Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt

[Starchasm]

Pippen, I think you're thinking of a different show. Ellen didn't start airing in the US until after the Solomon Islands civil war was over. Or maybe you were thinking of the riots in 2006?

Maybe. I could have the dates wrong but I know it was around the time BF's ex came back from there as we went our to dinner with him and 2 other guys who had been sent there and they all said it was madness. Being hacked to death by a machete has never been high on my to do list so I tend to avoid places where this is not considered unusual behaviour.

Australia's bureau of foreign affairs and trade has the Solomon Islands listed as "take normal precautions".

[Sterling]

I just spent the summer in Ecuador and met a woman from Australia whose job is in the Solomon Islands.  Didn't sound like it was a place "Being hacked to death by a machete" was all that common.

[Betelnut]

Anyhoo, none of the discussion on the Solomons has much to do with brain-hurting!

[Ceallach]

There's a girl who is apparently sick in my law school, and she periodically blows her nose in the middle of class-which means that three classes a day, we have to listen to four or five blasts on the nose trumpet. These blasts were loud enough to make my Civil Procedure professor lose his train of thought, and he had to stare into the book and say "Um, uh....like I was saying....uh...."

Every time she does it all 80 of us whip our heads in her direction and stare at her because it's so distracting. I don't know why she hasn't gotten the hint yet. In some countries I think it's socially acceptable to loudly blow your nose in public, but she's not foreign. Besides all that, I don't think it's ever acceptable to loudly blow your nose in the middle of lecture. I'm just wondering how she made it this long without being called out on it. For that matter, how she managed to survive under the crushing weight of 80 glares all day.

Genuinely curious...

1.  Where are you?
2.  What would you like her to do?

1. I'm in the States. More specifically, I'm on the opposite side from her in a room that can seat about 100.
2. I would like her to not violently blow her nose 4-5 times per class in a room that is otherwise silent except for the professor's voice. This isn't sniffling. This isn't even normal blowing, which might only distract the handful of people around her. This is "I am actively trying to expel my brain from my sinus cavities" type honking.

So, perhaps, sit near a door so she could quietly step into the hall if this became necessary?  She can't possibly be hearing any of the lecture herself if she's blowing that hard, so this would spare everyone the racket.

I'm not sure of the layout of the room, but I can imagine getting up, moving past people, assuming the  assigned seating means she can't sit at the end of a row, and leaving, then entering and retaking her seat would cause more disruption than just blowing her nose.

Maybe this is a US/UK thing, but blowing your nose in public is rude?  Really? /baffled/

Honestly, yes I think blowing your nose loudly in front of people in a quiet place is definitely rude.     

If I'm in a meeting or other quiet place I will wipe my nose but never blow it audibly.    Yes, it means I have to do it more frequently, but it also means it does not cause disruption to those around me.    If I need a loud blow I'll do it outside, or in the bathroom or somewhere less disruptive. 

It would definitely hurt my brain a little if somebody thought it was ok to repeatedly do that in a manner that was clearly disrupting the entire class!  Any kind of repeated loud noise that disturbs the entire class and causes the lecturer to lose their place is clearly inappropriate IMHO. 

[Ceallach]

I made my DH's head hurt the other day.  He rarely goes shopping with me...maybe once a year.  A few days ago I needed a specific style shoe.  He was helping me look and he spotted a pair he thought I might like and I spotted a pair that was exactly what I was looking for.  The store was having a buy one get one half off promotions, so I bought both pairs. I realized the pair he picked were nearly identical to another pair I have, but it was a really good deal on a shoe that I know I love to wear and my other pair is on it's last leg.

When we got home he noticed they were the same shoe.

DH:  Hon, I'm sorry, but I picked out a pair of shoes you already have.  Do you want to go exchange them?
Me:  I knew they were the same.

DH: Then why did you get them?
Me: Because they are one of my favorite pairs of shoes and my old pair aren't going to make it through Christmas.

DH:  They look fine.
Me: They are my shoes. Trust me.  I'm hard on them and if they make it two more months without something breaking, it will by a small miracle.

DH: But they're the same shoes!
Me:  I know that.  I like them.  I'm keeping them.

DH:  <muttering>  but they're the same... <repeatedly shaking head and remuttering>



Every girl I know got it.  Is it that difficult for a man to wrap his head around? 

I admit freely to being a shoe hound.  I love shoes.   

I would really make his head hurt. I find a shirt or pair of pants that fit and are comfortable I buy 1 of every color.

Me too!  If I find a top I like, then I want enough to last me a loooong time.    Sometimes I buy 2-3 of a particular colour if I really like it.     And with shoes I definitely have duplicates of my favourites.

Otherwise I have this terrible tendency not to wear an item because I love it so much I don't want it to wear out.... yes I really am that crazy.   In fact, I bought 2 identical pairs of a shoe I adored a few years back, and wore them both to death.   1 pair I had to bin, but the other I still gaze at longingly despite the fact the straps have worn through and I really can't wear them.  If I were rich I'd take it somewhere to get duplicated!  (No more available anywhere, I've checked online, it's an old model).   I wish I'd bought 4 pairs.   

Take them to a cobbler to see if they can be fixed...

Sadly, they are beyond that.   Not only are the straps worn through, the actual materials themselves are so worn that even cobbled together they'd be a mess.  Basically they'd need to be completely remade, which would be unlikely to be worth the cost.  But in my head, one day I'll be super rich and can hand them over to a shoe designer and say "make me 10 of these!"   

[Pippen]

Pippen, I think you're thinking of a different show. Ellen didn't start airing in the US until after the Solomon Islands civil war was over. Or maybe you were thinking of the riots in 2006?

Maybe. I could have the dates wrong but I know it was around the time BF's ex came back from there as we went our to dinner with him and 2 other guys who had been sent there and they all said it was madness. Being hacked to death by a machete has never been high on my to do list so I tend to avoid places where this is not considered unusual behaviour.

Australia's bureau of foreign affairs and trade has the Solomon Islands listed as "take normal precautions".

As I said it was years ago when the security situation was much worse than it is now.

[kherbert05]

Regardiing the pronunciation of the greek food, gyro, at the very best Greek restaurant in Houston (IMHO), Niko-Niko's, they pronounce them "yee-ro". I've been going there since 1980 and that's where I learned the word and have pronounced it that way ever since. Maybe it's not the only correct way to say it, but the people who run this place are definitely Greek and that's the way they say it.

OK missed Greek Festival last weekend. Guess where I'm going this weekend.

[Pippen]

I have been having this same conversation with my mother for around 3 years now regarding a mixed used building they part own. The body corporate pays the power bill for common areas like the lifts and hallways. On the bill there is a separate charge for a mystery 'meeting room' that everyone claims to no nothing about but we are pretty sure who is belongs to and they are just trying to get out of paying for their power.

Mum "Oh the flipping meeting room account I don't know why A insists it is not hers"
Me "Simple. Disconnect it and then see who comes out of the word work grizzling they have no electricity"
Mum "Oh I cant do that it might upset them"
Me "So. At least then you will find out who it belongs to"
Mum "I want her to admit it"
Me "Well you know she wont, so just shut it off"

Every single month we have the exact same conversation. It is the simplest way of determining once and for all who it belongs to. The thought of having to say it yet again really does my head in.

[shadowfox79]

Honestly, yes I think blowing your nose loudly in front of people in a quiet place is definitely rude.     

If I'm in a meeting or other quiet place I will wipe my nose but never blow it audibly.    Yes, it means I have to do it more frequently, but it also means it does not cause disruption to those around me.    If I need a loud blow I'll do it outside, or in the bathroom or somewhere less disruptive. 

It would definitely hurt my brain a little if somebody thought it was ok to repeatedly do that in a manner that was clearly disrupting the entire class!  Any kind of repeated loud noise that disturbs the entire class and causes the lecturer to lose their place is clearly inappropriate IMHO.

Speaking as someone who spent the whole of an hour-long workshop sitting near someone who was snorting like a lawnmower engine (seriously, I could hear the r-r-r-r of mucus the whole time) I would have gladly listened to him blow his nose instead.

[Snooks]

I have been having this same conversation with my mother for around 3 years now regarding a mixed used building they part own. The body corporate pays the power bill for common areas like the lifts and hallways. On the bill there is a separate charge for a mystery 'meeting room' that everyone claims to no nothing about but we are pretty sure who is belongs to and they are just trying to get out of paying for their power.

Mum "Oh the flipping meeting room account I don't know why A insists it is not hers"
Me "Simple. Disconnect it and then see who comes out of the word work grizzling they have no electricity"
Mum "Oh I cant do that it might upset them"
Me "So. At least then you will find out who it belongs to"
Mum "I want her to admit it"
Me "Well you know she wont, so just shut it off"

Every single month we have the exact same conversation. It is the simplest way of determining once and for all who it belongs to. The thought of having to say it yet again really does my head in.

People are always very reluctant to use the option of withholding something and seeing who shouts.  Where I used to work we sent information to a company who passed it onto third parties, we made no money from the transaction.  The problem was our customers dealt with both us and the third party and didn't understand that we didn't know which third parties received the information (that's enough to make your brain hurt!).  I always argued that we should get rid of the middle company and we'd soon find out who the third parties were because they'd be shouting for the information then we could charge them.

[Adelaide]

Just posted a whole thread about this in Technoquette, but I would like to say that I woke up this morning to three messages in my Tumblr inbox, all of which said "Hi." and "Hey." and "So what's up?"

I've never spoken to any of these people. To me, if you want to start a conversation, wouldn't you say something besides "Hi"? I mean, if I passed a stranger on the street and they said "Hi." I would give them nothing more than a smile and a nod or maybe a "Hello" in reply. I wouldn't assume they wanted to talk to me.

[lowspark]

I am not familiar with Tumblr but those sound like spam messages to me. I use yahoo instant messaging at work and sometimes get requests to add someone I've never heard of to my contacts list. I always just decline and block them. If I've never heard of you, why would I want to IM you or have you on my contacts list? My guess is they plan to spam me with IMs about who knows what. No thanks.

[Adelaide]

I am not familiar with Tumblr but those sound like spam messages to me. I use yahoo instant messaging at work and sometimes get requests to add someone I've never heard of to my contacts list. I always just decline and block them. If I've never heard of you, why would I want to IM you or have you on my contacts list? My guess is they plan to spam me with IMs about who knows what. No thanks.

I'd think that too, but it's usually from people who have legit accounts, with pages and pages of their own stuff. Or they've liked some of my stuff and/or reposted me, so I know they're real people...who apparently only have one word to say to me, I guess. 

[KenveeB]

I am not familiar with Tumblr but those sound like spam messages to me. I use yahoo instant messaging at work and sometimes get requests to add someone I've never heard of to my contacts list. I always just decline and block them. If I've never heard of you, why would I want to IM you or have you on my contacts list? My guess is they plan to spam me with IMs about who knows what. No thanks.

I'd think that too, but it's usually from people who have legit accounts, with pages and pages of their own stuff. Or they've liked some of my stuff and/or reposted me, so I know they're real people...who apparently only have one word to say to me, I guess. 

Maybe they were checking to see if you were online? Sometimes I'll send my friends a simple "Hey" message to see if they're there and able to pay attention. If they don't reply, I don't say anything else. If they do, we start the conversation.

[Adelaide]

I am not familiar with Tumblr but those sound like spam messages to me. I use yahoo instant messaging at work and sometimes get requests to add someone I've never heard of to my contacts list. I always just decline and block them. If I've never heard of you, why would I want to IM you or have you on my contacts list? My guess is they plan to spam me with IMs about who knows what. No thanks.

I'd think that too, but it's usually from people who have legit accounts, with pages and pages of their own stuff. Or they've liked some of my stuff and/or reposted me, so I know they're real people...who apparently only have one word to say to me, I guess. 

Maybe they were checking to see if you were online? Sometimes I'll send my friends a simple "Hey" message to see if they're there and able to pay attention. If they don't reply, I don't say anything else. If they do, we start the conversation.

I don't know why they would-we've never had any contact through messages/comments before. This is like the difference between a friend going up to you and saying "Hey" and a stranger going up to you and saying "Hey". In this case I'm like "Uh...hi?"