People, huh?

    Watch out, I'm highly caffeinated, and somewhat annoyed.

    Sorry for the lag; life's been going at a rate I wasn't expecting; plus, a LOT has been going on in the world, as you might know. Indictments, lawsuits in the news, deaths (some more 'enjoyable' than others), and just plain old tomfoolery. So, what (you might ask) is "annoying you" today?
    People in general, really.
   This was going to be focused on one thing or other, but with too much between posts, it's a little hard to keep up. So, people it is!

   Ever since things opened up since the pandemic, people went from "ME! ME! MEEEE!!!" from before, to "Oh no! We need to help each other!!" during, to " We need to work together to get things back on track!" and ended up right back at "ME! ME! MEEEE!!" Seeing it first hand is a lot different than hearing about it. We've had people drive like no one else is on the roads (not a good thing , what with all of the construction going on around here); passing on the wrong side, cutting people off, turning without any signal at the literal last minute - you know, morons. It also includes people who back out of parking spaces without looking behind them, or hovering to take a spot, without leaving enough space for the person to get out of it. You can't park, if I can't leave. You know, morons.

   But the ones who bother me more than most, are the non-handicapped people abusing handicapped spots. You've seen them; they pull into them and "run in for just a minute!" Meanwhile, someone who *needs* it, has to wait or find another spot. Sometimes they end up getting ticketed, which is funny if they see the police writing it up, because they try to explain as to why they're justified in breaking the law "for just a minute!"
   When I worked at a local mall in retail years ago, I saw retribution in action. A person who needed the spot was heading for one, and some girl sped up the aisle the wrong way, just to snag it. No permit, no tag. She didn't need the spot, she just wanted it. He stopped by her, and seemed to be telling her to move her car, while she just walked off "for just a minute". When she was inside, he got out, took his key, and wrote something on her driver's side door. He saw me, told me I didn't see anything (which I nodded at), and drove off. I didn't go to see what he wrote, because I didn't want to be accused of doing it. Now, I don't condone vandalism as a means of replying to stupidity, but in this case, I'll allow it.

    This is shorter than I originally wanted it to be, because there's a LOT about this subject that gets me going. So, I'll spare you. For now.

    Until we meet again, just remember, be nice to each other. We're all we got.
   

   

More work drama.....

     Until recently, we've had a type of bonus program in place, where if you hit three goals you'd receive a gift card, based on the goals hit. They were 'Hitting Rate' (producing the parts needed), 'Quality Issues' (no quality problems from the customer), and the biggest one: 'Attendance'. If all three are hit, everyone gets a $50 card. Two of the three, $25. One (or none) then no cards. Quality sometimes pops up; mainly because something didn't hold during transport. Not really our fault, but still...
      Hitting rate is more of an issue, because sometimes our supplier doesn't ship to us. No material, fewer parts shipped. Also not really our fault...
      Know what is? Attendance. People coming in late, deciding to leave early, not showing up, etc. For those of us who *don't* have attendance issues, this annoys us. We're being penalized because of these clowns. Constantly.
     And when they aren't there, we have to pick up the slack, putting other things behind. Idiots...

     Which brings us to why the program is no longer being run. The cards were given out every two weeks; a couple of people got nothing, and couldn't understand why. Mainly, their attendance was terrible - constantly late, not showing up, leaving early. Eventually, it builds up. They were VERY vocal about "How come I didn't get anything?!", to the point where we finally just stopped it. And, to really upset us even more, THEY LEFT. They quit, and complained about how the program was 'unfair', and how management was 'toxic' and 'unreasonable', and such. So much so, that Human Resources (HR) had to call and ask what was going on.
     Now, we're a small place; our main company is out of state, as is our HR. The complainers, were contract people (i.e. not officially hired in). Somehow, they got the number for HR (which they SHOULD NOT HAVE HAD, since they didn't work for us), and lodged complaints. So, now we have to find out how that happened, as well. Plus, we'll probably have to sit down individually with the office to sort this stuff out.
    There aren't too many hired-in people, so we're trying to build up. But for whatever reason, we've had high turn over, and every single time, it's because they will NOT follow the protocols. It's annoying, tiring, and disrespectful. Hopefully, it'll sort itself out soon, because we're tired of the drama.
    And having to deal with this garbage.

  Oh, and by the way....here's a pic of some of the cards I've gotten since we've done this program (it ran about a year and a half or so). It's not a full set, as they can be used in model building (that's a whole separate post), and I've used some for that. They're all used up, by the way.
  The grand total when we stopped? It was over $600.  
  'Unfair'? Only if you don't *want* them......

  

 

 

 

The customer is NOT always right

 Years ago, in the early 1980's, I worked in a local toy store. It was the time of the new, smaller-sized G.I. Joes (the same ones you see in stores now), the original MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE and MY LITTLE PONY, the original line of TRANSFORMERS (where Megatron would turn into a GUN, of all things!), plus the start of the influx of the STAR WARS stuff. A glorious toy time, indeed.

  .....Until one day.........

   The Coleco company put out a doll.  A doll still around now, in fact. It was chubby, with yarn-like hair, and came in both boy and girl styles. It was unusual, as it had not only a first and middle name (different for each doll), but also had a 'birth certificate' as well. It was, of course, the Cabbage Patch Doll.
    Now, when these things first came in, they sold okay; people thought that they were quaint, but many didn't want to spend the money on something their kid might tear apart easily. Then, around the holidays, it changed. It seemed (to us working at the store, anyway) that Coleco had ramped up the advertising, and pulled back on production/shipping, to make them somewhat scarce in the stores. That seemed to jump-start the buying frenzy, as now all of a sudden, they were the MUST HAVES!!!! of the season. Women would actually get in to arguments and shoving matches in stores for these abominations. Don't believe me? Search for anything related to Cabbage Patch Kids and Frenzy together and see what you get. trust me, I've been in the Cabbage Patch trenches, and it wasn't pretty.

   So, you may ask, what's with the headline? Simple. Anyone who works/worked in retail will tell you: generally, people suck. Not *YOU*, of course. You're great. I'm referring to the dolts who go to a store and think that the staff is there JUST for THEM, and will serve them accordingly with no regard for anyone else. Who, when things are not going their way, seem to think that it's a great idea to scream, yell, accuse, berate, threaten, or just be generally crappy to staff. In some cases, they even think it's their right to hit people, just because "The customer is always right!" In fact, according to Wikipedia,
' "The customer is always right" is a motto or slogan which exhorts service staff to give a high priority to customer satisfaction. ' It is NOT a law, it's a business maxim. It was a thing businesses followed to get people in their place of business, and not shop the competition: Treat them well, and they'll be loyal to you.
   However, it's evolved into something of a threat: "Give me what I want, or else!" Or else, what? "I'll shop elsewhere! Maybe even online!" Then do it. I know the reason you've gone into a store is to try and get something cheaper than online. Plus, delivery still takes time, so you'd rather cause a scene to get it now than to wait. It's not the staff's fault that you're too stupid to realize that if you're actually *nice* to them, they'll be more willing to help you get your stuff as soon as possible. If they don't have it in stock, it's not their fault; blame the manufacturer or the warehouse for not shipping it, not the store for being out of stock. Trust me, stores WANT things in stock, so that they can sell them. They don't short their shelves just to annoy *you*. You aren't that important. 

  So, be nice to staff, because they're people too. Plus, they have to deal with the Dumb on a daily basis. Give them a break, and they might give you one, too.

No-Fly List for the stupid? Yes, please!

    I'd love to go and fly again sometime. Recently it's been difficult, you know, with the pandemic and all. I've only been flying a few times (to Las Vegas, of all places!). First time in the early '90s for my mother-in-la's family reunion (they mainly live on the West Coast); second time, back to Vegas just for a vacation. Nice place. Love to go to, say, New Orleans, or Seattle or some other place. You know, an actual trip.

    But, dumb always rises to the surface, and airlines are no exceptions.
 There have been too many stories about people going off the rails since flying was reintroduced not that long ago: being annoying, obnoxious, getting into altercations with other passengers (and flight attendants, as well). Yes, I know people have been doing dumb shit on planes before the pandemic, but they've seem to be increased since then. At first, we didn't want to fly because of the virus scare; could we catch it while in the plane? Maybe. Why take a chance? Now, it's mainly because of the stupid a-holes who feel that rules don't apply to THEM, and can do whatever they want, including ignoring the wearing of masks and being civil. And it's not just because they're in the back of the plane, either. Hell, some moron IN FIRST CLASS punched out a flight attendant, knocking out teeth, simply because SHE BUMPED INTO HIM. SO it's not just a 'depends on where they sit' scenario.

   What can be done? Kicked off the flight? Check. Heavy fines? Check. Arrest them? Check and check!
   What else? How about putting them on a No-Fly list?
  Look, if you thought that you'd never be able to fly again, I think a LOT of the issues would correct themselves. Not all; I'm not that naive. But I think most.
Let's be honest. How would they like it, if the entire family were flying to Disneyland, but they couldn't? Or if their work wanted to send them to their office out of state, but they had to drive for 12 hours to get there?  24 round trip? Probably wouldn't care for that too much. It's  all 'Fun and Games' and "MY FREEEEEEDUMS!!!" until you get in serious trouble over it. I have no problem with stupid people, winning stupid prizes, because they want to place stupid games.

   You're ruining it for the rest of us, you idiots.

   Ban them. It can't come soon enough.
 

Quote of the moment

 There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. (It is) nurtured by the false notion that Democracy means that 'My Ignorance' is just as good as Your Knowledge.
                      ---Isaac Asimov

Hey, kids! Let's break the law! (A little long)

  At the time I write this, it's the middle of 2021...COVID-19 is still a 'thing', its effects still being felt. Many have gotten sick from it, many have died from it, and many will continue to do so for a time yet. Luckily, no one I know of has been infected by it, and hopefully that will continue. Although I don't hold out too much hope for some of them.
 You see, some people still think of it as being 'just a cold', 'just like the flu', a fake, a fraud, a plot to 'take away our FREEDOMS!!!', mainly because of a stupid man, who said stupid things. Who they still listen to, for some reason. Even with contingencies in place to help curb the spread of COVID, they still don't believe it to be real; in fact, people have said, with their literal last breath while dying from it, that it's NOT REAL. How do you fight that? Turns out it's not easy. 

 Now, because of The Dumb, our world is a little different. We have had to wear face masks (which pissed Those People off SO much!), 'social distance' (six feet apart, please!),  and had to close just about everything to try to get it under control. Which pissed Those People off even more. Why? Well, because "We want to go shopping! We want to go to bars! And clubs! And restaurants! See movies! How  dare you try to save lives! Don't you know THAT WE WANT TO DO THINGS? HOW DARE YOU!!!"
 You see, they didn't want things to open so that the people who work there could earn a living, to not lose their house or their car because they needed the money....no, they wanted them open, because They were being - GASP! - inconvenienced!!! Oh no! Not that! Sorry that *your* creature comforts are more important than people's lives! How ever will you make it?? 

 Now, we get to the 'breaking the law' part...as of this moment, a vaccination is highly recommended (actually, they *have* been, but, ya know, 'Freedoms'...). People who are, get a 'passport', i.e. a certificate, that allows them to actually travel easier, and lets people know that the person with the card is less likely to get you sick. Good idea, huh?
 Except.....well, it seems that people still want to do things and go places, but not get the shot. So, some of them are simply buying fake cards online. "See? I'm fine! This proves it!" Except, of course, that this is ILLEGAL. Falsifying documents isn't really a smart thing to do. In fact, the Government takes a VERY dim view of it. In fact, I believe it's a FELONY. Nice to know that people who don't *want* to protect themselves or their loved ones from a potentially fatal disease, are pretending that they are, just so they can go places and do things.
 Thanks, inconsiderate a-holes! You are the reason that this epidemic won't go away. Hope you enjoy being bankrupt when (not really 'if' at this point) you or a family member has to be hooked up to machines to survive.
 Would say, 'Nice knowing you!', except it isn't.