What is your pet peeve of the day?

[Meadbh]

May I suggest a little research before posting numbers like that (keeping with the thread, I guess I'll say this is a pet peeve of mine!)?

see

643,000 Bankruptcies in the U.S. Every Year Due to Medical Bills : snopes.com

and

Medical bankruptcy: Fact or fiction? | TheHill



Of course, we'd all like the number to be zero.

-ERD50

Original sources are preferable. Here is the link to the report of the (2009) study from the Fraser Institute, which is condidered to be a conservative think tank, at least in Canadian terms. It has also been described as libertarian. I am not disputing the numbers.

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/HealthInsuranceandBankruptcyRates.pdf

 

[Walt34]

As a Canadian who for many years could travel to the US without a passport, I conclude it is lack of inquisitiveness about other cultures. I have had a passport since 1963.

One could take the position that there are sufficient cultures in the U.S. that one could spend a lifetime exploring them. Few would argue that the culture in CT just outside NYC is anything like southern TN or the Bay area of CA or middle WY.

One could even go farther and say that about the only thing they have in common is they all speak some form of English, some versions barely understandable to others.

So I would not attribute the lack of a passport to the lack of interest in other cultures. And if it was, so what? Perhaps that person's interests lie in other areas, such as medicine or physics or navel gazing.

 

[kcowan]

A Japanese engineer told me about a project he worked on in Brazil. The Brazilians spoke zero Japanese, and he spoke zero Portuguese. The entire project, lasting two years, was conducted in English, because that was the common tongue for everyone.

There! I feel better now.

When I was in Sardinia on assignment, I met some Italian school kids on the beach. They spoke no English and I spoke no Italian. But we both had studied French in school so French was it. Very satisfying.

 

[braumeister]

One could take the position that there are sufficient cultures in the U.S. that one could spend a lifetime exploring them.

Yes.
We are incredibly lucky here in the US (and Canada as far as this goes) to have far more diversity than just about any other place in the world.

Just to take an extremely trivial example, when I lived in the DC area, I could go to the Adams-Morgan neighborhood and find excellent ethnic restaurants with food lovingly prepared in the manner of countries I had barely heard of.

Even where I live, in the middle of flyover country, I can find ethnic restaurants and food stores galore. I love it.

 

[kcowan]

So I would not attribute the lack of a passport to the lack of interest in other cultures. And if it was, so what? Perhaps that person's interests lie in other areas, such as medicine or physics or navel gazing.

Hey I was an engineer! Culture was just an interest in the world. When I worked in White Plains, I met people living in Manhatten who had never been out of the city. When I asked why, they said they could find everything they needed right there. I could never understand that world view. Still don't.

(I do like Louisiana though!)

 

[Mdlerth]

When I was in Sardinia on assignment, I met some Italian school kids on the beach. They spoke no English and I spoke no Italian. But we both had studied French in school so French was it. Very satisfying.

My younger brother studied French in school, and speaks French fluently to this day.

Of course, his retention of the language might also have something to do with him marrying a French wife.

 

[Meadbh]

One could take the position that there are sufficient cultures in the U.S. that one could spend a lifetime exploring them. Few would argue that the culture in CT just outside NYC is anything like southern TN or the Bay area of CA or middle WY.

One could even go farther and say that about the only thing they have in common is they all speak some form of English, some versions barely understandable to others.

So I would not attribute the lack of a passport to the lack of interest in other cultures. And if it was, so what? Perhaps that person's interests lie in other areas, such as medicine or physics or navel gazing.

I spent three years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 80s. I worked with a 40 year old secretary who had never left the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (It is possible to drive to West Virginia from Pittsburgh in one hour). This was not the only person I met who had travelled little or not at all. It's just a different way of living to mine.

 

[ERD50]

As a Canadian who for many years could travel to the US without a passport, I conclude it is lack of inquisitiveness about other cultures. I have had a passport since 1963.

I did some googling and was surprised I couldn't quickly find comparable stats on that. So if there is something to what you say, we should see a difference in passport rates between the two countries. It also seemed a bit complicated - I found this along the way:

... until 2007 you didn’t need a passport to visit Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean. You could have done a fair bit of traveling internationally without one, which partly explains the limited number of Americans with passports.

Not sure how that compares with Canada. And if someone traveled there 10 years ago, maybe they have had their fill? Could account for some. Have not found stats that would take all that into account.

I also saw some articles that broke down US passport by state - not surprisingly, border states and states with high urban populations (more business travel?) had a higher %.

-ERD50 (a US passport holder)

 

[braumeister]

I spent three years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 80s. I worked with a 40 year old secretary who had never left the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Even more extreme, I knew people in their 40s and 50s when I worked in Alabama who had never been out of the county they lived in. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

 

[braumeister]

When I worked in White Plains, I met people living in Manhatten who had never been out of the city.

I grew up in NYC and the stock phrase was "Anything west of the Hudson River is camping out."

 

[ownyourfuture]

When the city sends out the snowplows when we literally got less than a dusting, & there's no snow flying in front of a plow, only sparks.

I understand the need to put down salt, but scouring the surface of the street makes absolutely no sense

 

[MRG]

I spent three years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 80s. I worked with a 40 year old secretary who had never left the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (It is possible to drive to West Virginia from Pittsburgh in one hour). This was not the only person I met who had travelled little or not at all. It's just a different way of living to mine.

Most of the people I went to school with had never left the Commonwealth. Some still haven't, I'd wager a couple have seldom been outside the county.

I'm very thankful that my world got bigger.

 

[Meadbh]

I did some googling and was surprised I couldn't quickly find comparable stats on that. So if there is something to what you say, we should see a difference in passport rates between the two countries. It also seemed a bit complicated - I found this along the way:



Not sure how that compares with Canada. And if someone traveled there 10 years ago, maybe they have had their fill? Could account for some. Have not found stats that would take all that into account.

I also saw some articles that broke down US passport by state - not surprisingly, border states and states with high urban populations (more business travel?) had a higher %.

-ERD50 (a US passport holder)

Those stats were very easy to find. First, here is a report a few years old from the Government of Canada. Scroll a long way down to find Figure 2, showing that passport possession rose from 50% in 2008 to an estimated 70% in 2013. There is a significant regional variation (Figure 3).

ARCHIVED – Passport Annual report for 2012-2013

Edited to add: here is a more recent report. 67% of Canadians had a passport in 2014-15.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/passport-ar/2014/index.asp

Below is a link I found about the US. Again, there is significant regional variation, but the overall number reported is 46%.

How Many Americans Have A Passport? | TheExpeditioner Travel Site

 

[Souschef]

Hey I was an engineer! Culture was just an interest in the world. When I worked in White Plains, I met people living in Manhatten who had never been out of the city. When I asked why, they said they could find everything they needed right there. I could never understand that world view. Still don't.

(I do like Louisiana though!)

I do not understand that either. I grew up in New York City, and that was my parents mindset.
I was 34 when I got my pilot's license. I had to take the check ride in New Jersey. My mom fixed me sandwiches and a thermos of tea, like I was going on safari, instead of just across the Hudson River.

 

[pb4uski]

Probably doing it just to peeve you...

How do I set up never receive a reply so I can the send braumeister a PM implying that I would like a response?

 

[Winemaker]

Most of the people I went to school with had never left the Commonwealth. Some still haven't, I'd wager a couple have seldom been outside the county.

I'm very thankful that my world got bigger.

When I graduated as a mining engineer back in ancient times, many (about 10) of my classmates were absolutely shocked that there were no mining jobs in the city of Pittsburgh, but all in rural areas outside the county, or even WV. What were they thinking? All of them never entered the mining field.

 

[Souschef]

When I graduated as a mining engineer back in ancient times, many (about 10) of my classmates were absolutely shocked that there were no mining jobs in the city of Pittsburgh, but all in rural areas outside the county, or even WV. What were they thinking? All of them never entered the mining field.

My wife was from Pittsburgh, and at a High School Reunion, she said over 90% still lived in Pittsburgh, some in the home their parents had lived in.

 

[ERD50]

Those stats were very easy to find. First, here is a report a few years old from the Government of Canada. Scroll a long way down to find Figure 2, showing that passport possession rose from 50% in 2008 to an estimated 70% in 2013. There is a significant regional variation (Figure 3).

ARCHIVED – Passport Annual report for 2012-2013

Edited to add: here is a more recent report. 67% of Canadians had a passport in 2014-15.

Passport Program Annual Report for 2014-2015

Below is a link I found about the US. Again, there is significant regional variation, but the overall number reported is 46%.

How Many Americans Have A Passport? | TheExpeditioner Travel Site

Thanks, I did find some separate references like that (including the USA one you found), but I was trying to find (I thought it would be easy) a list of multiple countries to compare in one shot.

But those are good enough for the USA-Canada comp. And it does seem to be a significant delta. I'm not sure if different rules account for some of that or not. Or even (and I may be showing ignorance here) if some could be due to a more diverse landscape within the USA versus Canada? Does Canada have warm beaches, tropical and sub-tropical climates, and deserts, in addition to your plains and mountains? I know Canada has absolutely stunning beauty and natural resources, but I'm thinking it is just not as diverse as the USA, so that could account for more passports for people wanting to travel to those sorts of places?

More ignorance on my part - but do Canadians take more vacation than people of the US (that seems to be the case for many Europeans)? That could be another factor. Or maybe we, overall, are just less interested in other cultures, but I don't know why that would be. Sure doesn't apply to me (I'd travel far more if it weren't for DW's fear of flying). But I am not 'data'.

-ERD50

 

[Souschef]

Many Canadians head for Florida during the winter months. It is an easy flight and no jet lag. Canada is a beautiful country, that I have traveled extensively, but does not have the equivalent of Florida or California beaches.
Many Europeans have much more vacation than the US, and head for the East Coast on relatively short and inexpensive flights.
One fallout of this is the many Europeans who get their flight training in Florida because of the clear weather and the relatively inexpensive costs compared to Europe.

 

[kcowan]

My younger brother studied French in school, and speaks French fluently to this day.

Of course, his retention of the language might also have something to do with him marrying a French wife.

I had a French girl friend in Metz and I got pretty fluent (Alsace-Lorraine is bilingual French and German. no English back then) but alas, I gradually lost it upon return to North America.

 

[MRG]

ATT
What a joke this company is. We do paper billing and about 50% of the time the bill comes with no slip or return envelope. This month DW calls and gets an address to send the check to, with no slip. Now we're past due!

Spent twenty minutes with the VRU till it sent me to a human. All the human can do is take a payment or for five dollars send another bill! I'm waiting for a call back from a supervisor, who I'm sure can't even report the issue to the proper area.

Time for a new cell phone provider.

 

[braumeister]

Just curious, MRG: Why do you want paper billing?
I can't even imagine getting paper bills for anything anymore. Seems like it would be such a nuisance.

 

[MRG]

Just curious, MRG: Why do you want paper billing?
I can't even imagine getting paper bills for anything anymore. Seems like it would be such a nuisance.

Well two reasons. One DW handles the checkbook and that's her method.

The bigger issue is why would I trust ATT's ability to not leak my data. They can't even managed to stuff a slip in an envelope!

Every call ATT? Actually the last time I asked for a transfer they could not do it! Their IT systems appear to be a bunch of silos of information that sometimes are accurate sometimes not!

When I cancelled my DSL service they billed us for months afterward. Each time I called they had no record of my prior calls on the same issue.

Since they seem unable to figure paper billing out I'm not going to give them a credit card or bank account numbers.

 

[FI by 2024]

Well two reasons. One DW handles the checkbook and that's her method.

The bigger issue is why would I trust ATT's ability to not leak my data. They can't even managed to stuff a slip in an envelope!

Every call ATT? Actually the last time I asked for a transfer they could not do it! Their IT systems appear to be a bunch of silos of information that sometimes are accurate sometimes not!

When I cancelled my DSL service they billed us for months afterward. Each time I called they had no record of my prior calls on the same issue.

Since they seem unable to figure paper billing out I'm not going to give them a credit card or bank account numbers.

If you are sending in a check every month they have your bank account number.

 

[MRG]

If you are sending in a check every month they have your bank account number.

I know that. My bank account is one piece of data. They have no legitimate reason to put my bank account l information on a system that is exposed to the Internet.

There's different audit requirements based on the information a provider carries. I don't believe that ATT has a handle on basic batch processing like producing a paper bill, I'm not giving them the ability to screw up more.

Thanks for the reminder. Their supervisor never called me back. Time to post on FB.