Special Snowflake Stories

[mmswm]

A new one for me last night - SS Idontwannapayus.

I was leaving work right at about 5 last night, and pulled up to pay to get out of the parking garage (it's underground). I was second in line, right behind two guys in a red truck. The management of the parking garage has just changed, and we have new folks in the kiosk, so getting out has been taking longer recently. So, I wasn't too surprised when it took a couple minutes for the guys to pay.

But then it went on. And on. And on. I ended up putting my car in park, because by that time there were at least 3 other cars behind me and there was no where for me to go. The line wrapped completely around the building. At one point, the woman in the kiosk got out and sort of feebly flapped her hands at the people in line, but you couldn't see the end of the line at that point, and there wasn't anywhere for anyone to go. I asked her what was going on, but got no answer.

After another 5 minutes, she finally just waved the guys in the red truck through. I asked what happened when I was paying and she said that they just refused to pay. With the number of people backed up behind them, there wasn't a thing she could do, so she ended up paying their fee out of her pocket.

The guys in the truck were laughing and looking smug, knowing that they had the parking lady in a bind.

They need a new policy for if that happens again... which it will because they have learned they can get away with it.

I know several city-owned parking garages that will capture the tag number and levy a pretty nasty fine for that sort of thing. I'm not sure if privately owned garages in the area can do the same thing, but they should be able to.  I've heard of other places that give you a slip of paper with all the information and you're supposed to mail the payment in, should you be caught in a situation where you have no cash or your card gets declined or things of that nature.  I'm pretty sure the consequences of not remitting payment by the due date are pretty hefty.  All places should have policies that protect themselves in situations like that.

[Dr. F.]

A new one for me last night - SS Idontwannapayus.

I was leaving work right at about 5 last night, and pulled up to pay to get out of the parking garage (it's underground). I was second in line, right behind two guys in a red truck. The management of the parking garage has just changed, and we have new folks in the kiosk, so getting out has been taking longer recently. So, I wasn't too surprised when it took a couple minutes for the guys to pay.

But then it went on. And on. And on. I ended up putting my car in park, because by that time there were at least 3 other cars behind me and there was no where for me to go. The line wrapped completely around the building. At one point, the woman in the kiosk got out and sort of feebly flapped her hands at the people in line, but you couldn't see the end of the line at that point, and there wasn't anywhere for anyone to go. I asked her what was going on, but got no answer.

After another 5 minutes, she finally just waved the guys in the red truck through. I asked what happened when I was paying and she said that they just refused to pay. With the number of people backed up behind them, there wasn't a thing she could do, so she ended up paying their fee out of her pocket.

The guys in the truck were laughing and looking smug, knowing that they had the parking lady in a bind.

They need a new policy for if that happens again... which it will because they have learned they can get away with it.

I know several city-owned parking garages that will capture the tag number and levy a pretty nasty fine for that sort of thing. I'm not sure if privately owned garages in the area can do the same thing, but they should be able to.  I've heard of other places that give you a slip of paper with all the information and you're supposed to mail the payment in, should you be caught in a situation where you have no cash or your card gets declined or things of that nature.  I'm pretty sure the consequences of not remitting payment by the due date are pretty hefty.  All places should have policies that protect themselves in situations like that.

They might well have a policy. The parking lady is brand-new, and it's entirely possible she didn't know how to deal. At least one of the other kiosks had an employee in it, though, so I don't know why she didn't call him (or call security - it's not a govt building, but it does house a fairly major Federal agency, and Homeland Security gets really touchy about some things.)

[christmascarol]

I had a whole flurry of snowflakes in 2 days of Christmas markets.

There was a booth shared by a woman with felt clothing and another with knitted garments.  I very politely asked a lady being shown the felt things and blocking the entire entrance if I could get past her.  "No.  Not at the moment."  I don't know which vendor's jaw hit the floor first."  The felt lady moved her customer into the HUGE gap to her left and we got past easily.  Knitting lady was still speechless when we left. 

Different market, me on the other end of the same question.  The big markets have wooden huts and the one we wanted to look round was packed.  They were monitoring people leaving and entering to try and make it bearable.  We were in the middle of the hut, like sardines, when a voice barked in my ear, "I need to get past!"  When I told her that we were all heading that way she shrieked, "But I work here!!!"  Maybe lady, but I can't dematerialise.  No, I didn't say that but I was tempted.

Leaving town, traffic was bad, so it was hard to get out of the way of the ambulance but we all managed.  And the snowflake who tried to use the gap being created for the ambulance to get out of a side road was blocked so he couldn't.  Really, who thinks that's a good idea?

My favourite - hubby let the above snowflake in front of him.  The lady following in a very expensive car stayed where she was.  Imperiously raising her hand to order us to stop, ( think traffic police), didn't work.   We solemnly mouthed, "No", to her.  By the look on her face, it wasn't a word she'd heard before. 

[Twik]

They might well have a policy. The parking lady is brand-new, and it's entirely possible she didn't know how to deal. At least one of the other kiosks had an employee in it, though, so I don't know why she didn't call him (or call security - it's not a govt building, but it does house a fairly major Federal agency, and Homeland Security gets really touchy about some things.)

Best solution? Take the license plate #, let them park, then tow their vehicle.

[Cami]

I got a lovely little lecture about MY responsibility to always leave enough room to compensate for someone stopping dead in front of me and someone hitting me in the rear so as to "save" the idiot in front of me. Apparently the idiot in front of me had no responsibilty whatsoever.

Did the cop indicate just how far that would be? Do you have to predict just how fast the theoretical idiot is coming from behind to push you? The first part, about compensating for someone stopping is reasonable, but factoring in being pushed when stationary is totally ridiculous.

Ha. I did ask him and he said, "That's up to you to figure out." The guy behind me and I just looked at him like he had two heads. The cop then huffed and puffed and said, "Well, you two are just lucky that I'm a nice guy and not writing you a ticket!"

Tell him to go ahead -- you obviously weren't following too closely, you were able to stop in time! You aren't accountable because the person behind you propels you into someone. The person who hit you is responsible for your damages and the damages to the person in front.

Actually he said that "if you knew how to drive properly, you would have left enough room so that if you were hit, you wouldn't be pushed into anyone else."

At that point, the guy who hit me turned to me and said, "So... given that I've seen parked cars that were hit go sailing across the road...that means each mile of road would only accomodate three cars at any one time?" Which... good point.

[Giggity]

I don't have any stories about one, thank goodness, but I think flash mobs are by definition special snowflakes.

[wheeitsme]

As I got to Charlie, the man started screaming obscenities at me.
I slowed down to maintain control of Buster.
He and his partner were stamping their feet,
screaming at me,
kicking at my dog
and yanking their dog up by its lead.

My dog had been calmly trotting around their dog and getting a good sniff, with no aggression whatsoever,
their behaviour was starting to scare her and she was getting anxious.
My friend took Buster and I tried to grab Charlie.
because the couple was making such a fuss, it was really difficult to grab her.
When I finally managed to grab her, I apologised profusely.
At this point, the man turned and screamed in my face that I was a bad pet owner and should be ashamed of myself, accompanied by lots of obscenities. Thankfully my friend told the guy to back off and eventually he did. I was so shaken that I had to stop for a few minutes to calm down.

Sorry, but I changed the way the story was set up (and I took out all of your apologies) so that I could better understand what happened.

Did I read that correctly?  They started kicking at your non-aggressive dog? 

I have to admit - I would have lost it.

Dog slip their lead.  It happens.  Would I have been concerned if a strange dog came up to mine, and then their owner came running across the street with another dog?  Of course.  Worst case scenarios would be flashing through my head.  But to kick at a non-agressive dog and to start screaming and further inflame and excite the dogs? Not Okay.

[Twik]

Actually he said that "if you knew how to drive properly, you would have left enough room so that if you were hit, you wouldn't be pushed into anyone else."

At that point, the guy who hit me turned to me and said, "So... given that I've seen parked cars that were hit go sailing across the road...that means each mile of road would only accomodate three cars at any one time?" Which... good point.

Yes, because the distance you'd have to leave would be proportional to how fast the (hypothetical) person who was going to hit you was travelling.

The cop was one of those people who give knee-jerk reactions and can't bring themselve to say "I was wrong" when they realize they're not making any sense. ("You were behind him, so you should have stopped ... you were stopped? ... Uhn, well, IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE, SEE?")

[Cami]

Actually he said that "if you knew how to drive properly, you would have left enough room so that if you were hit, you wouldn't be pushed into anyone else."

At that point, the guy who hit me turned to me and said, "So... given that I've seen parked cars that were hit go sailing across the road...that means each mile of road would only accomodate three cars at any one time?" Which... good point.

Yes, because the distance you'd have to leave would be proportional to how fast the (hypothetical) person who was going to hit you was travelling.

The cop was one of those people who give knee-jerk reactions and can't bring themselve to say "I was wrong" when they realize they're not making any sense. ("You were behind him, so you should have stopped ... you were stopped? ... Uhn, well, IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE, SEE?")

  Oh exactly. After the cop left, the guy who hit me said, "Little man, big gun, am I right?"

[Piratelvr1121]

I think it's funny (and good) that the guy who hit you was agreeing with you and defending you.

[RooRoo]

After the cop left, the guy who hit me said, "Little man, big gun, am I right?"

Yes. My mother taught me that anybody who flat-out refuses to be wrong is a Special Snowflake. Well, she didn't put it in those words, exactly. It was more along the lines of, "If you like to learn new things, listen, and be ready to admit you're wrong."

Here's a quote that covers it:

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation”
 Herbert Spencer (British social Philosopher, 1820-1903)

People who absolutely have to be right cause a lot of trouble in this ol' world. (Thanks, Mom.)

[Cami]

I think it's funny (and good) that the guy who hit you was agreeing with you and defending you.

Oh it was funny! We were a team!

[Shalamar]

I don't have any stories about one, thank goodness, but I think flash mobs are by definition special snowflakes.

Aw, I love flash mobs, and being in one is on my bucket list.  That said, if they block traffic or cause inconvenience to anyone, yes, I agree about the SS status.

[goldilocks]

A new one for me last night - SS Idontwannapayus.

I was leaving work right at about 5 last night, and pulled up to pay to get out of the parking garage (it's underground). I was second in line, right behind two guys in a red truck. The management of the parking garage has just changed, and we have new folks in the kiosk, so getting out has been taking longer recently. So, I wasn't too surprised when it took a couple minutes for the guys to pay.

But then it went on. And on. And on. I ended up putting my car in park, because by that time there were at least 3 other cars behind me and there was no where for me to go. The line wrapped completely around the building. At one point, the woman in the kiosk got out and sort of feebly flapped her hands at the people in line, but you couldn't see the end of the line at that point, and there wasn't anywhere for anyone to go. I asked her what was going on, but got no answer.

After another 5 minutes, she finally just waved the guys in the red truck through. I asked what happened when I was paying and she said that they just refused to pay. With the number of people backed up behind them, there wasn't a thing she could do, so she ended up paying their fee out of her pocket.

The guys in the truck were laughing and looking smug, knowing that they had the parking lady in a bind.

THis reminds me of something that happened years ago when I worked in a rather upscale restaurant.  The patrons would pay the server directly, and we had to settle up at the end of the night.   4 teenagers came in and skipped out on the check, which was about $50.  (early 80's!!!).   The server would have had to pay that out of her pocket, but she managed to chase them out to the parking lot, got the plate number and called the police.  Now, the kids saw her, and there is no doubt that they knew what they were doing, this was no accident.

So, the police find them within minutes and bring them back.  They try to pass it off as, oh, we forgot!!! so sorry!! etc etc.

The server presents them with the bill, which is now $75.  The kids start to argue, and the police tell them - we can discuss it here or downtown, your choice.  They decided $75 was reasonable.

[Slartibartfast]

I don't have any stories about one, thank goodness, but I think flash mobs are by definition special snowflakes.

It depends greatly on the flash mob.  If they're holding up traffic, blocking access to a store, etc. I can see how that's SS behavior.  However, often they're about brightening some strangers' days by doing something funny/quirky/cheerful, and if they can find a way to do that without inconveniencing anyone who doesn't want to be there, that's okay by me.  ImprovEverywhere has some fantastic flash mobs ("Look Up More" is one of my favorites, as is their Guerrilla Handbell Strikeforce).