What little things drive you completely up the wall....?

[Diane AKA Traska]

I don't use this phrase, well, ever... but your luxury cruise liner losing power and forcing you to endure having to wait for your food to be served to you... that's the definition of first world problems.  Those conditions?  That's what a good chunk of the world calls everyday life.

[mbbored]

I don't use this phrase, well, ever... but your luxury cruise liner losing power and forcing you to endure having to wait for your food to be served to you... that's the definition of first world problems.  Those conditions?  That's what a good chunk of the world calls everyday life.

I admit, I'd be furious as all get out if I paid for an all inclusive vacation and instead had to contend with sewage and long lines for subpar food. But it definitely wasn't worth a quarter of the news coverage: there's also things like sports, local news, state wide issues, national topics, global events that might actually have an impact on our region or are so much worse than a cruddy vacation.

[Diane AKA Traska]

I don't use this phrase, well, ever... but your luxury cruise liner losing power and forcing you to endure having to wait for your food to be served to you... that's the definition of first world problems.  Those conditions?  That's what a good chunk of the world calls everyday life.

I admit, I'd be furious as all get out if I paid for an all inclusive vacation and instead had to contend with sewage and long lines for subpar food. But it definitely wasn't worth a quarter of the news coverage: there's also things like sports, local news, state wide issues, national topics, global events that might actually have an impact on our region or are so much worse than a cruddy vacation.

Oh yeah, I'd be annoyed if I were *there* too, but not so much that I can find it newsworthy.

[Yvaine]

I hated it when friends of my parents called each other 'Mother' and 'Father', but I have since learned that was common in that generation in that area, and as bizarre as it is, at least it it respectful and not cutesy.

We have a fair few people in our area who refer to each other this way, and it's not the older generation. It's mostly people with kids under 10, and they also refer to their children as "sister" and "brother" rather than by name. Even when there's more than one child of each gender. It's more common to hear sister and brother for the kids than parents also calling each other mother and father, but both are relatively common.

It doesn't so much drive me up a wall as creep me out in a way I can't entirely put my finger on. I know the biggest thing for me is that it seems to depersonalize everyone in the family. That's not my sister Suzy, that's just "sister," a role that could be easily filled if Suzy were to disappear. I don't believe any of the parents who use these terms intend them this way - not even the ones who creep me out for other, more concrete reasons - but that's what it triggers in me every time I hear it.

My mom often called me "Sissy" growing up, and while I didn't mind per se, I could never figure out why only I got called "sissy" and none of my sisters did, because they were as much "sisters" in the family as I was, and my name doesn't have Sissy as a nickname either. I found out yeeeeaaaaars later that in the South there's A Thing of calling the oldest girl "Sister" or "Sissy" as a title. My mom is an oldest sister herself and probably picked it up from my grandmother, who really was Southern. But no one did that in the area where we actually lived, so it made my head hurt at the time.

[siamesecat2965]

I don't use this phrase, well, ever... but your luxury cruise liner losing power and forcing you to endure having to wait for your food to be served to you... that's the definition of first world problems.  Those conditions?  That's what a good chunk of the world calls everyday life.

I admit, I'd be furious as all get out if I paid for an all inclusive vacation and instead had to contend with sewage and long lines for subpar food. But it definitely wasn't worth a quarter of the news coverage: there's also things like sports, local news, state wide issues, national topics, global events that might actually have an impact on our region or are so much worse than a cruddy vacation.

I would be too, but, while yes, it was not at all a nice experience for the people on the ship, they are getting a full refund, $500, AND a a discount for another cruise, should they choose to take one.  Its unfortunate that the ship had issue, but at least Carnival is attempting to do something for the passengers.

[Diane AKA Traska]

I don't use this phrase, well, ever... but your luxury cruise liner losing power and forcing you to endure having to wait for your food to be served to you... that's the definition of first world problems.  Those conditions?  That's what a good chunk of the world calls everyday life.

I admit, I'd be furious as all get out if I paid for an all inclusive vacation and instead had to contend with sewage and long lines for subpar food. But it definitely wasn't worth a quarter of the news coverage: there's also things like sports, local news, state wide issues, national topics, global events that might actually have an impact on our region or are so much worse than a cruddy vacation.

I would be too, but, while yes, it was not at all a nice experience for the people on the ship, they are getting a full refund, $500, AND a a discount for another cruise, should they choose to take one.  Its unfortunate that the ship had issue, but at least Carnival is attempting to do something for the passengers.

...

HEY, Carnival!  Inconvenience me!

[Adelaide]

I hate how some of my guy friends can't be in a relationship and still manage to talk to me as a friend. You don't have to go from chatting with me all the time to completely giving me the cold shoulder and answering everything with a yes or a no because you're in a relationship. We can still be friends. Granted, the two guys I'm thinking of had a flirty-friendship vibe with me, but it was a great dynamic that wasn't ever going anywhere. We never so much as shook hands. I guess it just feels weird being cut off cold turkey.

[nuit93]

I hate how some of my guy friends can't be in a relationship and still manage to talk to me as a friend. You don't have to go from chatting with me all the time to completely giving me the cold shoulder and answering everything with a yes or a no because you're in a relationship. We can still be friends. Granted, the two guys I'm thinking of had a flirty-friendship vibe with me, but it was a great dynamic that wasn't ever going anywhere. We never so much as shook hands. I guess it just feels weird being cut off cold turkey.

I wonder how much of that is them and how much is jealous girlfriends?

[Amava]

I hate how some of my guy friends can't be in a relationship and still manage to talk to me as a friend. You don't have to go from chatting with me all the time to completely giving me the cold shoulder and answering everything with a yes or a no because you're in a relationship. We can still be friends. Granted, the two guys I'm thinking of had a flirty-friendship vibe with me, but it was a great dynamic that wasn't ever going anywhere. We never so much as shook hands. I guess it just feels weird being cut off cold turkey.

I wonder how much of that is them and how much is jealous girlfriends?

If the guy allows a girlfriend to do that to him, it's him.

[mmswm]

I don't use this phrase, well, ever... but your luxury cruise liner losing power and forcing you to endure having to wait for your food to be served to you... that's the definition of first world problems.  Those conditions?  That's what a good chunk of the world calls everyday life.

I admit, I'd be furious as all get out if I paid for an all inclusive vacation and instead had to contend with sewage and long lines for subpar food. But it definitely wasn't worth a quarter of the news coverage: there's also things like sports, local news, state wide issues, national topics, global events that might actually have an impact on our region or are so much worse than a cruddy vacation.

Oh yeah, I'd be annoyed if I were *there* too, but not so much that I can find it newsworthy.

Well, it is newsworthy in that a huge number of people are affected. It's also a bit more than a "crummy vacation".  There are real health risks involved with overflowing sewage and poor air circulation.  Food and water shortages do present a problem that's a far cry from a minor inconvenience.  It's also newsworthy that this is the second vessel in a year, operated by the same company, to have a major problem putting thousands of people at risk.  Granted the other incident involved human error, but it does bring up a very valid question as to how seriously Carnival takes passenger and ship safety.  It's not like you can just evacuate a ship when it's in the middle of the ocean.  Sure you can send people off in lifeboats, but there's a huge risk that a particular boat will drift off and not be found until it's too late.

That said, I do agree that 15 minutes of coverage consisting of interviews with passengers, friends and families is a bit much, but 15 minutes of coverage about the status of any investigation into the company might be newsworthy.

[Thipu1]

I don't use this phrase, well, ever... but your luxury cruise liner losing power and forcing you to endure having to wait for your food to be served to you... that's the definition of first world problems.  Those conditions?  That's what a good chunk of the world calls everyday life.

We might not consider the situation of the Carnival Triumph worth as much coverage as it got.  However, the news media will.  A four day cruise will certainly be populated by almost all Americans or Canadians. There's a good chance that any major news market will be able say that 'someone from the metro area' was on board.  That gets attention. 

Four day cruises are also likely to have many first-time passengers who believe everything in the ads.
  In the best of situations, that isn't the case.  Granted, this was a massive systems failure but every
cruise we've taken that lasted more than seven days, some passengers, somewhere on board has knocked out at least several stacks of toilets.  You also know you're on a ship more than eight days when you start getting that rotten egg smell. In the hallways, you run into engineers checking out problems several times a day.  Shop vacs in the hallways are also a fact of shipboard life   

Finally, Carnival ships are not considered 'luxury'.  They're a lot better than what they used to be but many people still consider them to be 'cattle boat operations' at the best of times

We all have to admit that the pictures of the massive ship being towed are  dramatic.  The story didn't quite 'bleed' but it would certainly lead a newscast. 

I feel most sorry for the crew and staff who had to deal with this.  These people work insanely long
hours as it is.  When Carnival decided to open the bars I would have expected open mutiny from the
 food and beverage employees.  The last thing you need on a stalled ship is a bunch of underfed and beered up new pax, especially when the plumbing isn't working properly. 

Might it not be a good idea to move this discussion to the 'Entertainment  and News' section?

[Diane AKA Traska]

I don't use this phrase, well, ever... but your luxury cruise liner losing power and forcing you to endure having to wait for your food to be served to you... that's the definition of first world problems.  Those conditions?  That's what a good chunk of the world calls everyday life.

We might not consider the situation of the Carnival Triumph worth as much coverage as it got.  However, the news media will.  A four day cruise will certainly be populated by almost all Americans or Canadians. There's a good chance that any major news market will be able say that 'someone from the metro area' was on board.  That gets attention. 

Four day cruises are also likely to have many first-time passengers who believe everything in the ads.
  In the best of situations, that isn't the case.  Granted, this was a massive systems failure but every
cruise we've taken that lasted more than seven days, somebody, somewhere, knocked out at least
several stacks of toilets.  You also know you're on a ship more than eight days when you start
getting that rotten egg smell. In the hallways, you run into engineers checking out problems severaltimes a day.  Shop vacs in the hallways are also a fact of shipboard life.   

Finally, Carnival ships are not considered 'luxury'.  They're a lot better than what they used to be but many people still consider them to be 'cattle boat operations' at the best of times. 

We all have to admit that the pictures of the massive ship being towed were dramatic.  It didn't quite
'bleed' but it would certainly be a grabber at the beginning of a newscast.

I feel most sorry for the crew and staff who had to deal with this.  These people work insanely long
hours as it is.  When Carnival decided to open the bars I would have expected open mutiny from the
 food and beverage employees.  The last thing you need on a stalled ship is a bunch of underfed and beered up new pax, especially when the plumbing isn't working properly.

You know, for the heck of it I looked up their prices.  They're still out of our price range, but they're a lot more affordable than I expected.  Cruise to the Bahamas for less than $1K?  That's not shabby.  Well, it probably IS shabby, but the price I mean.

[Editeer]

I once had someone ask me "What DO you do all day?  You don't have kids."  Uh...I pull money out of my unused uterus and go shopping with it!

That's it, my next pair of shoes will be bought with funds from my uterus bank

So THAT'S where all the "extra" money is! And here I thought I had to save money out of my paycheck if I wanted to buy luxuries. Shopping mall, here I come! 

[Adelaide]

I hate how some of my guy friends can't be in a relationship and still manage to talk to me as a friend. You don't have to go from chatting with me all the time to completely giving me the cold shoulder and answering everything with a yes or a no because you're in a relationship. We can still be friends. Granted, the two guys I'm thinking of had a flirty-friendship vibe with me, but it was a great dynamic that wasn't ever going anywhere. We never so much as shook hands. I guess it just feels weird being cut off cold turkey.

I wonder how much of that is them and how much is jealous girlfriends?

I'm not sure. I think one of the guys didn't want to be alone with me after he got a girlfriend because she was *very* big on certain social protocols, even if she didn't consider me a threat per say. (I was one of her bridesmaids.) The current guy I'm not so sure about. I've never actually met the girlfriend. He's just suddenly stopped talking to me.

[Carotte]

I hate how spell check can be so dumb at times. I have dyslexia so I rely on it quite offten, I even now have a top of the line program to do it (in french only) but even he cannot predict that when I write profeseur I meant professeur (or something silly like that). So yes, now I know the word isn't correct, but I have to play 'where's the letter' and try 36 different combination.
(That's a 'stupid' error to do by the way because it's not the same pronunciation, but my brain doesn't make the connexion. The word 'poison' (poison) and 'poisson' (fish) always take me a few seconds if it's out of context.)