Your Story is BULLSH#T!

[DrFaroohk]

Anyone ever get the pople who not only are they bullshitting you, but you recognize their story as they ripped it off from somewhere else? Sometimes its a story, but most often its a joke. Don't whip out a george carlin rant and act like it's your own personal joke. WROGN!

[jackfaire]

Don't whip out a george carlin rant and act like it's your own personal joke. WROGN!

See that I don't mind. I have done that myself told people a funny story that I read in a book.

Usually your not claiming it's yours to get credit so much as spending 20 minutes explaining where you got the reference kind of takes away from the joke.

[guywithashovel]

I used to be guilty of pointing out when I thought a member had caused their own situation with the customer. You gotta admit, there are a few people who should not be in customer service at all, and based on what they posted, it seemed to me that their own approach to the customer caused an escalation that might not have happened if they had treated their customer differently or used different phrasing.

There were a few times when I caught myself having to bite my tongue, too. Back then (and I'm sure now, too), there were a few members who really seemed to disdain the entire human race, themselves and their small circle of loved ones excluded. They would get raving mad if a customer (or anyone else in a public place) got into their personal space. I can remember one member posting a story about how she was at an ice cream shop standing in line and screamed "HAS NO ONE HERE HEARD OF PERSONAL SPACE?!?!?!" to a group of girls who had gotten too close to her. Honestly, I started typing a response to that, but stopped short.

Now, I know it can be a little unsettling to have strangers too physically close to you, but I also understand that if I go out in public, my personal space probably is going to get "invaded," and it really isn't the end of the world. Also, some people just habitually do things like lay their hand on someone's shoulder or arm when talking to them. Granted, that might take some people by surprise, but it isn't a reason to be a jerk to anyone. I mean, you're not going to get cooties.

[blas87]

Most are already aware of this, but I am glad the rules about FTSTS are in place, and if they are amended to allow nitpicking, I feel it would only encourage the same behavior it used to cause. One person being able to do it means others will be able to, and pretty soon, every OP will be a victim of the armchair idiots who have to analyze and excuse every type of behavior and situation. ANNOYING. Allowing leeway will cause a lot of treading on ice to see what you can get away with.

Hell, sometimes I think people asking for clarification is a way of trying to sneak around the rule, simply to be able to try and sneak in their opinion or excuse the behavior.

[Gravekeeper]

While I freely admit disdain for most of the human race, I am paid to not display it. I tend to be appaled when I see a lack of professionalism or customer service in a post. Especially a lack of professionalism, that drives me batty.

[jackfaire]

Especially a lack of professionalism, that drives me batty.

See I am kind of the opposite if I see a lack of battyness it drives me professional

[HYHYBT]

Most are already aware of this, but I am glad the rules about FTSTS are in place, and if they are amended to allow nitpicking, I feel it would only encourage the same behavior it used to cause. One person being able to do it means others will be able to, and pretty soon, every OP will be a victim of the armchair idiots who have to analyze and excuse every type of behavior and situation. ANNOYING. Allowing leeway will cause a lot of treading on ice to see what you can get away with.

Hell, sometimes I think people asking for clarification is a way of trying to sneak around the rule, simply to be able to try and sneak in their opinion or excuse the behavior.

Oh, no. If you don't want people asking for clarification, BE CLEAR IN THE FIRST PLACE. Including WHY the allegedly sucky behavior is sucky.

The whole notion that one must *guess* why and then ask "is this it? Oh, how about this then?" is worse than silly.

All right... since I tried before and got no USEFUL answer whatsoever, how do you go about asking what about a situation is sucky when you have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what makes it so? (Yes, I got answers. They involved essentially what I said above, which is completely absurd. The situation, if it matters, was someone drinking something along the lines of a frappuchino (not spilling, not making noise with, not doing anything at all BUT having it there to drink) while using exercise equipment, in a place that, so far as was in the post, did not bar doing so.)

[blas87]

You would have to ask Raps or one of the mods. I'm just the resident bitch around here, I don't deal with the hard stuff.

[Ree]

All right... since I tried before and got no USEFUL answer whatsoever, how do you go about asking what about a situation is sucky when you have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what makes it so? (Yes, I got answers. They involved essentially what I said above, which is completely absurd. The situation, if it matters, was someone drinking something along the lines of a frappuchino (not spilling, not making noise with, not doing anything at all BUT having it there to drink) while using exercise equipment, in a place that, so far as was in the post, did not bar doing so.)

That situation was clarified for you so many times, yet I see that, even now, you don't accept the answer.

In that situation, it would have been perfectly acceptable to hit the report button and tell the mods that it confused you as to why the behaviour was considered sucky.
Alternatively, you could have PM'ed a mod and asked.
You could even have PM'ed the member and politely asked for clarification.
There were other options than posting in the thread and saying that you failed to see the suck.

For the record, I believe that these were some of the reasons you were given.
While the rules probably didn't forbid people from bringing in beverages other than water or sport drinks, there is a point where common sense and courtesy take over.

This was a case where the freedom to swing the fist ended at the neighbour's face.
The person walked into a room where others were working out, and she was carrying a very aromatic drink.

I don't know about you, but there are times when the smell of coffee makes me drool and crave one of my own, and there are times where the smell of coffee can make me gag.
If the others were involved in a heavy workout, there is a possibility that the aroma of her frappucino could have made someone feel nauseated.

There was also the possibility that it could have spilled on the floor or the machines and left a sticky mess for the next person.

Yeah, in the grand scheme and when compared with other behaviours we have read on CS, it wasn't heinous or war story worthy, but the person who posted was peeved by it and had a right to vent.

[HYHYBT]

Yeah, in the grand scheme and when compared with other behaviours we have read on CS, it wasn't heinous or war story worthy, but the person who posted was peeved by it and had a right to vent.

I'm pretty sure I've never said otherwise. Certainly I wasn't going to bring this up again, but the thread called for it.

Those were indeed some of the *guesses* that others (probably yourself) made as to what the suckyiness *might have been.* Not the same thing as finding out what the OP actually thought it was, which (of course) could only be found out by asking the OP. It seemed from the post that merely consuming empty calories, and therefore negating the exercise, was itself sucky behavior, which makes no sense whatsoever, which *ought* to be fair cause to politely inquire further, which is what I did. I'm pretty sure, though admittedly not 100%, that this is the first time you've suggested reporting the post (seems a lot harsher than just asking anyway) or asking a moderator (who wouldn't KNOW any more than I did.) "I'm sorry, I don't quite understand. How is this sucky?" IS polite, unless the reader chooses to add a nasty tone. No, when I asked how it could be made more polite, the only examples I got required making guesses (such as those you have presented here: the odor, the possibility of things happening that didn't, etc) and then asking whether the guesses are right or not, which is, and always will be, a completely absurd way to go about things.

But again, I really didn't want to go through all that again. Since you responded, I had to rebut, but otherwise if I had it to do over I'd have ended my previous post with "...is worse than silly."

[blas87]

Ree's explanation makes perfect sense.

This is the debate site. This is the proper place if you want to pick someone's post apart and look for holes and fail to find some kind of suck (or incorrect way of thinking, whatever). CS is the vent site. If anything, it's the moderators' job to look for storytellers and people that are out to be problems. If you think someone is making something up or if you think someone themself is sucky, why not report it and let the mods take a look, instead of picking apart their post publicly? It makes you look like an ass.

Anyone and everyone on that site who finds any excuse to pick apart a post or excuse behaviors, including the dumbest kinds of excuses, I think is an asshole. That site is supposed to be a safe haven to come home from work to and be able to bitch about your day. It doesn't matter if YOU don't think that someone paying for $15 in gas in all pennies isn't sucky or an ass, or that your brother's girlfriend's dog's gynocologist does it all the time for x or y reason, it's the fact that everyone has a right to vent because in their day and position, it can be sucky.

It's my belief that I think it was just as Raps put it. It was a mindset, a "trend" of sorts. Calling people out, making excuses and stories to excuse behavior that the OP thinks is sucky but they don't.........I think it was just a way to be deliberately contrary, and from what I've read in the sticky on CS, it caused a LOT of hurt feelings and made a lot of people not want to post anymore, or feel the need to post warnings or all kinds of pre-reading material just on the hope that no one would think it wasn't sucky and just to clarify again and again and again.

Thankfully, I don't work in retail, but when I DO rant about stuff on CS, if I ever get a reply that makes me feel like I had no right to vent (and thanks to Raps and the mods, that hasn't happened in a looong time), it makes me very upset, especially if that member has their own stories and how would they feel if I said that to them?

[Lace Neil Singer]

Exactly that; I don't post stories very often, but only cuz I don't get SCs as often as some people do. I do however get upset if someone says, "Well, that doesn't sound sucky to me" when they weren't there, and didn't encounter the customer and I did.

It's like when I post about customers having epic fail with the pumps. I don't need someone to point out, "Well, pumps are hard to use/maybe they were new to driving/maybe they didn't know, there's no need to poke fun at them" when I have explained dozens of time that there is actually written instructions on the pump and it's not the fact that they don't know how to pump petrol that's the sucky part, it's the fact that they saw fit to come and bitch at me that is.

[guywithashovel]

I think many of the situations where people "fail to see the suck" are situations that initially aren't that big of a deal, but if you have to put up with it day in and day out and multiple times a day it can be a big deal.

[Evandril]

I'm pretty sure I've never said otherwise. Certainly I wasn't going to bring this up again, but the thread called for it.

Those were indeed some of the *guesses* that others (probably yourself) made as to what the suckyiness *might have been.* Not the same thing as finding out what the OP actually thought it was, which (of course) could only be found out by asking the OP. It seemed from the post that merely consuming empty calories, and therefore negating the exercise, was itself sucky behavior, which makes no sense whatsoever, which *ought* to be fair cause to politely inquire further, which is what I did. I'm pretty sure, though admittedly not 100%, that this is the first time you've suggested reporting the post (seems a lot harsher than just asking anyway) or asking a moderator (who wouldn't KNOW any more than I did.) "I'm sorry, I don't quite understand. How is this sucky?" IS polite, unless the reader chooses to add a nasty tone. No, when I asked how it could be made more polite, the only examples I got required making guesses (such as those you have presented here: the odor, the possibility of things happening that didn't, etc) and then asking whether the guesses are right or not, which is, and always will be, a completely absurd way to go about things.

But again, I really didn't want to go through all that again. Since you responded, I had to rebut, but otherwise if I had it to do over I'd have ended my previous post with "...is worse than silly."

It sounds like you had a valid question...but the valid question you had has been used as a way around the rules often enough to have your question fall under the same rule. With the CS site, they are going to err on the side of making the OPs feel comfortable in posting their stories, and rightfully so, IMO. One politely worded request for more information will lead to ten thinly disguised 'FTSTS' comments, if it's like most boards, with the excuse of 'Why could *THEY* ask?!? when they get called on 'em. I'm not a mod, but that's my reasoning, at least The real mods are welcome to correct me if I'm wrong!

[the_std]

I wanted to dig up this thread and revive it, because there is so much of this baloney going on right now that I can barely read CS , especially the Sucky Customers subforum.

Poor Ree seems to be getting the worst of it, first from a scammer, and then from someone posting 'unbelievably serendipitous' stories, who got their nose all caught up in a sling when Ree made mention of the many coincidences the poster had going on, and then turned around to post a load of circumstantial proof and a bunch of stuff that just straight up didn't matter.

Why is it that the worst of the karma whores seem to do the most to try to convince everyone of their legitimacy? It's almost like cutting off someone's drug supply. "I just need three more people to read my story, man! You know I'm good for it - here's proof that I'm the Dalai Lama's fifth cousin's wife!"

But there just seems to be an overload of embellishment and trying-too-hard-itis going on that I believe might have something to do with the time of year. A lot of open forum websites go to pot during the summer months when teens have ample time and sufficient boredom to think that getting up other peoples' noses is a good idea (spoken from experience, I used to be a bit of a shit head when I was that age and did this quite a bit), as well as the fact that a lot of the regular, established members have vacation and family stuff going on in the summer.

I hope that it settles down soon and goes back to being readable.

NOTE: There is absolutely no mod-slamming going on in this post. There is only so much a mod can do to try and curb this sort of behaviour, as there is ultimately no way to prove whether someone is a liar or not. It's just unfortunate, that's all.