Special Snowflake Stories

[Sirius]

Someone left a bunch of fast food trash in the corner of the parking lot where I park my car.  There's a Dumpster not 100 feet away and a trash can about the same distance away in a different direction.  We have maintenance people that will come and pick it up, but I think that leaving the trash there was SS behavior since there were disposal receptacles so close by. 

[Wulfie]

More than likely it was the same person who dumps their garbage on top of or in front of the garbage dumpster here. Too lazy to lift the lid and put it in, instead they dump it where the crows can tear up the bag and spread it around.

[Outdoor Girl]

Someone left a bunch of fast food trash in the corner of the parking lot where I park my car.  There's a Dumpster not 100 feet away and a trash can about the same distance away in a different direction.  We have maintenance people that will come and pick it up, but I think that leaving the trash there was SS behavior since there were disposal receptacles so close by.

Leaving it there was SS behaviour even if there weren't receptacles close by!

[rose red]

Someone left a bunch of fast food trash in the corner of the parking lot where I park my car.  There's a Dumpster not 100 feet away and a trash can about the same distance away in a different direction.  We have maintenance people that will come and pick it up, but I think that leaving the trash there was SS behavior since there were disposal receptacles so close by.

Must be the same people who dumps their tray on the empty table next to them when the tray area is right there.  And then leave the wrappers and other trash on their table after they finish.

[StuffedGrapeLeaves]

My cousin's mother once casually related how she'd gone to his teacher's office hours to talk about his grades and set up a semester plan for assignments and to discuss his classwork because she thought he was slacking off.  At the time, my cousin was a sophomore in college.  I had to seriously bite my tongue the whole time to keep from going, "You did what???" 

This happened to one of my friends in college without her knowledge.  Her mom went behind her backs to talk to the professors about her grades, classes, etc.  Fortunately one of her professors mentioned it to her, so she was able to deal with it.  She was horrified when she found out.  She knew her mom was a bit helicopter-ish, but never expected it to go this far.  She did wonder whether her mom has done it before but she just didn't know about it. 

[Jones]

I present to you a PSA prompted by someone I saw driving today:

Please, do not speak on your phone while driving. If you must, please do not "speak with your hands" (the person you are speaking with will not see your gestures anyhow). If you are driving with one hand at your ear and the other waving in the air, somehow maneuvering with your knee (I assume) then at LEAST keep your eyes on the road, not on the half dozen papers spread on your steering wheel and dashboard.

[nutraxfornerves]

please do not "speak with your hands

I once followed a car down a city street, observing that there seemed to be a lot of hand waving going on. It wasn't until the car stopped in front of me at a red light, that I realized what was happening.

The driver and passenger were conversing in sign language. Not a problem in itself, except that to do that, you have to look at the person you are talking to, and you need both hands to talk. That meant that the driver was looking at the passenger, not the road, and did't have his hands on the wheel.  I turned off soon after, so never saw if there were ay awful results of the conversation. 

[Margo]

years ago, when I was baout 18, I visited some family friends in France. My hostess met me at the station to drive me to her home, and spent the entire journey telling me all about the history and architecture of the area we were driving throuh. Which was lovely, except that she kept gesticulating, and half-turning to face me. Which meant that a lot of the time she had only one hand on the wheel and wasn't looking at the road.

I don't think I've been so scared in a car before or since. (except maybe once with a taxi driver in Florence who reversed a top speed down a very narrow one-way road..)

[sevenday]

Nutra, quick thing - I'm deaf, and my best friend in high school was also deaf.  We did talk while driving, but only because a) I can sign one-handed, and b) I have excellent peripheral vision plus I do mirror checks so my eyes did occasionally slide over to the passenger side (to check the mirror) more frequently.  It was slightly awkward for us but we could still converse reasonably, although my friend did keep an eye on the road just in case. She never had to warn me to brake or anything like that.  Dangerous? Yes, which was why we tried to limit such conversation to important topics that couldn't wait until we got to where we were going.  So it's perhaps not quite as bad as you think... But then we were reasonable, skilled signers... Anything beyond that gets shaky and I agree, scary to watch.

Just saying that no, you do not strictly have to be facing the person you are speaking to, nor do you have to use both hands.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Nutra, quick thing - I'm deaf, and my best friend in high school was also deaf.  We did talk while driving, but only because a) I can sign one-handed, and b) I have excellent peripheral vision plus I do mirror checks so my eyes did occasionally slide over to the passenger side (to check the mirror) more frequently.  It was slightly awkward for us but we could still converse reasonably, although my friend did keep an eye on the road just in case. She never had to warn me to brake or anything like that.  Dangerous? Yes, which was why we tried to limit such conversation to important topics that couldn't wait until we got to where we were going.  So it's perhaps not quite as bad as you think... But then we were reasonable, skilled signers... Anything beyond that gets shaky and I agree, scary to watch.

Just saying that no, you do not strictly have to be facing the person you are speaking to, nor do you have to use both hands.

I'm nowhere near an authority on deafness, of course, but I'd have to think that given that you have no audio cues to pick up on, you'd be naturally more visually observant than a person with hearing.  Meaning that I would expect that this wouldn't be as dangerous as a non-deaf driver frequently looking at the passenger.  Of course, that's just my opinion, and I could be wrong about it.

[Piratelvr1121]

Someone left a bunch of fast food trash in the corner of the parking lot where I park my car.  There's a Dumpster not 100 feet away and a trash can about the same distance away in a different direction.  We have maintenance people that will come and pick it up, but I think that leaving the trash there was SS behavior since there were disposal receptacles so close by.

Ugh. We live across the street from a place that sells food and I can't tell you how many styrofoam cups, drink containers, and other refuse we've found in our backyard along the fence.  We live right next to an alley that runs from our street to the  next street up so people tend to walk along it to get to the store rather than walking around the block, which makes sense. 

We are going to get a higher fence someday, hopefully that will be a good deterrent.

[Outdoor Girl]

Someone left a bunch of fast food trash in the corner of the parking lot where I park my car.  There's a Dumpster not 100 feet away and a trash can about the same distance away in a different direction.  We have maintenance people that will come and pick it up, but I think that leaving the trash there was SS behavior since there were disposal receptacles so close by.

Ugh. We live across the street from a place that sells food and I can't tell you how many styrofoam cups, drink containers, and other refuse we've found in our backyard along the fence.  We live right next to an alley that runs from our street to the  next street up so people tend to walk along it to get to the store rather than walking around the block, which makes sense. 

We are going to get a higher fence someday, hopefully that will be a good deterrent.

Make it an electric fence and you might have a chance.   

[ladyknight1]

Someone left a bunch of fast food trash in the corner of the parking lot where I park my car.  There's a Dumpster not 100 feet away and a trash can about the same distance away in a different direction.  We have maintenance people that will come and pick it up, but I think that leaving the trash there was SS behavior since there were disposal receptacles so close by.

Ugh. We live across the street from a place that sells food and I can't tell you how many styrofoam cups, drink containers, and other refuse we've found in our backyard along the fence.  We live right next to an alley that runs from our street to the  next street up so people tend to walk along it to get to the store rather than walking around the block, which makes sense. 

We are going to get a higher fence someday, hopefully that will be a good deterrent.

DH and I had a small pickup for about 6 years. We had to get rid of it, and not for the reasons one might think.

1. We would come out of a shopping center or store and find people sitting in the back of the pickup, eating. (This happened 3 separate times)
2. We would find someone had deposited trash/unwanted food/etc in the back. (This happened on a weekly basis)

It was so bizarre to me, I couldn't fathom a person who found it reasonable to open someone's pickup's tailgate, then make themselves cozy in the back. Just so strange! We had to call the police twice, because the people wouldn't get out of the back!

[HorseFreak]

Last night I came home from an emergency at work at 11:30 pm to find the drunk and rowdy college students who live next door tailgating in the parking lot of the condo complex! This wouldn't be so bad if they hadn't completely blocked one of the prime parking spaces with their camp chairs and opened their truck doors to keep anyone from parking there. They also blocked the sidewalk. There is plenty of lawn to camp out on, no need to try to get flattened by tired people coming home in a relatively dark parking lot.

I'm pretty sure this is the same group of hoodlums who got drunk during a football game and removed and smashed my CFL bulb in my outside fixture, then the next week partially tore and twisted the fixture off the wall. They keep leaving beer bottles and cigarette butts out and it's driving me crazy.

The management company doesn't care whatsoever (and might not be able to do anything; every unit is privately owned and I don't know if they own or rent or who they rent from). As an example some young man has parked his broken down old car with a completely flat tire in the lot for at least 6 months at this point. It's had one notice that it needs to be removed, but that was taken off a month ago and nothing has happened since. I'm also fairly certain that he moved out some time ago since his new car hasn't been seen since before summer.

I can't wait to move.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Someone left a bunch of fast food trash in the corner of the parking lot where I park my car.  There's a Dumpster not 100 feet away and a trash can about the same distance away in a different direction.  We have maintenance people that will come and pick it up, but I think that leaving the trash there was SS behavior since there were disposal receptacles so close by.

Ugh. We live across the street from a place that sells food and I can't tell you how many styrofoam cups, drink containers, and other refuse we've found in our backyard along the fence.  We live right next to an alley that runs from our street to the  next street up so people tend to walk along it to get to the store rather than walking around the block, which makes sense. 

We are going to get a higher fence someday, hopefully that will be a good deterrent.

DH and I had a small pickup for about 6 years. We had to get rid of it, and not for the reasons one might think.

1. We would come out of a shopping center or store and find people sitting in the back of the pickup, eating. (This happened 3 separate times)
2. We would find someone had deposited trash/unwanted food/etc in the back. (This happened on a weekly basis)

It was so bizarre to me, I couldn't fathom a person who found it reasonable to open someone's pickup's tailgate, then make themselves cozy in the back. Just so strange! We had to call the police twice, because the people wouldn't get out of the back!

EvilTraska suggests getting in, starting the car up, and backing up as if to pull out of said spot until they make noise about it.  Then tell them they can get out here, or on the highway at 60 MPH.  (Not that you'd actually drive with them, but hey, they're crazy enough to get in, they'd probably believe you're crazy enough to actually do it.)

I need to develop a spine when it comes to EvilTraska.  On the other hand, she's fun.