Whenever older guys, mainly ones who haven't met me in person, only over the phone or email, want to be clever or friendly, they call me 'Carol'.
Don't call me Carol! My name is not Carol! It's Carolyn! I have never, and will never, called myself Carol. It's not my name! If it were, my mother would have named me Carol! I would introduce myself as Carol, I would sign emails as Carol, and damn it, I would go by Carol!
Rule of thumb for everyone out there on the internet (not that I think you need it, because clearly you're smart, but it should just be out in the ether): don't refer to someone by a name they haven't called themselves. You will only get yourself into trouble.
End of rant.
Showing posts with label Pet Peeves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pet Peeves. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Pet Peeves: "Act Like We're Not Here"
Part of the reason my posts have been few and far between is that we have been hosting house guests. I like having guests and entertaining, but at some point, it just becomes exhausting from the inherent need to be on your best behavior constantly.
Our house guests actually ended up arriving a day early (with some warning), which was fine. Usually though, these particular guests come down for holidays and such so we have time off work and can spend most of our time hanging out with them. However, this time because they were a day early, they were smack dab in the middle of our work weeks.
After settling in a bit, they politely said, "No need to worry about us. Act like we're not here." And while that's a nice sentiment, how the hell am I supposed to pretend you're not here? If you weren't here, odds are Dan or I wouldn't be wearing pants. We'd be playing a game of chicken to see who could trick the other one into cooking dinner. I'd be frantically flicking between at least three TV shows while playing Zoo Tycoon and lounging, taking up most of the sofa. I'd leave my dishes on the coffee table after eating dinner on the couch, most of which would probably be Goldfish crackers. The aforementioned pants would be somewhere on the floor in the bedroom. Once my stomach settled, I'd try to talk Dan into doing a 15 minute McDonald's DVD workout with me in front of the coffee table.
There's a level of politeness and neatness that comes with hosting which I fully accept, but guests should realize that this isn't our natural environment. It's clean and the fridge is stocked and I'm trying to keep conversations going. Our home is messy and the only vegetables in our fridge are in the 14 different types of salsa and we could sit together in a room and not say more than ten words and be perfectly happy.
So no, we're not going to act like your not here, but will try to make you think we are this put together all the time. But I doubt it's working...
Our house guests actually ended up arriving a day early (with some warning), which was fine. Usually though, these particular guests come down for holidays and such so we have time off work and can spend most of our time hanging out with them. However, this time because they were a day early, they were smack dab in the middle of our work weeks.
After settling in a bit, they politely said, "No need to worry about us. Act like we're not here." And while that's a nice sentiment, how the hell am I supposed to pretend you're not here? If you weren't here, odds are Dan or I wouldn't be wearing pants. We'd be playing a game of chicken to see who could trick the other one into cooking dinner. I'd be frantically flicking between at least three TV shows while playing Zoo Tycoon and lounging, taking up most of the sofa. I'd leave my dishes on the coffee table after eating dinner on the couch, most of which would probably be Goldfish crackers. The aforementioned pants would be somewhere on the floor in the bedroom. Once my stomach settled, I'd try to talk Dan into doing a 15 minute McDonald's DVD workout with me in front of the coffee table.
There's a level of politeness and neatness that comes with hosting which I fully accept, but guests should realize that this isn't our natural environment. It's clean and the fridge is stocked and I'm trying to keep conversations going. Our home is messy and the only vegetables in our fridge are in the 14 different types of salsa and we could sit together in a room and not say more than ten words and be perfectly happy.
So no, we're not going to act like your not here, but will try to make you think we are this put together all the time. But I doubt it's working...
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Pet Peeve #1
 |
| Best watch yourselves, Yankees fans. |
Pet Peeve #1: People who think they are part of their favorite sports team. Just because they are your favorite, it does NOT mean you are on the team. Don't pretend to be the coach and talk strategy before, during, or after the game. It is NOT some sort of personal accomplishment if they win, especially if they have a fairly strong winning streak. People just think you are an ass. There. I said it. I think you are an ass.
These may or may not be a couple of facebook statuses from one of my friends:
Thursday, October 13, 2011
I'm Sick of the Internet
There. I said it. It's probably blasphemous to say that on a blog, but it's really starting to get under my skin. It seems like a rapidly increasing percentage of the websites and blogs I frequent have become too self-centered. Too self-aware.
For example, one website I visit has just become a big clique. Bow down to the girls in charge or you will get torn apart. Post after post from these writers in New York City has narrowed from being about feminism, beauty, entertainment, and relationships to tales of their dating history, the Occupy Wallstreet protesters, obscure runway fashion, and the bad decisions they are currently making (but of course, they don't realize that they are bad decisions.) They don't seem to realize that most the people reading their website are not writers. We work real jobs where leggings are not a good decision and coming in hungover doesn't make you look cool. I used to read their articles because they were filled with good advice and galleries. Now, they've revealed so much about
themselves and their decisions, no one in their right mind
should ever listen to them.
Another part of the problem is also that there is no polite way to debate or critique on the internet. All syntax and emotion is lost so it's always perceived in the most negative light. If you post a picture on your blog of what you're wearing that day and someone comments "You might want to reconsider that dress. It makes you look pregnant.", why can't you see that they are NOT saying you look pregnant? They are saying the dress probably isn't the best choice for you. Period. No comment war necessary.
A lot of websites have removed their "dislike" feature and I think that bugs me more than anything. If I don't agree with someone, I should be able to hit the little thumbs down button and move on. Without it, at least on the cliquey websites, if you refute someone's comment, the rest of the brainwashed zombies attacks and no one comes to the rescue. I don't comment on those websites anymore. Just not worth it. I'm all for positivity and politeness online but if you write a crappy article, I should have the right to tell you I think it sucks (you know, in a polite and specific way, not just "You suck!").
One of my favorite blogs recently took down it's thumbs down and starting banning people who were deemed "mean". No definition of "mean" was ever given. Most of the people who were banned were not the mean ones; they were just the ones who disagreed with the blogger and were not her personal friends. That's fine. I won't comment anymore out of fear of being banned (my comments were never mean, by the way, but if I don't agree, I'll say so), but scaring people away isn't the greatest way to generate hits.
Maybe the problem I'm having is that I just need to find new websites. It's hard to cut one out without having another to replace it. So if anyone knows of some good ones, please let me know. If this rant proves anything, it's that I'm kind of desperate.
For example, one website I visit has just become a big clique. Bow down to the girls in charge or you will get torn apart. Post after post from these writers in New York City has narrowed from being about feminism, beauty, entertainment, and relationships to tales of their dating history, the Occupy Wallstreet protesters, obscure runway fashion, and the bad decisions they are currently making (but of course, they don't realize that they are bad decisions.) They don't seem to realize that most the people reading their website are not writers. We work real jobs where leggings are not a good decision and coming in hungover doesn't make you look cool. I used to read their articles because they were filled with good advice and galleries. Now, they've revealed so much aboutthemselves and their decisions, no one in their right mind
should ever listen to them.
Another part of the problem is also that there is no polite way to debate or critique on the internet. All syntax and emotion is lost so it's always perceived in the most negative light. If you post a picture on your blog of what you're wearing that day and someone comments "You might want to reconsider that dress. It makes you look pregnant.", why can't you see that they are NOT saying you look pregnant? They are saying the dress probably isn't the best choice for you. Period. No comment war necessary.
A lot of websites have removed their "dislike" feature and I think that bugs me more than anything. If I don't agree with someone, I should be able to hit the little thumbs down button and move on. Without it, at least on the cliquey websites, if you refute someone's comment, the rest of the brainwashed zombies attacks and no one comes to the rescue. I don't comment on those websites anymore. Just not worth it. I'm all for positivity and politeness online but if you write a crappy article, I should have the right to tell you I think it sucks (you know, in a polite and specific way, not just "You suck!").
One of my favorite blogs recently took down it's thumbs down and starting banning people who were deemed "mean". No definition of "mean" was ever given. Most of the people who were banned were not the mean ones; they were just the ones who disagreed with the blogger and were not her personal friends. That's fine. I won't comment anymore out of fear of being banned (my comments were never mean, by the way, but if I don't agree, I'll say so), but scaring people away isn't the greatest way to generate hits.
Maybe the problem I'm having is that I just need to find new websites. It's hard to cut one out without having another to replace it. So if anyone knows of some good ones, please let me know. If this rant proves anything, it's that I'm kind of desperate.
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