Are there things that really bug you? Do you ever wonder why they
did it that way? Well here are the things that bug me, and since
I don't know where to go to complain, I'll do it here.
If you are one of the ones that is responsible for this stuff,
then please change it.
If there is something that really bugs you that you want to see what
I think of it, click on the "What is Your Response" button.
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Computer
Viruses
Why do people keep sending out warnings about opening and reading email
with certain words contained therein saying that if they open the email
there is a virus that will destroy all their files. I've gotten so
many of these warnings, and each one is suspiciously worded the same, with
the exception of the identifying words of the email. You'd think
after all this time of computer and Internet knowledge, people would know
you have to download a file in order to get a virus...in other words, you
have to download a file from the internet, a software program, a word document,
etc. Simply opening and reading email cannot send a virus loose on
your hard drive to reek havoc. But anyone concerned about viruses
should be careful about opening attached word files, especially if they
don't know the sender, or downloading files or software from other sources
unless reputable (not just internet, but any disk or CD). Also, anti
virus software is a must.
So please, don't forward me any more of these warnings.
by Annie
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Public
Restroom Dilemma
Everyone has used a public restroom on occasion and I've never yet heard
anyone talk about the size of the stalls in the women's bathroom.
Men have it easy, they usually don't have to go in a stall. But we
women do. Don't get me wrong, I want a stall with a door, but can
someone please design a bathroom stall that you can get in and out of.
I'm not small by no means, but I'm not that big either. A lot
of people are bigger than me. But have you ever noticed what you
have to go through to get in and out of those things. You open the
door, which opens into the stall of course, you walk in, then you have
to find a way to squeeze yourself between the door and the toilet to get
the door shut. Then getting back out seems even worse.
You have to back all the way up to the toilet, sometimes even getting your
clothing wet because someone didn't use a seat cover. Do you know
how many germs are on a toilet?
Now come on. Who's designing these things anyway? Why can't
the doors simply swing out? If you are worried about it hitting someone
on the other side, I don't think there is much concern. You can see
out the bottom and know if someone is there. There's more chance
of getting hit by the entrance door.
My solution: I would like to see businesses at least change the
hinges on their doors to swing out if they are not able to make their stalls
larger.
by Annie
..
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Response from: Carol
When I was pregnant the only toilet cubicle I could fit into
was the disabled one! I suppose we could always climb over the
top.
Response from: Sue
I, too, am large, but not huge and, out of necessity, have become a
contortionist when entering or leaving some of the small stalls. Being
an analytical type person, when faced with such a situation, I have "eyed"
the clearances if the establishment were to reverse the swing of doors,
and sometimes, not always, but sometimes, it would be impossible to have
the doors swing outwards. So I just squeeze and squirm, inhale and
squish, stand on tip-toes and straddle, doing whatever is necessary to extricate myself
from the small stall with the poor door. By the way, a friend of
mine once actually did get stuck in a stall. I'm not sure how she got in and closed
the door, but she found it impossible to get out and had to have someone
get the manager (a man) who then proceeded to remove the door with a screwdriver so
that she could get out. One of life's ultimate embarrassments, huh.
Response from: Renee:
Amen, sister! I thought I was going
to get stuck in one of those new, tiny stalls the other day. I'm
not that big, either, but you'd have to be a size 1 to get in & out of those stalls,
without backing into the toilet!
Response from DiDi
I also have a problem getting in and out. I am
small. But I went into one the other night with no stalls.three tolets lined
side by side.I had another lady with me. I was so nevous I could not go pee.reminded
me of a prisoner of war camp we lived in when i was 13 in California. It also
upsets me when the doors are the same color as the wall. I panic. I can't see the
door. Fear grips me. I have to feel my way out. My eyes are bad. I wish the
doors were a different color.
THE PUBLIC TOILET - This is hilarious!!! I had to share this here...
My mother was a fanatic about public toilets. As a little girl, she'd bring me in the stall, teach
me to wad up toilet paper and wipe the seat. Then, she'd carefully lay strips of toilet paper to
cover the seat. Finally, she'd instruct, "Never, never sit on a public toilet seat." And, she'd
demonstrate "The Stance," which consisted of balancing over the toilet in a sitting position
without actually letting any of your flesh make contact with the toilet seat. But by this time, I'd
have peed down my leg. And we'd go home.
That was a long time ago. I've had lots of experience with public toilets, especially those with
powerful, red-eye sensors. Those toilets know when you want them to flush. They are psychic
toilets. But, I always confuse their psychic ability by following my mother's advice and assuming
The Stance. The Stance is excruciatingly difficult to maintain when one's bladder is especially
full. This is most likely to occur after watching full-length feature film. During the movie pee,
it is nearly possible to hold The Stance. You know what I mean. You drink a two liters of Diet
Coke, then sit still through a three-hour saga because, even if you didn't wipe or wash your hands
in the bathroom, you'd still miss the pivotal part of the movie or the second scene, in which they
flash the leading man's naked derriere. So, you cross your legs and you hold it. You hold it until
that first credit rolls and you sprint to the bathroom, about ready to explode all over your
internal organs.
And at the bathroom, you find a line of women that makes you think there's a half-price sale on Mel Gibson's underwear in there. So, you wait and smile politely at all the other ladies, also crossing their legs and smiling politely. And you finally get closer. You check for feet under the stall doors. Every one is occupied. You hope no one is doing frivolous things behind those stall doors, like blowing her nose or checking the contents of her wallet!!
Finally, a stalldoor opens and you dash, nearly knocking down the woman leaving the stall. You get in to find
the door won't latch. It doesn't matter. You hang your handbag on the door hook, yank down your pants
and assume The Stance. Relief. More relief. Then... your thighs begin to shake. You'd love to sit
down but you certainly hadn't taken time to wipe the seat or lay toilet paper on it, so you hold
The Stance as your thighs experience a quake that would register an eight on the Richter scale.
To take your mind off it, you reach for the toilet paper. Might as well be ready when you are done.
The toilet paper dispenser is empty! Your thighs shake more. You remember the tiny napkin you wiped
your fingers on after eating buttered popcorn. It would have to do. You crumble it in the puffiest
way possible. It is still smaller than your thumbnail. Someone pushes open your stall door because
the latch doesn't work and your pocketbook whams you in the head. "Occupied!" you scream as you
reach out for the door, dropping your buttered popcorn napkin in a puddle and falling backward,
directly onto the toilet seat. You get up quickly, but it's too late. Your bare bottom has made
contact with all the germs and life forms on the bare seat because you never laid down toilet
paper, not that there was any, even if you had enough time to. And, your mother would be utterly
ashamed of you if she knew, because her bare bottom never touched a public toilet seat because,
frankly, "You don't know what kind of diseases you could get."
And by this time, the automatic sensor on the back of the toilet is so confused that it flushes, sending up a stream of water akin to a fountain and then it suddenly sucks everything down with such force that you grab onto the toilet paper dispenser for fear of being dragged to China. At that point, you give up. You're
finished peeing. You're soaked by the splashing water. You're exhausted. You try to wipe with a
Chiclets wrapper you found in your pocket, then slink out inconspicuously to the sinks. You can't
figure out how to operate the sinks with the automatic sensors, so you wipe your hands with spit
and a dry paper towel and walk past a line of women, still waiting, cross-legged and unable to
smile politely at this point. One kind soul at the very end of the line points out that you are trailing a piece of toilet paper on your shoe as long as the Mississippi River. You yank the paper from your shoe, plunk it in the woman's hand and say warmly, "Here. You might need this."
At this time, you see your spouse, who has entered, used, and exited his bathroom and read a copy of War and Peace while waiting for you. "What took you so long?" he asks, annoyed.
This is when you kick him sharply in the shin and go home.
author unknown
Traffic
Light Conspiracy
Did you hear about this one? They have conspired
to make us as stressed out as possible, and what better way than to make
the rush-hour nightmare even worse. The engineers that design the
traffic lights get commissions if they can find new ways to stop the flow
of traffic.
All kidding aside (was I kidding?), it never ceases to amaze me how
the cities around here can decide to change a four-way stop intersection
into a "signal" intersection and make us wish for the good old days of
stop signs again. For instance, we have more than once been at an
intersection with two lanes going one way. The right lane is
a right-turn-only lane, and the other lane is for straight and left turns.
They even put in a green-left-arrow light so you can be sure to make your
left-hand turn. However, the green arrow goes away and you
are stuck behind someone who was needing to go left and now can't move.
Your light is green to go straight, but unless you want to chance a ticket
and swerve around in the "right-turn-only" lane, you have to wait until
the next light change. What makes it even more frustrating is that
when I've been stuck at one of these intersections, there are hardly any
cars going right, and if there are too many cars backed up behind the left-turners,
they can't even get to the right lane. Now why can't they make the
lights turn green for one direction and stay green, then switch directions--or
else, instead of a right-turn lane, why not a left-turn lane since you
can go right even at a red light?
My husband says that "in the good old days" (he's not that old), traffic
lights in Seattle were timed so you could make it through one light after
another if you went the speed limit. Now with all our technology,
you have to stop at every light, and at some lights wait for more
than one light change. Now if they could do it back then, what happened?
And have you noticed this? We have streets that have lights timed
in such a way and so close together, that by the time your light is green,
the one strategically located a half block away is red. So you know
what happens during traffic hours. Only a few cars can move causing
big jams. People trying to make a left onto the street have it even
rougher because they end with no choice but to block the intersection until
the other light changes. And of course those people who love
their horns can now let them blare. They should go honk their horns
in front of the traffic division building for a few hours each day.
Maybe then something would be done.
If you haven't had these experiences, you probably are having a hard
time understanding what I'm describing. But to remedy that
situation, just come on over and I'll take you on a tour (just bring your
sleeping bag).
by Annie
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Carpool
Lanes
You know, I used to be a very relaxed driver. I never yelled at
other drivers, I let others crowd in front of me, I was just an easy-going,
nice, considerate, patient person. But I swear, they didn't
like people like me on the road, so they invented ways to turn us into
fist-raisin', horn-honkin', people-cursin', foot stompin' maniacs.
Well, maybe not that bad, but it's gettin' there. You may find me
writing down a lot of stuff about our traffic in the future, but now I
want to talk about "carpool lanes"--those lanes that are supposed to make
traffic flow easier, encourage co-workers to ride together, give you an
extra perk for helping out the environment, and easing the congestion on
our major highways and lessening the smog in downtown Seattle.
Have you ever been stuck on 405 during rush hour, bumper to bumper for
miles, and here right beside you is a lane hardly anyone is using.
Or how about downtown Bellevue. They've really created a nightmare.
One minute you are driving along a main street and all of a sudden it's
turned into a carpool-only lane. So now you have to try and find
someone to let you into the other lane. And they've taken a step
further. If you want to get off the freeway, you can only go west
if you are a carpool, or east coming the other direction. And when
I've come off those exits needing to go the direction I'm not allowed
to go, I sit at the light in my right turn lane while there is no
one going left, yet I have to take a detour because there is only me in
the car.
And then there's the times I have my baby grandchild in the car and
so I take advantage of the carpool lane. Then I see the signs up
- asking people to turn in violators of the carpool lane. They can't
see the baby. If they call in and report me, will they believe I
had a child in the car?
And how can I turn someone in (although I've seen many violators) when
for all I know they could have a baby on board?
I wouldn't want to stop ranting until I mention the fact that they usually
have the carpool lane on the right side, where everyone has to slow down
to get on and off the freeway. I still can't figure that one out.
But at least if I'm on the right side, and traffic gets unbearable, I can
take the nearest exit off.
by Annie
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Smoking Sections
Have you ever wondered why a restaurant will give non-smokers their
own section away from the deadly second-hand smoke for their dining pleasure,
yet they make you wait for your table in the worst part of the smoking
section, and to get to the bathrooms, you have to walk through the entire
smoking section, some even making you go through or close to the lounge.
This really gripes me because I eat out a lot...every day. You may
think smoke is no big deal. But when I get a whiff of cigarette smoke,
my sinuses get inflamed and I get stuffed up, sometimes immediately.
If I am exposed to too much, my throat also gets very irritated...not to
mention my mental state.
Am I missing some important, logical details here?
And then, I'll never understand this one. I ask for non-smoking.
I sit down and before I know it, I smell cigarette smoke. I ask,
in case they misunderstood me, "Is this non-smoking?"...but also I'm thinking
someone may be cheating. I'm told yes, I'm in the right place.
As I look around for the culprit, I discover the smoking area is just on
the other side of my booth and the smoke is drifting right above my table.
Now why is my side of the table non-smoking and theirs smoking?
My solution: Put the smokers in the back and let them wait
and walk through the non-smoking areas. At least then us who are
physically sensitive to smoke, can enjoy our dining experience symptom
and pain-free, and those who choose to smoke can do so without a problem.
***At least now they have some restaurant that are entirely non-smoking.
PS: For those of you who smoke and have responded or want to,
this isn't about discrimination against smokers, banning smoking, or an
issue of which research conclusions are correct. This is about
people like me who become ill when around second hand smoke. I don't
need any research to tell me there is something in cigarette smoke that
isn't good for me. My body does that for me.
Response from: ill from inhaling
I am also one of those that gets ill when arund second hand smoke.
The smoker asked what about his rights? Your rights end when mine begin. You may chose to smoke. My Health dictates that I don't. The headaches, itchy, red eyes, burning lungs and infected sinuses are deterents enough for me to leave a restaurant that has no real division of smoking/non-smoking section. And I have to tell you, we non-smokers have to wait for tables, too. We just don't have to wait as long because people aren't holding up the table with an after-dinner drag.
Response from: Anonymous
A response from "Smoker" asked "What happened to our rights?"
Well, I don't know of any law that gives anyone the right to poison those
around him. Smokers are free to choose to poison themselves,
but they are really overstepping the line by FORCING the rest of us to
breathe that crap! I heard a quote attributed to Ben Franklin that
pretty well sums up the rights issue: Your right to swing your fist
ends where my nose begins. The same is true of your right to smoke.
Response from Irene
Thanks for your article. I do not condemn smokers, either, but I have
trouble breathing when inhaling cigarette smoke, too. After moving from
Calif. where all restaurants, stores, etc. are "non-smoking", I find
it difficult to eat out in NC. It's true you usually have to walk through
a "smoking"
section to get to the "non-smoking"! I remember a remark my pastor
made back when I was a new Christian almost 40 years ago..."if God wanted
you to smoke,
he'd have put a smoke stack on your head"! God bless you! Irene
Response from Libby
I am not trying to irritate smokers, but i have landed in the hospital
many many times due to inhaling second hand smoke. i am so allergic
to it that i have been in the hospital. as long as 3 days, smokers are
very inconsiderate at times we go into a non smoking restaurant and lo
and behold, right outside the door people are smoking or you go into the
bathroom and somebody is sneaking a smoke, they smile and turn their backs
thinking that takes care of it, by then your meal is not enjoyed yet you
have to pay for the uneaten meal and though you complain to management
their apology does nothing for me, when i married my husband ,he smoked
a pipe and looked very nice until on our second date it ended with me at
the hospital he never smoked again and that is when i found out i was allergic
to cigarette smoke. I don't know of a single person that has not
ended with lung problems as they get older, smoke dries the skin on face
and hands and hair, I am 66 and can compare my facial skin to a 30 year
old! Nobody in my family smokes thank god. Save your money.
Ever heard that kissing a smoker is like licking a dirty ashtray.
Bye all, a retired nurse
Response from Linda:
Sorry Annie, I cannot relate to your smoking dilemma. I
am a considerate smoker and make sure no one in my group minds the smoke.
I also make it a point to check to see, when visiting someone, if it is
a smoking house or not - if not, I go outside or just don't have any.
As for the second hand smoke, I also did some research and watched a lot
of TV documentaries about it. The gunk they put in our food is worse
for our bodies! Have you read labels lately on what is IN this stuff?????
Just breathing "fresh clean air" is bad enough with all the pollution from
factories and cars and trucks - the Government needed someone to target,
so they targeted the smokers. I understand and acknowledge that smoking
isn't very health, but eating and breathing isn't either anymore.
How many times are there health warnings out stating to stay inside your
homes because of the pollution level. . .more than I'D like to count!!!
I heard a talk show about how smoking isn't "sexy", of course not!
But in the days when smoking was being promoted it was! Marilyn Monroe
with her long cigarette holder, Bogie with his "I WANT THIS MAN" status.
Now they tell us that there is chemicals in cigarettes that make them addicting.
What a laugh!!!! It's easy to quit; I've done it a million times,
do they think they are telling us something new??? Well, now that
I have been on my soapbox, I will step down cuz I'm not sure how much room
is left here in this box!! :-) Oh, by the by, if I see that my smoke
is blowing in the non-smoking section, either I change positions, or put
it out! If you can let me know of a good, free hypnotist, I would
be glad to go and have him MAKE me quit!!
Love, Linda (no malice intended, just my opinion - all remarks
made are my true feelings and nothing is in between the lines, so to speak.)
Response from Smoker:
What makes a non-smoker so much better than a smoker???? It just
seems we are all being brainwashed into thinking that WE are the BAD people
- are we next going to be put in the back of the bus, or have our own drinking
fountains? I thought that went out a long time ago with slavery!
I tell you, there will be a lot more unemployment and homeless, starving
people and black market buying if for some untold reason the government
outlaws cigs, just like prohibition. What happened to OUR freedoms?????
Response from Andy:
I CANNOT STAND MY MOM'S SMOKING, IT DRIVES ME INSANE IT HAS COME TO
THE POINT WHERE I CAN'T EVEN GO IN THE SAME ROOM WITH HER BECAUSE OF THE
SMOKE. I JUST KEEP SAYIN STOP BUT SHE KEEPS SAYIN I WILL I WILL. I WILL
MY *%.*^*.#*. THANKS FOR LETTING ME GET THAT OUT THERE'S STILL SOME MORE
ANGER INSIDE BUT I'LL YELL AND SCREAM TILL SHE FINALLY QUITS.
