What is your pet peeve of the day?

[Chuckanut]

My pet peeve is people who think that just because the cost of something goes up, a company can and will charge more for it, and we have no choice but to pay up. Or if the cost of making a product goes down a company will automatically lower its prices.

In a Free Market (yes, I admit not all our markets are free) we have competitors, alternative products, and often the option of buying less of something or even doing without.

Price is a function of supply and demand. The cost of producing a good or providing a service is not directly involved in the pricing. (Yes, it will eventually affect the supply.) My cost to make paper clips might be 50 cents each, but I could never get anybody to pay that in our free market. People would buy their pencils from other more efficient suppliers, or they would use pens, or perhaps take notes on their smart phones and iPads. Or maybe invent a new way to write down information.

OTOH, just because I could make great smart phones for $5 each doesn't mean I would sell them for $10. Given the current prices of smartphones, I could easily get $100 for my phone, have plenty of happy customers, and make a ton of money. It works both ways.

All of this assumes a free market, level playing field - something we do not always have, I admit.

 

[Car-Guy]

Giving to a charity and then getting almost weekly mail from them asking for more. Hate that.

+2 - Except for St Judes, I'll usually stop giving when they start that.

 

[phil1ben]

Starbucks mixing race relations with the purchase of a cup of coffee.

I'm done and off to Dunkin Donuts

 

[Lakewood90712]

The reek of pot on the patio at Starbucks.

Nobody smoking Marijuana on the patio, but the drive thru is directly adjacent and quite a few cars open the drivers window to "Air-Out" their car on the way to the pick up window. California has "Medical" Marijuana , at least in theory.

The hazards of becoming a coffee house bum .

 

[Major Tom]

Starbucks mixing race relations with the purchase of a cup of coffee.

I'm done and off to Dunkin Donuts

+1. I am pretty sure this was well intended. I think they must have been smart enough to realize it could end up looking pretty silly, and I think that's exactly what happened.

Even PBS News anchor Gwen Ifill (an African-American woman) Tweeted, "If you start to engage me in a race conversation before I've had my morning coffee, it will not end well."

The reek of pot on the patio at Starbucks.

Nobody smoking Marijuana on the patio, but the drive thru is directly adjacent and quite a few cars open the drivers window to "Air-Out" their car on the way to the pick up window. California has "Medical" Marijuana , at least in theory.

The hazards of becoming a coffee house bum .

I started smelling a lot more marijuana in the air when I moved to the city of Oakland in the SF Bay Area. It used to bug me, but I am used to it now. It is not my favorite of smells. I have nothing against people doing it, but rather wish they could keep the smell to themselves. However, I think the regular (almost daily) exposure has caused me to accept it as a part of the landscape. My small but cozy apartment looks out onto a local dog park, where residents often gather to smoke the devil weed, as do schoolkids most afternoons after school. If my window is open, the smell wafts in. Not much I can do about it, except move - but the rent is cheap and the view is nice.

 

[34rlsa]

I don't have a pet peeve...

Got nothin to bitch about...

And it's really starting to piss me off.

 

[HFWR]

Even PBS News anchor Gwen Ifill (an African-American woman) Tweeted, "If you start to engage me in a race conversation before I've had my morning coffee, it will not end well."

Yeah, that!

My pet peeve for today, and every day, is the fact that things like this are taken to their most absurd extreme. Motto: Anything worth doing is worth over-doing...

Perhaps driving through a cloud of pot smoke would, at least temporarily, improve my demeanor...


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[pb4uski]

Here is my current pet peeve,,,, I'm buying beer in a grocery store the other day and I need to show an ID. The lack of common sense in today's society is appalling. Yet if I go to a restaurant and order a beer then no ID required. Huh?

My other pet peeve is people who receive property tax relief and therefore feel that they can vote for every school budget increase because it won't adversely affect their property taxes!! I guess that no good deed goes unpunished.

 

[Dash man]

Here is my current pet peeve,,,, I'm buying beer in a grocery store the other day and I need to show an ID. The lack of common sense in today's society is appalling. Yet if I go to a restaurant and order a beer then no ID required. Huh?
.

I have to show ID to buy cold medicine but never to buy alcohol!

 

[ls99]

I found a new pet peave this morning, mercifully by now I forgot what it was.

 

[meierlde]

Here is my current pet peeve,,,, I'm buying beer in a grocery store the other day and I need to show an ID. The lack of common sense in today's society is appalling. Yet if I go to a restaurant and order a beer then no ID required. Huh?

My other pet peeve is people who receive property tax relief and therefore feel that they can vote for every school budget increase because it won't adversely affect their property taxes!! I guess that no good deed goes unpunished.

It partly depends on how old you look. I have at least some grey hair, so if asked I say thank you for saying I look young. (I am 64). At some point you can take it as a compliment. When I am asked I now say at least 3 times 21.

 

[pb4uski]

If they were asking because they thought I look young then I might take it as a complement, but they have to ID every customer, no matter how young or old they are. So even if the customer is obviously older than 21 then they still must get ID.

 

[Philliefan33]

Here is my current pet peeve,,,, I'm buying beer in a grocery store the other day and I need to show an ID. The lack of common sense in today's society is appalling. Yet if I go to a restaurant and order a beer then no ID .

It may have been a security standard at the grocery store. When my daughter worked the register at Wegman's, the purchase could not be completed until the customer's ID was swiped. She had a few instances of (obviously over-21) customers giving her a hard time for requesting ID, but there was no way for her to bypass the security feature.

 

[pb4uski]

And that is my point.... that as a society we are dumbing down and not using common sense. It makes no sense to require ID for someone who is obviously over 21.... for those who are not obviously over 21, then it is fair to ask for an ID.

While I realize your daughter is just doing her job, I blame the companies like Wegman's who decide on such a stupid policy. It must be part of their customer inconvenience program. They need to decide whether the detriment of pissing off customers exceeds the risk of failing to ask for an ID of someone who is underage but looks over 21.

The other part that perturbs me is that I must provide an ID to buy beer at this grocery store but then walk into almost any restaurant or bar and order a beer and no ID is requested... so that simply proves that it is possible to train employees to decide who they need to ID and who they do not and these grocery stores are stupid.

 

[ERD50]

And that is my point.... that as a society we are dumbing down and not using common sense. It makes no sense to require ID for someone who is obviously over 21.... for those who are not obviously over 21, then it is fair to ask for an ID. ...

It makes no sense to you, and on the face of it, it does seem silly.

But look at it from the store owner's POV. He hires X number of cashiers, different people, different backgrounds, different ages. People have good days and bad days.

If the owner allows discretion, he has to follow up to monitor it. Where do you draw the line - the 50 year old looking customer, the 40 year old look, the 35 year old look, the 30 year old look? And you risk embarrassing/bothering a customer that is maybe 30, but boyish/girlish looking.

So card everyone, no exception - simple, consistent, and no one is singled out and made to feel uncomfortable. And the store owner does not have to worry about being caught selling to minors. I fully realize that when they ask for mine, they are doing it for this reason, and I go with the flow.


Side note - A relative of ours (~ 26 YO, receding hairline, probably looks older to most) does some "Mystery Shopper" gigs, and one of the routines is to buy liquor and report if you were carded or not. He can't qualify for that after he is 27 though.

-ERD50

 

[Bestwifeever]

And that is my point.... that as a society we are dumbing down and not using common sense. It makes no sense to require ID for someone who is obviously over 21.... for those who are not obviously over 21, then it is fair to ask for an ID.

While I realize your daughter is just doing her job, I blame the companies like Wegman's who decide on such a stupid policy. It must be part of their customer inconvenience program. They need to decide whether the detriment of pissing off customers exceeds the risk of failing to ask for an ID of someone who is underage but looks over 21.

The other part that perturbs me is that I must provide an ID to buy beer at this grocery store but then walk into almost any restaurant or bar and order a beer and no ID is requested... so that simply proves that it is possible to train employees to decide who they need to ID and who they do not and these grocery stores are stupid.

I wonder if it is an insurance or legal requirement rather than a store policy. Servers of alcohol in restaurants and bars have to have training (required by state and the insurance co.)--easier and cheaper for grocery store cashiers just to check id's than to train all of them.

In Illinois I have been carded this year (maybe last year too) every time I have bought alcoholic beverages, so I think there is a newish legal or insurance component to it. There might also be some tracking there that is used if an underage party is busted, to find out who bought the alcohol for it.

 

[MRG]

I wonder if it is an insurance or legal requirement rather than a store policy. Servers of alcohol in restaurants and bars have to have training (required by state and the insurance co.)--easier and cheaper for grocery store cashiers just to check id's than to train all of them.

In Illinois I have been carded this year (maybe last year too) every time I have bought alcoholic beverages, so I think there is a newish legal or insurance component to it. There might also be some tracking there that is used if an underage party is busted, to find out who bought the alcohol for it.

In this state the grocery store clerks get training as well. It could be insurance, that makes sense.

I've seen bars in airports that card all also. Actually at wally world they have to enter an age, one gal told me she just makes them up, if they're obviously over 21.

Of course it's a great peeve!

 

[Philliefan33]

In the case of our local Wegmam's, I believe the rigid policy is due to a couple of things. Training is one concern-- I have heard that the state (PA) wanted to require all store employees (not just those who would be assigned to the special registers for beer purchases) to be trained. Wegman's resisted and a compromise was reached.

Also, there was significant hand wringing on the part of some local politicians. In PA, beer cannot be sold in grocery stores. Wegman's was able to get a license to sell on the basis of the in-store eating cafe. The availability of prepared, hot meals with a designated seating area qualified the store as a restaurant. But the beer is not out in the general store area, it is up in a little corner and the beer (no more than a 12-pack) has to be paid for at the register in that special area. Requiring ID for every purchase is probably just one more layer of security to pacify the community members who were sure the world was in trouble because someone could buy beer at Wegman's.

In fact, DD was working the special register on "opening weekend" for beer sales when a local councilman came through to purchase beer. He did not have ID and DD wouldn't/ couldn't complete the transaction even though the councilman is, and looks like, in his 60's. He raised quite a stink and threatened to tell her manager that she was being uncooperative before finally storming out of the store when the manager arrived.

We later found out that the councilman was one of the stronger opponents of allowing Wegman's to sell beer and he was probably there to disprove Wegman's assurance that every customer would be carded.

 

[Philliefan33]

In the spirit of keeping the thread alive with pet peeves. I'll add one

Why oh why is it necessary for some people to make a family outing out of a weekend trip to the grocery store? It's already too crowded. Why must mom, dad, and three energetic kids all plug the aisles? Let one parent stay home with the kids and send the other to shop in peace!

 

[ls99]

In the spirit of keeping the thread alive with pet peeves. I'll add one

Why oh why is it necessary for some people to make a family outing out of a weekend trip to the grocery store? It's already too crowded. Why must mom, dad, and three energetic kids all plug the aisles? Let one parent stay home with the kids and send the other to shop in peace!

Quality time together.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

My pet peeve is the rant thread is filled with things that should only be listed here. Damn we have it good!

 

[HFWR]

People in the checkout line, who, upon hearing the total, start digging for their reward card, which they can't find. So they give their phone number, which they apparently can't remember. Then it occurs to them that they are expected to pay, so they resume digging, this time for their checkbook...


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[Rick_Head]

Here is my current pet peeve,,,, I'm buying beer in a grocery store the other day and I need to show an ID.

Ya, it pisses me off that I haven't been ID'd in 30 years. The last time I was 34 and the 19 yo kid behind the bar asked me whose ID I'd borrowed. I wasn't really nice, today I would be.

 

[ERD50]

Ya, it pisses me off that I haven't been ID'd in 30 years. The last time I was 34 and the 19 yo kid behind the bar asked me whose ID I'd borrowed. I wasn't really nice, today I would be.

I got ID'd about 5 years ago. But it was to check if I really qualified for the 'Senior Discount' (55!) at a hotel.

I guess I've been carded for alcohol a few times in the past few years, I don't mind, I know they are just doing their job.

-ERD50

 

[John Galt III]

In the spirit of keeping the thread alive with pet peeves. I'll add one

Why oh why is it necessary for some people to make a family outing out of a weekend trip to the grocery store? It's already too crowded. Why must mom, dad, and three energetic kids all plug the aisles? Let one parent stay home with the kids and send the other to shop in peace!

Aha! People in store aisles. 2 kinds. The ones with blinders on who charge ahead knocking everyone over. And the ones who stand right in the worst spot, blocking everyone else, while they stare blankly at something, for hours, oblivious to the world around them. On a related note, why is there always someone else standing right in front of the exact item you want? Tons of space to the right, tons of space to the left, and the person has to just stand right in front of your item (and just stare at it for an hour).