^ Do you know for sure that they aren't giving to other organizations as well? 

I like the way R&R thinks haha

 

I'm sorry if this offends anyone who thinks this way, but on another board I'm on (all Moms, and all local), nobody is giving anything to Haiti because "we need to take care of Americans, there are so many people unemployed here," etc etc. It's FINE if you don't want to donate to Haiti relief efforts, everyone can choose to support whatever causes they want to (or not), but people, seriously, get some PERSPECTIVE. The average income there is less than three hundred f*cking dollars a YEAR. The unemployment rate is 50%. 23% of children have HIV or AIDS. And Americans are "suffering?" COME ON!!!!

 

Lol, I picture the woman who said that, typing it into her iphone as she's being pampered at some expensive spa.

 

And yep, we are your future so get used to it!

 

Pet Peeve: MTS jumping all over me when I ask a simple question.... I'm used to it but it's still annoying. :roll:

 

I know. We should abolish medicare when he turns 64 (in 2 years) lol!

(Just kidding, MTS :) ).

 

 

I was just wondering because of David's choice of wording:

 

 

Grass can be a MUCH quicker route, where I stay.

 

I would have said, "...where I live", and I've heard other people say "I stay...".  You might say "I live (stay) downtown".  I was just curious.

 

Temp. residence in my case.

 

 

I see the landmine analogy is catching on around here. Hehe.

^ Do you know for sure that they aren't giving to other organizations as well? 

 

I don't think that's the issue. The odd phenomenon I've seen with Haiti, vs. other disasters, is how vocal certain people have been about NOT giving to Haiti. Like they're not deserving, or the money is better spent elsewhere. I've heard a number of times now "we (i.e. the US) donate XX Millions to Haiti, that should be enough".

 

They're not asking for a free handout to pay for normal day to day things here. They're fighting for their lives right now. Don't want to donate? That's your right. But I can't fathom why there's so much criticism of people / gov't entities that do.

^ Do you know for sure that they aren't giving to other organizations as well? 

 

about the rich, I don't know for sure, generally speaking, although I've read of instances where this has happened. Again, if someone wants to give a million dollars to a museum and nothing for the poor, fine (I love museums as much as the next person and am grateful for the people who built them); but don't go around boasting of how "charitable" you are when that museum also essentially becomes a "clubhouse" where the rich mingle with other people in their social circles at black tie events.

 

as for "charity begins at home," again, why would you say that if you are really interested in helping people? If it's your preference to give only to American charities, fine, but the remark sounds unnecessarily callous in the face of something like Haiti.

Another pet peeve:

When news organizations put out a story on the most pointless of things; such as Bill Gates switching from Facebook to twitter.

 

Who the f*** cares?! Oh wait, that's right.  We favor pointless celebrity news over real and meaningful news...

Downtown Columbus pet peeve - the Ohio Democratic Party building looks like an Elementary school whereas the Republican Party building looks like a Masonic Temple. Looks like the Dems are moving though.

Another pet peeve:

When news organizations put out a story on the most pointless of things; such as Bill Gates switching from Facebook to twitter.

 

Who the f*** cares?! Oh wait, that's right.  We favor pointless celebrity news over real and meaningful news...

 

But it worked as you posted this.  ;)

No, I really don't care about that stuff and just makes me so mad when they cover it because I don't want to hear about it.  And no I didn't read it.  I saw the headline on cnn.com and on a few other sites.  It's just so pointless idk.  Like yeah in Wired Magazine it wouldn't be a problem.  But it looks pretty silly and out of place in the middle of the Haiti and Senate race stories on the large news outlets.  Especially when CNN uses the classic "Hello World" program... 

Grrr.  Well whatever.

No, I really don't care about that stuff and just makes me so mad when they cover it because I don't want to hear about it.  And no I didn't read it.  I saw the headline on cnn.com and on a few other sites.  It's just so pointless idk.  Like yeah in Wired Magazine it wouldn't be a problem.  But it looks pretty silly and out of place in the middle of the Haiti and Senate race stories on the large news outlets.  Especially when CNN uses the classic "Hello World" program... 

Grrr.  Well whatever.

 

The point is you watched.  Period.  ;D

No, I really don't care about that stuff and just makes me so mad when they cover it because I don't want to hear about it.  And no I didn't read it.  I saw the headline on cnn.com and on a few other sites.  It's just so pointless idk.  Like yeah in Wired Magazine it wouldn't be a problem.  But it looks pretty silly and out of place in the middle of the Haiti and Senate race stories on the large news outlets.  Especially when CNN uses the classic "Hello World" program... 

Grrr.  Well whatever.

 

Maybe you should get your eyes checked. :-D

No, I really don't care about that stuff and just makes me so mad when they cover it because I don't want to hear about it.  And no I didn't read it.  I saw the headline on cnn.com and on a few other sites.  It's just so pointless idk.  Like yeah in Wired Magazine it wouldn't be a problem.  But it looks pretty silly and out of place in the middle of the Haiti and Senate race stories on the large news outlets.  Especially when CNN uses the classic "Hello World" program... 

Grrr.  Well whatever.

 

Maybe you should get your eyes checked. ;D

 

My little kumquat, if you didn't "read" or "watch" then how did you know about it on CNN??  Osmosis?

 

See below.  You tuned in so technically you watched it or read it and now your chatting about it.  That's the purpose.  Whether you like the topic or not, you started discussion about it and I thank you!

 

No, I really don't care about that stuff and just makes me so mad when they cover it because I don't want to hear about it.  And no I didn't read it. I saw the headline on cnn.com and on a few other sites.  It's just so pointless idk.  Like yeah in Wired Magazine it wouldn't be a problem.  But it looks pretty silly and out of place in the middle of the Haiti and Senate race stories on the large news outlets.  Especially when CNN uses the classic "Hello World" program... 

Grrr.  Well whatever.

 

 

I saw a headline??  I didn't read the whole story??  MTS come on man.  I'm not backing down... :P

I saw a headline??  I didn't read the whole story??  MTS come on man.  I'm not backing down... :P

 

Hey you watched/read.  You paid my bills.  gracias!

Yeah well if CNN gets paid by how many hits the page gets, then yep I guess I did.  Better be nicer to me, I frequent that site every day. :P :D

Yeah well if CNN gets paid by how many hits the page gets, then yep I guess I did.  Better be nicer to me, I frequent that site every day. :P :D

 

I think it's the other way around.  Be nice to me.....I have bigger weapons!  >:D

"Landmine

Has taken my sight

taken my speech

taken my hearing

taken my arms

taken my legs

taken my soul

left me with life in heellllllllllllll!"

 

Which brings me to a pet peeve I recently developed...Metallica in concert. Do you really have to do the "we say 'Seek and..', you say 'seek and destroy' " singalong? Still? You were doing it 15 years ago. I think we get it.

 

I know...probably not a widely sharted peeve. Nuts to you!

 

Seek and... do what?

"Landmine

Has taken my sight

taken my speech

taken my hearing

taken my arms

taken my legs

taken my soul

left me with life in heellllllllllllll!"

 

Which brings me to a pet peeve I recently developed...Metallica in concert. Do you really have to do the "we say 'Seek and..', you say 'seek and destroy' " singalong? Still? You were doing it 15 years ago. I think we get it.

 

I know...probably not a widely sharted peeve. Nuts to you!

 

Seek and... do what?

 

:x

2) We shouldn't be sending money out of America, we need to help Americans because We Are Suffering So Much.

 

Then stop buying cheap crap manufactured in China!

I love public transit and riding the bus but why do the crazy people ALWAYS have to sit next to ME?!  :wtf:

Imagine what they are thinking!!!!!!

David, I was just trying to make conversation!!!

lol

David, I was just trying to make conversation!!!

 

I'm so tired that I was reading up thread to find out what MayDay had said.  Then I was like OH!  Gawd, sleep deprivation.

Drivers who refuse to wait in exit lines, bypassing the other social rule abiding citizens and cutting into the exit lane at the last minute.  This also applies to all you a-holes who stay in the Route 2 lanes approaching downtown CLE from the east and then cut into the dead man's curve lanes when they split with Route 2.  FYI pricks... by doing that, it causes the 200 cars in front of me to engage in a chain reaction of brake application which slows the whole process down.  Same effect occurs when you constantly try to get in the "moving" lane in stop and go traffic.

^^Same thing for drivers approaching the Ontario ramp (when it was open). This is where I think the worst offenders are, and it causes a huge backup in the far R lane where people are getting onto the freeway, because everyone is braking to let the assholes in who refused to wait in line.

Can someone please tell me why you need to STAND on a DOWN escalator?  Excepting the very few people who actually have really bad knees or something, why do you have to STAND going down?  I can understand why people stand going up; climbing stairs can be taxing if you are out of shape, or maybe you don't want to get all sweaty in your dress clothes or something, but WTF going DOWN the escalator?  Can you seriously not walk down the escalator? 

Can someone please tell me why you need to STAND on a DOWN escalator? Excepting the very few people who actually have really bad knees or something, why do you have to STAND going down? I can understand why people stand going up; climbing stairs can be taxing if you are out of shape, or maybe you don't want to get all sweaty in your dress clothes or something, but WTF going DOWN the escalator? Can you seriously not walk down the escalator?

 

 

Ahhhh who was it? Mitch Hedburg? He was joking about how if an escalator breaks, it's not broken; it just becomes stairs by default. It was a lot funnier when he said it though. Delivery is everything lol

http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/standup_comedy/Stuck_on_an_Escalator/#21325

Does anybody else get dizzy when walking up/down an escalator that is not moving?

 

Can someone please tell me why you need to STAND on a DOWN escalator?  Excepting the very few people who actually have really bad knees or something, why do you have to STAND going down?  I can understand why people stand going up; climbing stairs can be taxing if you are out of shape, or maybe you don't want to get all sweaty in your dress clothes or something, but WTF going DOWN the escalator?  Can you seriously not walk down the escalator? 

 

When I read the first line of this, I thought you meant that people should just sit on the down escalator.  :laugh:  Then I understood by the time I got to the end. 

 

 

I do like the video of people being stuck on the escalator.  :)

People who think they're clever and add "Vegas" to the first part of the city they're in.  "Lex-Vegas" (Lexington), "Ox-Vegas" (Oxford), and "Knox-Vegas" (Knoxville) seem to be the most popular.  It's been done, and it was never clever.

^People actually do that??  Wow..

One of the best is Nash-Vegas.

Can someone please tell me why you need to STAND on a DOWN escalator?  Excepting the very few people who actually have really bad knees or something, why do you have to STAND going down?  ... but WTF going DOWN the escalator?  Can you seriously not walk down the escalator? 

The ones who simply stand on descending escalators may have coordination problems or a general uneasiness with them. Problem is, even on a fairly wide escalator they'll stand in a manner that blocks people who want to walk. They're the same ones who stand in the middle with luggage beside them and block the moving walkways in airports.

 

The office building where I used to work had escalators, and some of the employees (it always seemed to be women; I never saw a male employee do it) would stand and sort of swing a foot several times trying to get in sync with the moving treads before stepping onto it. There were elevators, too; I don't know why they didn't just use those instead of backing up traffic at busy times like lunch and quitting time.

 

Worst are the people, usually groups of two or three or four shoppers in department stores, who step off the escalator and then stop right there blocking blocking everyone else while they figure out where to go next. Often I forget to be polite; "Hey! Get out of the way!"

 

Does anybody else get dizzy when walking up/down an escalator that is not moving?

 

In the office building I mentioned above, they shut down the escalators about a half hour after quitting time. When I worked late, I had to walk down. The first few steps when they were stopped were a little disorienting.

Can someone please tell me why you need to STAND on a DOWN escalator? Excepting the very few people who actually have really bad knees or something, why do you have to STAND going down? I can understand why people stand going up; climbing stairs can be taxing if you are out of shape, or maybe you don't want to get all sweaty in your dress clothes or something, but WTF going DOWN the escalator? Can you seriously not walk down the escalator?

In Germany and Austria it is customary for escalators to be wide enough for people to pass on them, and so if you want to stand you stay to the right, and if you want to walk you stay to the left. I learned many German curse words and thought Austrians were very rude my first few days in Vienna before I figured out what was going on.

Can someone please tell me why you need to STAND on a DOWN escalator? Excepting the very few people who actually have really bad knees or something, why do you have to STAND going down? I can understand why people stand going up; climbing stairs can be taxing if you are out of shape, or maybe you don't want to get all sweaty in your dress clothes or something, but WTF going DOWN the escalator? Can you seriously not walk down the escalator?

In Germany and Austria it is customary for escalators to be wide enough for people to pass on them, and so if you want to stand you stay to the right, and if you want to walk you stay to the left. I learned many German curse words and thought Austrians were very rude my first few days in Vienna before I figured out what was going on.

 

Most escalators are wide enough for people to stand and for people who are in a hurry or want to walk to pass them. Its just people ignore the common courtesy to stand far enough over to let people pass. Instead they feel the need to stand smack dab in the middle or just far enough over to where it is damn near impossible to get by. Whether it's just not a social norm or people truly dont give a d@mn about it, I dont know.

My cousin and I were in London last year and our very first  time using the Underground's escalators, I told him to stand to the one side so people walking could get by, his response was pretty much "F*ck that, I'm standing here." Halfway through the second escalator trip and countless people telling him very rudely to move out the way, he got the hint and followed the norm and stood on the right side the rest of our time using the Underground.

People who think they're clever and add "Vegas" to the first part of the city they're in. "Lex-Vegas" (Lexington), "Ox-Vegas" (Oxford), and "Knox-Vegas" (Knoxville) seem to be the most popular. It's been done, and it was never clever.

 

The one that gets me is all the SoHo knock-offs- LoDo, SoDo, SoLo, NoBo, etc.

People who think they're clever and add "Vegas" to the first part of the city they're in. "Lex-Vegas" (Lexington), "Ox-Vegas" (Oxford), and "Knox-Vegas" (Knoxville) seem to be the most popular. It's been done, and it was never clever.

 

I don't get it.

 

I've heard the city with 'tucky' at the end. Bruns-tucky, etc. That's equally tired.

 

Here's my newest peeve right from corporate America. My manager has recently become enamored with the word "granular", as in "we're going to break down this report to the granular level", or "we're going to get granular with these items".

 

I always have to repress the desire to yell "Strategery!!" every time he says it.

 

Here's my newest peeve right from corporate America. My manager has recently become enamored with the word "granular", as in "we're going to break down this report to the granular level", or "we're going to get granular with these items".

 

I always have to repress the desire to yell "Strategery!!" every time he says it.

 

You should give him a quarter everytime he uses it....

OMG we have a "granular" guy here too.  *HATES*

Here's my newest peeve right from corporate America. My manager has recently become enamored with the word "granular", as in "we're going to break down this report to the granular level", or "we're going to get granular with these items".

 

The project manager on the last project I was working on loves the word "vet".  Every meeting was to "vet" something out, and she must have used the word at least 20 times per meeting.  For some reason, that word just really started to bug me.

When I bite my tongue.

When a non-southernor pronounces the word measure as "MAY-sure" or someone who is not from GB prounounces schedule as "shedule"

Here's my newest peeve right from corporate America. My manager has recently become enamored with the word "granular", as in "we're going to break down this report to the granular level", or "we're going to get granular with these items".

 

The project manager on the last project I was working on loves the word "vet". Every meeting was to "vet" something out, and she must have used the word at least 20 times per meeting. For some reason, that word just really started to bug me.

 

I've noticed this basic phenomena as well.  "Wordsmith", in the case I saw.  It's some sort of verbal monomania that seems to afflict a large percentage of project managers and related professionals. 

Richard Burton in WWII movie:  "We will attack hyah, and hyah, and hyah... on shedule!"

Here's my newest peeve right from corporate America. My manager has recently become enamored with the word "granular", as in "we're going to break down this report to the granular level", or "we're going to get granular with these items".

 

The project manager on the last project I was working on loves the word "vet". Every meeting was to "vet" something out, and she must have used the word at least 20 times per meeting. For some reason, that word just really started to bug me.

 

I've noticed this basic phenomena as well. "Wordsmith", in the case I saw. It's some sort of verbal monomania that seems to afflict a large percentage of project managers and related professionals.

 

I had a professor who used the word "potentially" sometimes up to 100 times in an hour and fifteen minute class period.

I had a World History professor who would stammer out "actually" and "for example" regularly, often repeatedly, regardless of it if fit into the context of what he was saying or not.  I think he was genuinely going crazy, though.