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

[Elfmama]

When you think of a good question for the "This may be a Stupid Question" thread as you're tootling around in the car but have absolutely NO memory of what it was when you sit down in front of the computer.

[mandycorn]

What is the appeal of placing one's feet on the dash of a car or out the window?

I've done it while passengering on long car trips (until I think about how badly the air bag deploying could mess up my legs) because the sun warms up my toes from being in the AC and it stretches the muscles into a different position, which is nice if it's been a while since a rest stop.

[Piratelvr1121]

Baby onesies with slogans I hope no one really thought through.

I saw one on Pinterest that said "I'm with the MILF"  EWW.  Just...ew.

[hobish]

A couple of years ago, my cousin made the off-handed comment that one of her distant relatives was coming in and that "he's an egghead; I can't understand him but you two might get along." I didn't think much of it. Before my brother left for the military, my cousins threw him a big bash. Before I left, they gave me a thumbs up and a "Oh yeah, good luck". My brother and I are coming in on the same day, after having been gone roughly the same amount of time, and my cousin is gushing about how she's "so excited" that he's finally coming home. She then quoted a religious verse about how family is super duper important and tagged him on facebook.  I GET that you don't like me that much, and I GET that I'm a nerd and all, but geez. I'm only irritated that I'm irritated, if that makes sense. At this age I don't really think that I should be caring about what my family thinks of me.  Maybe I should stick this in the Special Snowflake post, since I feel pretty SS about this.

  Hugses. I don't think that is SS.

[Mental Magpie]

You never know how much you brush up against an area of your skin until you get a tattoo there...

[Margo]

*ETA: There's a photo on Pinterest suggesting "throw colored sprinkles instead of rice at weddings." I guess the fact that it'll attract bugs or mice afterwards doesn't matter

I heard about one church who banned all throwing of rice, confetti, whatever because of the mess it made.  But they made an exception.  If you were outside, you could throw grass seed!

That's quite common, in my experience. When my sister got married were told no confetti in the church yard - they explained that it is almost impossible to clear up, and makes the path slippery. They did say that you can have the kind which is natural petals, provided that is was on the grass , not on the paths. The vicar repeated this at the start of the service. (As it happened, it poured with rain, so the very small amount of confetti-throwing which took place was inside the hall at the reception)

The vicar did explain that if you wanted to have confetti it would be OK if you went out onto the (very quiet ) street at the side of the church, as it's not  much used by people on foot (so minimal risk of slips) and is regularly swept by the councils road-sweeping machine (so the mess is temporary)

On a side note, one thing which baffles, rather than annoys me, is the people who get married at the registry office in my town and then take carefully posed pictures outside. The registry office is part of the council offices but the entrance is part of a very ugly 1970 extension, which has lots of windows filled with posters and notices for various debt/drug support services - not what yo'd think anyone would look for as a backdrop to their wedding pictures.

The main council office (which the registry office is part of) is a very nice Georgian, Doulting Stone building which makes a lovely back drop. There is also a nice lawned area with mature trees outside the registry office, so you don't have to have building in the background at all.

[2littlemonkeys]

You know what? I take it back--I do remember my MIL doing something like this. And I told her to stop.

And once when DD, then 3, wanted to ride the little coin-op horse outside the grocery store but couldn't because it was broken, MIL told her, "Mommy will fix it."
So of course the moment I arrived to pick DD up from the visit, she said, "Mommy, come and fix the horsie." I told MIL, "Don't lie to her." And then I had to explain that Grandma was wrong, it was "the people's" horse, and they'd need to fix it.

Thanks for making my job tougher, Grandma! Instead, how about teaching the truth, so my kid can learn to handle disappointment (or injury, in the case of the "bad table") like a sensible, learning person.

I had a similar problem with my ILs and the kids.  The ILs would lie to them over the silliest stuff.  I asked them to stop.  I reminded that eventually the children would figure out what they were doing and would stop trusting them.  Nothing worked.  Until Grandma got caught with egg on her face.

A couple of years ago, my ILs were at a restaurant we often visited and had a terrible customer service experience.  They decided that they were done with the restaurant unless there was a management change.

A while later, my ILs told the girls they'd take them out for breakfast, where did they want to go?  ODD suggested the Horrible Restaurant. 

Instead of saying something like, "I'd like to but the last time we were there we had a bad time and we're going to take a break from going there for a while.  How about this other restaurant?", she said "Oh, that place burned down."   

I didn't hear of the above exchange until 2 days later when we were all together in the car and passed the restaurant.  My youngest asked, "Grandma, I thought you said [restaurant] burned down?"  MIL was very embarrassed and as far as I know, it hasn't happened again.

I mean, we drive past this restaurant on a regular basis.  What on earth was she thinking?   

[Diane AKA Traska]

You know what? I take it back--I do remember my MIL doing something like this. And I told her to stop.

And once when DD, then 3, wanted to ride the little coin-op horse outside the grocery store but couldn't because it was broken, MIL told her, "Mommy will fix it."
So of course the moment I arrived to pick DD up from the visit, she said, "Mommy, come and fix the horsie." I told MIL, "Don't lie to her." And then I had to explain that Grandma was wrong, it was "the people's" horse, and they'd need to fix it.

Thanks for making my job tougher, Grandma! Instead, how about teaching the truth, so my kid can learn to handle disappointment (or injury, in the case of the "bad table") like a sensible, learning person.

I had a similar problem with my ILs and the kids.  The ILs would lie to them over the silliest stuff.  I asked them to stop.  I reminded that eventually the children would figure out what they were doing and would stop trusting them.  Nothing worked.  Until Grandma got caught with egg on her face.

A couple of years ago, my ILs were at a restaurant we often visited and had a terrible customer service experience.  They decided that they were done with the restaurant unless there was a management change.

A while later, my ILs told the girls they'd take them out for breakfast, where did they want to go?  ODD suggested the Horrible Restaurant. 

Instead of saying something like, "I'd like to but the last time we were there we had a bad time and we're going to take a break from going there for a while.  How about this other restaurant?", she said "Oh, that place burned down."   

I didn't hear of the above exchange until 2 days later when we were all together in the car and passed the restaurant.  My youngest asked, "Grandma, I thought you said [restaurant] burned down?"  MIL was very embarrassed and as far as I know, it hasn't happened again.

I mean, we drive past this restaurant on a regular basis.  What on earth was she thinking?   

Likely, she made the mistake of thinking that kids have no attention span and retention of information.  Which is just absurd... it's *adults* that have the attention span of goldfish...

[2littlemonkeys]

LOL, no kidding.  If anything, kids will remember *everything* you tell them (unless, of course, it's something tedious like "Please do your homework when you get home from school.")

[Shalamar]

My grandmother used to tell my little cousin "(Blah) is broken" when he asked for whatever it was - say, one of those coin-operated horsey rides.  And then she'd wink at me.  12-year-old me was shocked at the deceit - why didn't she just tell him "No"?  Then I thought "Maybe I'll do the same thing when I have kids."

Years later, I now have two daughters, and I've never told them "(Blah) is broken."   The answer is either "yes" or "no".

[Piratelvr1121]

You know what? I take it back--I do remember my MIL doing something like this. And I told her to stop.

And once when DD, then 3, wanted to ride the little coin-op horse outside the grocery store but couldn't because it was broken, MIL told her, "Mommy will fix it."
So of course the moment I arrived to pick DD up from the visit, she said, "Mommy, come and fix the horsie." I told MIL, "Don't lie to her." And then I had to explain that Grandma was wrong, it was "the people's" horse, and they'd need to fix it.

Thanks for making my job tougher, Grandma! Instead, how about teaching the truth, so my kid can learn to handle disappointment (or injury, in the case of the "bad table") like a sensible, learning person.

I had a similar problem with my ILs and the kids.  The ILs would lie to them over the silliest stuff.  I asked them to stop.  I reminded that eventually the children would figure out what they were doing and would stop trusting them.  Nothing worked.  Until Grandma got caught with egg on her face.

A couple of years ago, my ILs were at a restaurant we often visited and had a terrible customer service experience.  They decided that they were done with the restaurant unless there was a management change.

A while later, my ILs told the girls they'd take them out for breakfast, where did they want to go?  ODD suggested the Horrible Restaurant. 

Instead of saying something like, "I'd like to but the last time we were there we had a bad time and we're going to take a break from going there for a while.  How about this other restaurant?", she said "Oh, that place burned down."   

I didn't hear of the above exchange until 2 days later when we were all together in the car and passed the restaurant.  My youngest asked, "Grandma, I thought you said [restaurant] burned down?"  MIL was very embarrassed and as far as I know, it hasn't happened again.

I mean, we drive past this restaurant on a regular basis.  What on earth was she thinking?   

Likely, she made the mistake of thinking that kids have no attention span and retention of information.  Which is just absurd... it's *adults* that have the attention span of goldfish...

I have no idea what you're talking ab-SQUIRREL!!!!!

[Diane AKA Traska]

When you're in a discussion, and people insist on answering you as if you said something you didn't say (i.e., a strawman argument).

Example:  Two jobs are being compared.  One is exceptionally common (say, widget polishers) and the other is exceptionally uncommon (say, world-class whatsis jugglers).  The argument is made that the world-class whatsis jugglers (or WCWJs) are overpaid as compared to the widget polishers.  When it's pointed out that there are literally a thousand widget polishers for every WCWJ, they argue the position of "well, it's not like just anyone can be a widget polisher!  That's a trained job!"

Well, yes, that's true.  On the other hand, no one said that.  What was said is that some people are paid more because they do a job that has fewer people that can perform it.  That's simple supply and demand, yes?

Has discourse gotten so stripped down that we can't even agree to argue the actual point being made anymore?

[artk2002]

Limitations that make no Earthly sense.

I am on my very first tablet, and one of the reasons I wanted one was the ability to use an online game site while away from my desktop.  But this game site uses Java, and for some reason the manufacturer of this tablet, which has a quad core processor, declined to include Java in its device.


It's a great tablet, so it's not a deal breaker, but it is very annoying.

  JAVA had/has some huge security issues that may/may not have been resolved. The DHS sent out a warning not to use it, Java has done updates but security ban not lifted. Norton says it blocks it but both yahoo and norton flash a security risk warning still. I don't know why Oracle stock has not tanked and don't know what is now being done. Javascript is a different animal and not included.

Well, that's wonderful.  It also contributes to making Android a less-than-useful OS.

I don't think that the Java-on-Android issue has anything to do with the security problems. I think it has more to do with the fact that Oracle was suing Google for copyright/patent violations related to Java.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Limitations that make no Earthly sense.

I am on my very first tablet, and one of the reasons I wanted one was the ability to use an online game site while away from my desktop.  But this game site uses Java, and for some reason the manufacturer of this tablet, which has a quad core processor, declined to include Java in its device.


It's a great tablet, so it's not a deal breaker, but it is very annoying.

  JAVA had/has some huge security issues that may/may not have been resolved. The DHS sent out a warning not to use it, Java has done updates but security ban not lifted. Norton says it blocks it but both yahoo and norton flash a security risk warning still. I don't know why Oracle stock has not tanked and don't know what is now being done. Javascript is a different animal and not included.

Well, that's wonderful.  It also contributes to making Android a less-than-useful OS.

I don't think that the Java-on-Android issue has anything to do with the security problems. I think it has more to do with the fact that Oracle was suing Google for copyright/patent violations related to Java.

Whatever the case, I won't be buying an Android device again until they sort out some compatibility issues.  Android is literally my only complaint about this tablet.

[Snooks]

On a side note, one thing which baffles, rather than annoys me, is the people who get married at the registry office in my town and then take carefully posed pictures outside. The registry office is part of the council offices but the entrance is part of a very ugly 1970 extension, which has lots of windows filled with posters and notices for various debt/drug support services - not what yo'd think anyone would look for as a backdrop to their wedding pictures.

The main council office (which the registry office is part of) is a very nice Georgian, Doulting Stone building which makes a lovely back drop. There is also a nice lawned area with mature trees outside the registry office, so you don't have to have building in the background at all.

Sounds exactly like the registry office near me, except the registry office is a 1950s prefab