Random Rants 75: This is Bat Country!

[yung.carl.jung]

yeah, but so are we lesser fortunate beings to remind you of your prime position some people here actually do stressful and taxing manual labor for minimum wage. if Warren Buffet decided to bust in here and complain about losing 5% off of a bad investment, I'm sure many people would comment on that. Which doesn't make your de-facto pay cut any less bad or unecessary, and your rant any less justified, because it is justified. It just means, y'know, to be thankful for what we all have. Christmas. Full circle.

 

[MaryKB]

I feel @hobbsyoyo's totally justified being upset about his loss of compensation, and I know others don't live as well as he does, but I feel it's not very nice to remind him of that when he's hurting.

 

[rah]

I agree. I was upset when our company was bought and they changed our 10 personal days to 3 extra vacation days, 2 extra holidays and 5 sick days even though the overall numbers didn't really change. Just because personal days don't carry the same stigma as sick days.

 

[Synobun]

yeah, but so are we lesser fortunate beings to remind you of your prime position some people here actually do stressful and taxing manual labor for minimum wage. if Warren Buffet decided to bust in here and complain about losing 5% off of a bad investment, I'm sure many people would comment on that. Which doesn't make your de-facto pay cut any less bad or unecessary, and your rant any less justified, because it is justified. It just means, y'know, to be thankful for what we all have. Christmas. Full circle.

What a bunch of hogwash. Warren Buffet losing a marginal amount off of a bad investment is not at all comparable to a company arbitrarily reducing your agreed upon compensation.

But also: what is this nonsense about "you need to be thankful because some of us aren't doing as good as you are"? Hobbs very likely makes more in a month than I do in a year and I still sympathize with being screwed over by a big-picture corporate decision. Why would I be mad at Hobbs for his status in life? Why would I tell him to be humble or to be happy that he got stiffed? He's worked tremendously hard to get where he is. Has he been lucky? Sure. Not everyone gets this opportunity. Being lucky and being ahead in the race doesn't negate that bad things can happen. His compensation doesn't change that a company with imbalanced control over his life made a choice to limit something that they promised to give and they expect him to just deal with it.

More to the point, in what world does being screwed over become okay simply because there are people who have it worse? How does that thought parse out? You and Kyriakos really need to explain this to me. Should we collectively shout you two down the next time either of you complain? Should we only allow truly heinous issues to be talked about here, lest someone with a worse station in life read it and feels a conniption take them over because another human being dared to have something they didn't?

It's hilarious to also try and say that Hobbs' job isn't stressful.

Come on. You're better than this.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

On a different note, I have just encountered one of the worst of Canada Post drivers. As far as I'm concerned, I pay for parcels to come to my door, if they don't fit in the locker. It's not my job to run and fetch, even on a good day, which today isn't. So I politely asked the carrier (not the regular one) to bring it to my suite, and she said she would.

She threw the parcel on the floor in front of my door (loud thump; thank goodness it wasn't breakable), knocked loud enough to hear in the next wing of the building, and stomped away, ranting that next time I could just "come and get it yourself."

This is unacceptable, both in attitude and practice. So I made a formal complaint to Canada Post, and will see what happens. I'm desperately hoping this (w)itch is just a substitute and the regular carrier hasn't retired.

 

[Zkribbler]

I love 98% of things here in the Philippines. This leaves 2%...which is mainly January.

Coming off of Christmas, I've had the financial beat out of me. Now comes January, which piles on...
Real estate taxes
Vehicle registration fees [including insurance & smog check],
Employee taxes [Social Security, PhilHealth, etc], and
Tuition [for the 3 godkids]

I'm not complaining about the benefits & necessity of any of these things. I'm just complaining about the timing, of having to pay more of, what I don't have anything left of.

PS: My microwave is dead.

 

[Kyriakos]

What a bunch of hogwash. Warren Buffet losing a marginal amount off of a bad investment is not at all comparable to a company arbitrarily reducing your agreed upon compensation.

But also: what is this nonsense about "you need to be thankful because some of us aren't doing as good as you are"? Hobbs very likely makes more in a month than I do in a year and I still sympathize with being screwed over by a big-picture corporate decision. Why would I be mad at Hobbs for his status in life? Why would I tell him to be humble or to be happy that he got stiffed? He's worked tremendously hard to get where he is. Has he been lucky? Sure. Not everyone gets this opportunity. Being lucky and being ahead in the race doesn't negate that bad things can happen. His compensation doesn't change that a company with imbalanced control over his life made a choice to limit something that they promised to give and they expect him to just deal with it.

More to the point, in what world does being screwed over become okay simply because there are people who have it worse? How does that thought parse out? You and Kyriakos really need to explain this to me. Should we collectively shout you two down the next time either of you complain? Should we only allow truly heinous issues to be talked about here, lest someone with a worse station in life read it and feels a conniption take them over because another human being dared to have something they didn't?

It's hilarious to also try and say that Hobbs' job isn't stressful.

Come on. You're better than this.

I think you should take a break. Fwiw i seriously doubt hobbes saw the comment as you did. Maybe reflect on why you are the only one shouting; hint: others can shout too, but for some cryptic reason do not.

 

[Synobun]

I think you should take a break. Fwiw i seriously doubt hobbes saw the comment as you did. Maybe reflect on why you are the only one shouting; hint: others can shout too, but for some cryptic reason do not.

I have reflected on my passion on this subject and have come to the conclusion it's because I don't like seeing people be dismissively rude towards someone that I respect.

 

[Kyriakos]

Then relax and then you might notice that the rest of us respect hobbes just fine.

 

[Synobun]

You could do a better job of showing it. You generally don't show respect by scoffing at someone and telling them "Don't be greedy, this is a 1st world problem." when they are upset after having a contractual promise rescinded arbitrarily.

 

[Kyriakos]

I said a top 1% problem. Anyway, do whatever you want, i wont bother more.

 

[Synobun]

I said a top 1% problem. Anyway, do whatever you wont, i wont bother more.

Are you sure you want to be insisting on a correction that makes what you said worse?

 

[Arakhor]

Moderator Action: I really shouldn't need to remind people that they can use the Rants thread at any time and do not need to justify those rants.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I think you should take a break.

He just came back from a break. How often have you lamented the quantity of euros paid to you per lecture?


Anyway, new rant: The good news is my dad will be discharged day after tomorrow. The rant news is that apparently nobody there bothers to read patients' files enough to notice that my dad uses a service that brings him back to the nursing home when he's discharged. The hospital is across town from the home, and therefore too far for a taxi ($$). Taxi drivers aren't trained to handle people like my dad, and I'm not, either.

So of course I get a call from some dim nurse asking me "how do you want to handle this?". I told her to phone the agency; this is not a situation I can do anything about. More questions; same answer.

 

[Traitorfish]

Ok, sounds annoying, but dont you already get paid very very well? Dont be greedy

yeah, but so are we lesser fortunate beings to remind you of your prime position some people here actually do stressful and taxing manual labor for minimum wage. if Warren Buffet decided to bust in here and complain about losing 5% off of a bad investment, I'm sure many people would comment on that. Which doesn't make your de-facto pay cut any less bad or unecessary, and your rant any less justified, because it is justified. It just means, y'know, to be thankful for what we all have. Christmas. Full circle.

Are you guys under the impression that Hobb's boss is going to donate the difference directly to orphaned puppies? It's going to stay in the company accounts, and will probably end up in the pockets of owners or upper-management.

Whatever Hobbs is losing, it's not going from someone with more to someone with less, it's going to someone with a little to someone with a lot, and that is a deeply weird point on which to preach the perils of materialism.

 

[Farm Boy]

Oh Kyr.

Spoiler :

 

[Takhisis]

So my former cellphone carrier decided to keep charging me even after I stopped being their customer* and now I have to go on a consumer's crusade™ to clear my name because they unilaterally, without any warning or, y'know, actually sending me a bill, handed my name over to a collections agency and I am now in an official Unpaid Debtors list, filthy me.

*and they specifically said I didn't owe them any money because I had paid up

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Reading Friedman pontificate on the values of free market competition, then I remembered that bread price-fixing scandal a number of large companies participated in.

 

[MaryKB]

I'm a victim of this whole dispute between Charter and Time-Warner, so I don't have FOX right now and I can't see the new Orville episode tonight

 

[rah]

I'm a victim of this whole dispute between Charter and Time-Warner, so I don't have FOX right now and I can't see the new Orville episode tonight

Can't you get it over the air like in the stone age?