General complaint: people are THE WORST

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the story with people who listen to stuff without headphones? Just a total lack of self awareness?

I think some people lack self awareness, but I also think some people want to inflict their noise on other people. Like the people who play games on their phones with the volume up, or let their kids watch videos without headphones, are just being obtuse. But people who walk around with music playing loudly on their phones so that others can hear it? They know what they are doing and it's purposeful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's just because it's Monday, maybe it's because I went to work at a coffee shop this morning and within five minutes a guy came down to sit next to me who was playing house music on an iPhone without headphones, and then a woman came to sit on my other side and joined an evangelical prayer circle on speaker phone and then paused to to ask me if I'd buy her a coffee because she forgot her wallet.

Hell, truly, is other people.

Feel free to explain how terrible people are here. I will validate ALL your complaints.

Did you buy her the coffee?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the story with people who listen to stuff without headphones? Just a total lack of self awareness?

I think some people lack self awareness, but I also think some people want to inflict their noise on other people. Like the people who play games on their phones with the volume up, or let their kids watch videos without headphones, are just being obtuse. But people who walk around with music playing loudly on their phones so that others can hear it? They know what they are doing and it's purposeful.

+1

Same with the plane people who are loud, or have loud kids: "You are trapped! You are going to listen to me because I have such little control over my life!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Like most of us in the city or populated suburbs, I live near a bunch of Starbucks and every one of them is always full of people on their bulls***. It’s not a place to study or do work anymore. Maybe it used to be but not since at least 2015 if not earlier. It’s full of loud talking people, usually on the phone. Sketchy business meetings for what sounds like MLM’s or sketchy financial services. People asking for cash. I’ve seen the prayer meetings and relatively large meetings of political/civic groups in very small Starbucks locations, taking up nearly every table in the place. That drives me particularly up the wall because I’m in the suburbs and Panera and Wegmans with the tables/seating areas are close by and much larger. And honestly probably quieter. I’d sooner take my laptop to the buffet seating areas at Wegmans or Whole Foods at this point vs. a cramped Starbucks with people on their worst behavior.

Dude - it’s a Starbucks not a library. Try the library or pay for a space if you want a space that is exactly as you want it.

OP here and people will do this sort of thing at the library too. I know several public librarians and dealing with rude, entitled, hostile people is like 90% of their job. It sucks.

DP here. People of all types need to stop taking up tables for lengthy, unreasonable periods, point blank.

"Loitering" laws and rules used to be enforced against things like this, but they can't anymore.

+1

More entitlement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's just because it's Monday, maybe it's because I went to work at a coffee shop this morning and within five minutes a guy came down to sit next to me who was playing house music on an iPhone without headphones, and then a woman came to sit on my other side and joined an evangelical prayer circle on speaker phone and then paused to to ask me if I'd buy her a coffee because she forgot her wallet.

Hell, truly, is other people.

Feel free to explain how terrible people are here. I will validate ALL your complaints.

Did you buy her the coffee?

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our society has condoned, encouraged and supported our sense of self entitlement. We all deserve something. We are all owed something. We have regressed to toddlerhood where we think the world revolves around us. We are afraid to speak up because we are also entitled to lash out at anyone who challenges our entitlement.

This doesn't make sense.

In a functional society, we ARE all owed something, and that is basic decency. That' the whole point of society. And in a functional society, we would be able to assert that right to basic decency and not have it constantly come into conflict with people's selfish desire to do whatever the heck they want regardless of how it impacts others.

But we live in a dysfunctional society, so even something as simple as suggesting that a person not play their music on a personal device in a public space that is meant to be shared with others, gets twisted into encroaching on that person's "right" to do whatever they want.

People have lost sight of what exactly it is we are all owed, in favor of borderline anarchy where you are owed whatever you are willing to try an assert over others, etiquette/laws/decency be damned.

Agree. But when did the majority become so mentally deficient?

It's basically the plot of Idiocracy. My smart, well adjusted, financially secure friends had 0-2 kids, some had 3. My unemployed, mentally unstable, constantly broke, not married friends have 3-7 kids. One friend whose boyfriend has been in and out of rehab and they keep breaking up, just announced baby #5. And they're calling it a rainbow baby because they had a miscarriage between #4 and #5.

Intelligence is genetic.

+1

Summed it up nicely, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Like most of us in the city or populated suburbs, I live near a bunch of Starbucks and every one of them is always full of people on their bulls***. It’s not a place to study or do work anymore. Maybe it used to be but not since at least 2015 if not earlier. It’s full of loud talking people, usually on the phone. Sketchy business meetings for what sounds like MLM’s or sketchy financial services. People asking for cash. I’ve seen the prayer meetings and relatively large meetings of political/civic groups in very small Starbucks locations, taking up nearly every table in the place. That drives me particularly up the wall because I’m in the suburbs and Panera and Wegmans with the tables/seating areas are close by and much larger. And honestly probably quieter. I’d sooner take my laptop to the buffet seating areas at Wegmans or Whole Foods at this point vs. a cramped Starbucks with people on their worst behavior.

Dude - it’s a Starbucks not a library. Try the library or pay for a space if you want a space that is exactly as you want it.

OP here and people will do this sort of thing at the library too. I know several public librarians and dealing with rude, entitled, hostile people is like 90% of their job. It sucks.

DP here. People of all types need to stop taking up tables for lengthy, unreasonable periods, point blank.

"Loitering" laws and rules used to be enforced against things like this, but they can't anymore.

Some of it really is wokeness run amok. Ten years ago there was not this expectation that you could just walk into a coffee shop and sit at a table and not buy anything and be rude to other people. I mean, people still did it, but there wasn't an expectation. Now, it is Starbucks stated policy that anyone can do that, and use their bathroom and wifi, and they won't kick you out. Which actually sucks for everyone who works there and all the paying customers, but we've collectively decided anything else is morally wrong. It's... weird.

Define “wokeness”.

I'm specifically talking about "wokeness run amok" which I would define as eliminating rules or boundaries that serve a social good because of the *perception* of unfairness to marginalized groups, even when that unfairness doesn't actually exist or can be better addressed another way. In this case, we've basically ruined what used to be a third space shared by many people and made it a space that serves one purpose, poorly. That doesn't make sense.

Look, I think Bari Weiss is a hack grifter too, but that doesn't mean that we can't call out stupidity when it happens.

Like gun control?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have always said we are god's/mother nature's greatest mistake. worse than f'king roaches. complete wipe-out is the only way to save the earth.

I have found my people!!!! I agree 100%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah - people are horrible everywhere. In the heart of the Midwest airport listening to a guy watching some pro gun video on loud.

Here's probably coming back here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just at the supermarket and an older man (75ish) was kind of blocking the way. Dead stop in the middle of an aisle blocking the way from several angles. I went around him with room to spare so I could get to a corner of the prepared food section. He deliberately hit me with his cart and faked an "I'm sorry" in the flattest most dead tone . It was so bizarre I just walked away. I'm self aware enough to know he might have thought I was rude by going around him, but hitting me instead of saying something was bizarre.

+1

People who go to these extremes are not right in the head - the carts in the middle of the aisle are a prime example - as if they are challenging you to say something. Damn right I will!

I hate that too they do it on purpose too!

What do you say?

[Anonymous]

I don't see what the problem is. It's a coffee shop, not your personal work space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Like most of us in the city or populated suburbs, I live near a bunch of Starbucks and every one of them is always full of people on their bulls***. It’s not a place to study or do work anymore. Maybe it used to be but not since at least 2015 if not earlier. It’s full of loud talking people, usually on the phone. Sketchy business meetings for what sounds like MLM’s or sketchy financial services. People asking for cash. I’ve seen the prayer meetings and relatively large meetings of political/civic groups in very small Starbucks locations, taking up nearly every table in the place. That drives me particularly up the wall because I’m in the suburbs and Panera and Wegmans with the tables/seating areas are close by and much larger. And honestly probably quieter. I’d sooner take my laptop to the buffet seating areas at Wegmans or Whole Foods at this point vs. a cramped Starbucks with people on their worst behavior.

Dude - it’s a Starbucks not a library. Try the library or pay for a space if you want a space that is exactly as you want it.

OP here and people will do this sort of thing at the library too. I know several public librarians and dealing with rude, entitled, hostile people is like 90% of their job. It sucks.

DP here. People of all types need to stop taking up tables for lengthy, unreasonable periods, point blank.

"Loitering" laws and rules used to be enforced against things like this, but they can't anymore.

Some of it really is wokeness run amok. Ten years ago there was not this expectation that you could just walk into a coffee shop and sit at a table and not buy anything and be rude to other people. I mean, people still did it, but there wasn't an expectation. Now, it is Starbucks stated policy that anyone can do that, and use their bathroom and wifi, and they won't kick you out. Which actually sucks for everyone who works there and all the paying customers, but we've collectively decided anything else is morally wrong. It's... weird.

Define “wokeness”.

I'm specifically talking about "wokeness run amok" which I would define as eliminating rules or boundaries that serve a social good because of the *perception* of unfairness to marginalized groups, even when that unfairness doesn't actually exist or can be better addressed another way. In this case, we've basically ruined what used to be a third space shared by many people and made it a space that serves one purpose, poorly. That doesn't make sense.

Look, I think Bari Weiss is a hack grifter too, but that doesn't mean that we can't call out stupidity when it happens.

Like gun control?

Like gun control in what way? Yes, I think getting rid of gun control because of a perceived unfairness to, uh, people who love guns is a bad idea. I'm a big fan of gun control and a big hater of guns. But I wouldn't call that "wokeness run amok" because the people who oppose gun control don't describe themselves as woke. So it's a weird analogy to make.

I think it's interesting that you keep responding to me with the assumption that I'm some conservative troll, when I'm actually a progressive. I'm "woke" so to speak. But that doesn't mean I can't criticize when fellow progressive do things that actively make the world worse, in the name of progressive values. Doing so doesn't magically make me MAGA. I'm a person with a brain and a thoughtful approach to politics and social issues, and I'm not just going to parrot a party line on anything without thinking it through. So it's weird that your talking to me like I'm a dumb conservative you can trick or expose, and to be honest it makes you seem kind of dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't see what the problem is. It's a coffee shop, not your personal work space.

It's also not a personal jam space for someone to blast their music or a personal meeting space for someone to have their prayer group conference call.

Working quietly on your computer in a coffee shop bothers exactly no one. If you purchase coffee or food from the shop, it even benefits the shop, which is why coffee shops provide seating and wifi for people to work.

Whereas playing your music loudly in a place that likely already has music on, or taking a conference call without headphones near multiple other people, and then asking one of those people to buy your coffee, is rude and inconvenient, likely bothers multiple customers as well as people who work there, and if you aren't even purchasing anything, has zero benefit to the business.

If you don't understand the difference between these activities, I don't know what to tell you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just at the supermarket and an older man (75ish) was kind of blocking the way. Dead stop in the middle of an aisle blocking the way from several angles. I went around him with room to spare so I could get to a corner of the prepared food section. He deliberately hit me with his cart and faked an "I'm sorry" in the flattest most dead tone . It was so bizarre I just walked away. I'm self aware enough to know he might have thought I was rude by going around him, but hitting me instead of saying something was bizarre.

+1

People who go to these extremes are not right in the head - the carts in the middle of the aisle are a prime example - as if they are challenging you to say something. Damn right I will!

I hate that too they do it on purpose too!

What do you say?

I will move people's carts when they do this if they don't respond to me saying "excuse me" once or twice. I've had people yell at me for it but I don't care. You need to pay attention to what is happening around you at the store, and be ready to shift a cart over to let someone pass or access a shelf if necessary. You don't have to do this super fast and everyone can be polite about it, but if you are just going to zone out and ignore everyone, then I will gently move your cart to the side so I can pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our society has condoned, encouraged and supported our sense of self entitlement. We all deserve something. We are all owed something. We have regressed to toddlerhood where we think the world revolves around us. We are afraid to speak up because we are also entitled to lash out at anyone who challenges our entitlement.

This doesn't make sense.

In a functional society, we ARE all owed something, and that is basic decency. That' the whole point of society. And in a functional society, we would be able to assert that right to basic decency and not have it constantly come into conflict with people's selfish desire to do whatever the heck they want regardless of how it impacts others.

But we live in a dysfunctional society, so even something as simple as suggesting that a person not play their music on a personal device in a public space that is meant to be shared with others, gets twisted into encroaching on that person's "right" to do whatever they want.

People have lost sight of what exactly it is we are all owed, in favor of borderline anarchy where you are owed whatever you are willing to try an assert over others, etiquette/laws/decency be damned.

Agree. But when did the majority become so mentally deficient?

It's basically the plot of Idiocracy. My smart, well adjusted, financially secure friends had 0-2 kids, some had 3. My unemployed, mentally unstable, constantly broke, not married friends have 3-7 kids. One friend whose boyfriend has been in and out of rehab and they keep breaking up, just announced baby #5. And they're calling it a rainbow baby because they had a miscarriage between #4 and #5.

Intelligence is genetic.

This example is the same in my life. A few couples who are smart, financially secure and well adjusted have either had no kids or just 1-2. I know plenty of unemployed, unstable people who have had 4-5 kids. It's literally insane to me. You have no money, no job but lets keep having kids we can't afford? It's Idiocracy! Research and science shows that with every 15 IQ points a woman has, her desire to have kids lowers by 25 percent! So this is fact not just opinion here.