That "no one is supposed to know" is relationship poison.  Maybe it's necessary because of work, but nothing good has ever come of anything like that. [/color]

 

Gays lived with it for centuries (many still do). But, yes, it's an unhealthy position to be in.

 

So I'll submit a pet peeve: straight people who don't want gay people to publicly acknowledge their sexuality/orientation.

That "no one is supposed to know" is relationship poison.  Maybe it's necessary because of work, but nothing good has ever come of anything like that. [/color]

 

Gays lived with it for centuries (many still do). But, yes, it's an unhealthy position to be in.

 

So I'll submit a pet peeve: straight people who don't want gay people to publicly acknowledge their sexuality/orientation.

 

The counterpoint has to be an opposition to involuntary "outing".

this has nothing to do with sex....

Foreign movies that NEVER make it to the US.

It's the 21st century, daggonnit. I realize most Muricans refuse to read subtitles - to hades with 'em. They're just lazy.

Sell the things online for download.

jeezle.....

You have absolutely no idea. It really doesn't help that my job is a culinary nightmare and I work with my girlfriend who was originally a screw-buddy who I originally told, "Don't have any expectations" until my idiot self fell in love with her while no one is supposed to know about us being together at work but meanwhile our coworkers flirt with us, try to date us and sleep with us on a regular basis. It's an absolute disaster. I could tell you stories later.  You wouldn't believe what all has tested our relationship in just the past four months.

 

Regardless, the guy has his own agenda (even if it's simply to keep as much of her attention as he can) and it's in conflict with yours.  If he has an IQ of more than 17, he knows this is causing your relationship problems and you're not going to be happy about it.  Talking to him straight up isn't going to resolve anything, and don't put any stock into what he says about anyone/anything. 

 

That "no one is supposed to know" is relationship poison.  Maybe it's necessary because of work, but nothing good has ever come of anything like that.

 

I'm so overwhelmed with my relationship problems and problems at work and the two meshing together. He has come to the restaurant to help her do her closing work so she can get out of there sooner.

 

As for pretending like we're not together... I actually just told the owner point blank when he asked me what was going on between us, that we we're dating and it's very serious. That I can't just leave her alone to keep my career. It was this big fiasco. I walked out the back door without even getting my check, never to come back and he came storming out the back door screaming for me to come back and talk. It was the first time I got any indication from him that I'm actually valued there and it was quite empowering so I ended up getting a lot of things off my chest.

 

I do see where he's coming from but I've sacrificed so damn much for him. I am on call, I work absolutely any hours, take on any job even in the front of the house. I've literally been a sous chef, line cook, dishwasher and busser all in one shift before. The latter are some sh!tty jobs but I take one for the team everyday, one way or another by being so flexible so he can maximize his profit. When I first started, I worked off the clock in exchange for him training me to be a Chef. I'm talking about countless hours off the clock being screamed at for every tiny screw up because that's how kitchen culture is...that's how you learn. All that sacrificing and he wasn't going to let me slide on this? F!ck it. Good luck finding someone else as skilled and cross-trained as me that you can make so much money off of and save money by having.

 

After talking to him though, I see his point. He doesn't want to hear people talk about relationships between coworkers. I don't blame him.

 

There's always been suspicion about us since I started. My girlfriend used to tell people there how cute she thought I was before we got together. Then a bunch of rumors started and those rumors turned out to be true. The whole thing became annoying because I really want my work and love life to be separate and it's really no ones damn business.

 

Some of the comments people make are just wildly inappropriate. The owner was sitting at the bar like he usually does towards the end of the night and one of the bartenders just got cut early. This dude is so annoying. He'll ask to get cut early and just sit and drink at work all night until we close anyway. He's the stereotypical flamboyant loud and inappropriate gay guy. My girlfriend walked over to the bar to get drinks for her table and the owner and said bartender are sitting at the bar. Said bartender goes, Ooooh, I saw that look you just gave Dave. I know what's going on between you two! Hey, how BIG is it?!"  The owner sitting right there and Im near there. I have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in that dept. but that's so wildly inappropriate. I come to Hell's Kitchen to WORK. Not overhear inquiries like that and people bringing up our sex life or relationship in general knowing that it could cause me and her to be fired. I take my new career seriously and it annoys the hell out of me that my coworkers do that stuff not giving a damn about the gravity of the situation. So yeah, I see where my boss is coming from not wanting me to tell people that we're together and I've just told the people who know about us that they need to shut up about us because of what's at stake but despite some people knowing,  I still have to pretend like nothing is going on between us to prevent other people who might not know, from gossiping.

 

Back to her annoying clingy friend who demands all of her attention all day and night: I agree it wouldn't do any good; he's also friends with her room mates and uses that as a way to get to her and as an excuse to be over there all the time. She keeps pointing out that he cant just tell him to leave because ges also friends with her room mates. I stopped over there with her after work and sure enough, he was already there. I just went home. I shouldn't have to be in a position to where I have to compete with him for my own girlfriend's attention. I really wish he would visit his OWN girlfriend sometime. This is beyond ridiculous.

The only thing I can think of doing is make her come over here but like most women, she tends to not want to leave her own place and if she wanted to do that, she would have offered to already. I don't like manipulating people but maybe I should tell her the only way I'll see her is if she comes over here or if we go out somewhere. If she refuses, I'm definitely going to think something is up. If she does but gets bombarded with text messages and calls from her friend the whole time (which I suspect is the most likely scenario) then maybe she'll understand my point better.

 

The only thing I can think of doing is make her come over here but like most women, she tends to not want to leave her own place and if she wanted to do that, she would have offered to already.

 

Interesting, I'm used to them always wanting to come over to our place because it's "cooler" "less boring" "has no drama" or the big one, "not mom and dad's". There was a while there that we were able to keep the 18-25s away, but they're kinda back but more like 23-28s now. I'm 34 and my roommate's 30. My other childless friends get it all the time too.  This is what happens when you don't have kids at that age; you wind up with kids that you could have had when you were 8! I think getting a smaller place helped; there aren't 9 couches and futons all over the house now.

 

I have eaten breakfast right next to sleeping people on workdays at 10AM plenty of times.

The restaurant/bar business is drama squared, and you always get the people who "work" there for that precise reason. 

 

You're on the right track with the "get away from her place" idea, but better yet, if you can both get a weekend off sometimes leave town with her.  Yeah, people will talk.  They are going to anyway.  If the guy blows up her phone, you've made your point stronger.

 

Then there's the drama approach of making contact with his girlfriend, assuming of course Manti Teo isn't his role model.....

 

f@ck The.Royal Family. Who cares about the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge having a baby? I can't believe we fought the Revolutionary war just to go on to worship royal celebrities. They just said on TV that The Queen has a 90% approval rating...approval for what?! I suppose she is pretty damn good at waving to crowds and posing for stamps....

f@ck The.Royal Family. Who cares about the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge having a baby? I can't believe we fought the Revolutionary war just to go on to worship royal celebrities. They just said on TV that The Queen has a 90% approval rating...approval for what?! I suppose she is pretty damn good at waving to crowds and posing for stamps....

 

She's a symbol of tradition and continuity.  Hell, if she holds on a couple more years she will be the longest serving British monarch ever.

f@ck The.Royal Family. Who cares about the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge having a baby? I can't believe we fought the Revolutionary war just to go on to worship royal celebrities. They just said on TV that The Queen has a 90% approval rating...approval for what?! I suppose she is pretty damn good at waving to crowds and posing for stamps....

I don't particularly care about the kid, but then I cared a lot less about Kanye and Kim's baby and that got about half as much coverage.

^ That's all it is. Celebrity worship. And as far as celebrities go, I find the royals significantly less noxious than who we obsess about over here.

I get being interested, but all those people standing around is kinda weird.

David - you descrive the guy as sweet, sensitive, hipster, who might have a fake girlfriend.  Have you considered the possibility that he is gay?  Given your complaints, I suppose it wouldn't matter.  But if he really is secretly in love with your GF, here's what you do.  Be extra affectionate to her around him..... egage in the most obscene type of PDA your GF can stomach in his presence.  If she resists, you may have cause to be suspicious.  But if she goes along, and he is in fact lusting after her, it will drive him crazy and, more importantly, make him not want to be around you two.

f@ck The.Royal Family. Who cares about the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge having a baby? I can't believe we fought the Revolutionary war just to go on to worship royal celebrities. They just said on TV that The Queen has a 90% approval rating...approval for what?! I suppose she is pretty damn good at waving to crowds and posing for stamps....

 

f@ck The.Royal Family. Who cares about the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge having a baby? I can't believe we fought the Revolutionary war just to go on to worship royal celebrities. They just said on TV that The Queen has a 90% approval rating...approval for what?! I suppose she is pretty damn good at waving to crowds and posing for stamps....

 

She's a symbol of tradition and continuity.  Hell, if she holds on a couple more years she will be the longest serving British monarch ever.

 

She never had to worry about being poisoned, drawn and quartered or beheaded.

David - you descrive the guy as sweet, sensitive, hipster, who might have a fake girlfriend.  Have you considered the possibility that he is gay?  Given your complaints, I suppose it wouldn't matter.  But if he really is secretly in love with your GF, here's what you do.  Be extra affectionate to her around him..... egage in the most obscene type of PDA your GF can stomach in his presence.  If she resists, you may have cause to be suspicious.  But if she goes along, and he is in fact lusting after her, it will drive him crazy and, more importantly, make him not want to be around you two.

 

This.  Big Time. 

 

People claim to hate the "games", but if you don't play them you rarely if ever win.

She never had to worry about being poisoned, drawn and quartered or beheaded.

I wouldn't be surprised if those guys in the IRA didn't hatch a plot or two.

and all the goofballs in their Guy Faux masks is probably kinda disconcerting, too.

David - you descrive the guy as sweet, sensitive, hipster, who might have a fake girlfriend.  Have you considered the possibility that he is gay?  Given your complaints, I suppose it wouldn't matter.  But if he really is secretly in love with your GF, here's what you do.  Be extra affectionate to her around him..... egage in the most obscene type of PDA your GF can stomach in his presence.  If she resists, you may have cause to be suspicious.  But if she goes along, and he is in fact lusting after her, it will drive him crazy and, more importantly, make him not want to be around you two.

 

This.  Big Time. 

 

People claim to hate the "games", but if you don't play them you rarely if ever win.

 

Nice guys sleep alone.  Sad but true.

She never had to worry about being poisoned, drawn and quartered or beheaded.

I wouldn't be surprised if those guys in the IRA didn't hatch a plot or two.

and all the goofballs in their Guy Faux masks is probably kinda disconcerting, too.

 

The Fawkes mask crowd are fundamentally cowards and very disorganized.

 

Irish nationalists leave the royals alone.  The 1979 attack on Lord Mountbatten backfired both domestically and in the US (where much of the money and moral support still originates).

I can't stand it when people don't know how to park at a meter.... YOU DON'T PARK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE METER!

I can't stand it when people don't know how to park at a meter.... YOU DON'T PARK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE METER!

 

Whenever I see this, I want to take a permanent marker to their window and write: "The meter should line up with you BUMPER, NOT YOUR DOOR!"

 

ugh. lol~!

I can't stand it when people don't know how to park at a meter.... YOU DON'T PARK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE METER!

I've always thought they should get a parking ticket for half the amount for doing that.

^They should get two full parking tickets for illegally parking in two spaces.  :whip:

That's what I was thinking.

Nice guys sleep alone.  Sad but true.

AMEN to that!

Mass transit systems whose "Day Pass" doesn't cover the entire fee for half of the routes in the system.

People who bitch about the roads being bumpy and want them repaved with speed bumps.

People who don't pay any attention to what they're doing when using the phone - not paying attention when dialing & not paying attention & standing around BSing with the people in the room and ignoring the person they just intruded upon.

When product reps send email to me on Saturdays and Sundays when I haven't requested their services at the moment.

 

When I need you I'll call. And stop setting dates.  No I can't meet on the 14th, I have meetings. Not the 15th either. My Monday morning email is so stacked, do they really think this is good business relationship by being a hassle?

Every time my Dad calls me, he says "Hi, it's Dad"........ uhhhhhh, yeah I know.  After 35 years, I think I can recognize his voice.

When you call into a company for customer service and they say "for faster service please enter your account number."  Only when the person actually answers, the first thing they ask you for is the account number! 

 

I'd hate to see what slower service gives you.....

When you call into a company for customer service and they say "for faster service please enter your account number."  Only when the person actually answers, the first thing they ask you for is the account number! 

 

I'd hate to see what slower service gives you.....

 

Which is basically every time.  So annoying.

how about people who still can't parallel park in the city...  here in Cleveland, people don't even park that closely and a good spot is usually big enough to park a Lincoln towncar, yet some jackwagon in a Hyundai Sonata has to give it 3 attempts...  holding up traffic behind them all the while

^ It's always funny when someone takes eternity to parallel park in the spaces in front of our building.  Then they get out of the car and read the signs that say the spots are intended for building residents, and guests of building residents.  If you don't ask our doorman to park there, he'll have your car towed in minutes.  Usually they'll get back in and go look for another space, but not after they spent a whole bunch of time trying to park.

Alright 'homeless man' I gave you money the first time because you told an elaborate, well composed story about why you needed money... Not because I believed you.

 

When you come shuffling past me 2 weeks later, at least think up a new damn story. When I am able to finish your plea word-for-word don't be surprised when you get no money.

^Speaking of, is there a guy dressed in shabby construction clothes (safety vest and all) *still* talking about backing his truck over some rebar and puncturing the gas tank and needs some money for a cab ride? I'm back downtown after a few years and I'm a little rusty on the panhandler roster.

^Haven't noticed him in a while, but I don't work downtown anymore either. The overweight lady with the dead car battery while trying to help her wrongfully arrested nephew was still down there last week.

^Speaking of, is there a guy dressed in shabby construction clothes (safety vest and all) *still* talking about backing his truck over some rebar and puncturing the gas tank and needs some money for a cab ride? I'm back downtown after a few years and I'm a little rusty on the panhandler roster.

 

I haven't seen the "gas tank" guy in a while, but he used to make me laugh.  I used to call him out on it asking why he was going to buy more gas if his gas tank was punctured.  He had somehow figured out that he could put just enough in it to get home.

Every time my Dad calls me, he says "Hi, it's Dad"........ uhhhhhh, yeah I know.  After 35 years, I think I can recognize his voice.

Trust me, there'll come a time you will wish you could hear that again.

anyway, Pet Peeve #242 - People who shop with no intention of buying and just wind up wasting the salesperson's time. I'm primarily thinking auto & real estate sales people.

With a few years of experience those salespeople know how to screen people pretty well, though. And how to manage those tire-kicker's time with the salesperson for them.

anyway, Pet Peeve #242 - People who shop with no intention of buying and just wind up wasting the salesperson's time. I'm primarily thinking auto & real estate sales people.

 

When I worked at Kroger in high school, there were people who would come in every week and return a bunch of stuff. Unopened boxes of Hamburger Helper, bags of sugar, whatever. (It typically wasn't fresh fruit or meat.)

 

I called what these people did "fantasy shopping." You buy a bunch of stuff that you either don't want or can't afford, take it home, then come back to the store and get a refund. And repeat week after week.

Ah, if only my posession fantasies were as simple as a bag of sugar.

Here's a pet peeve. Call me crazy, but I take certain umbrage with the individual who apparently this morning could not quite make it to the stall in the bathroom in time and so pooped on the floor of the handicapped stall, then stepped in it and left footprints back to the door as I imagine he bid his hasty retreat.

 

No, I am not making this up.

^My pet peeve: when people blame their own bathroom malfeasance on a mysterious, unidentified "individual."  Nice try, AJ.

Hahaha!!!!! Thanks for the laugh Strap.

Here's a pet peeve. Call me crazy, but I take certain umbrage with the individual who apparently this morning could not quite make it to the stall in the bathroom in time and so pooped on the floor of the handicapped stall, then stepped in it and left footprints back to the door as I imagine he bid his hasty retreat.

 

No, I am not making this up.

 

Eleven years of closing a bar, and nothing really surprises me vis a vis bathroom malfeasance.

 

Women are way worse than men in this regard, by the way.  Though men who toss solid objects (not necessarily "that" one) into urinals make up some of the difference.  Those things need to be fished out.  (Not by me, fortunately....)

^ My summer job one year was as a janitor at a bowling alley. I've seen....things. And let me just say, women (or maybe just women bowlers?) are atrocious human beings in the bathroom. I've never seen such horrors as the devastation inflicted upon what those of us of the opposite sex presume is pastoral environment. Well, maybe it is. It certainly seemed as if there had been farm animals there.

 

BTW, Strap, it's true, it was meant to be an allegory about the status of banking in the post recession world. A defecation proclamation if you will.

^ My summer job one year was as a janitor at a bowling alley. I've seen....things. And let me just say, women (or maybe just women bowlers?) are atrocious human beings in the bathroom. I've never seen such horrors as the devastation inflicted upon what those of us of the opposite sex presume is pastoral environment. Well, maybe it is. It certainly seemed as if there had been farm animals there.

 

BTW, Strap, it's true, it was meant to be an allegory about the status of banking in the post recession world. A defecation proclamation if you will.

 

As if you're going to scate on this one.....

Here's a pet peeve. Call me crazy, but I take certain umbrage with the individual who apparently this morning could not quite make it to the stall in the bathroom in time and so pooped on the floor of the handicapped stall, then stepped in it and left footprints back to the door as I imagine he bid his hasty retreat.

 

No, I am not making this up.

 

In case anyone is keeping track, it happened again.

Here's a pet peeve. Call me crazy, but I take certain umbrage with the individual who apparently this morning could not quite make it to the stall in the bathroom in time and so pooped on the floor of the handicapped stall, then stepped in it and left footprints back to the door as I imagine he bid his hasty retreat.

 

No, I am not making this up.

 

In case anyone is keeping track, it happened again.

 

8-)

^^ Foot prints and all? Sounds like a job for CSI...