Gah — I hate online bulletin boards. People on them forget how to be civil to one another and race to see who can scold a new poster for not reading the entire thread (or searching for an answer) before asking a question. I imagine the folks doing the scolding are people who were once scolded for the same action.
Another tactic some veteran users like to do is pick apart someone’s post by asking them to define certain words or phrases used. In real life, do these same people listen to someone talking about their love of the color blue and then say something like, “Define ‘I really like the color blue’. Do you like cerulean blue or is it sky blue you are gushing about?” Gee, can’t someone profess to like the color blue without having to go into detail?
I think it has to do with pecking order. Some people feel better about themselves if they put other people down. Then if the person being put down complains, the putter-downer either accuses the put-downee of being too sensitive or misinterpreting their earlier comment or being not open to challenge. Perhaps they really feel that way, but I doubt it.
I should know better than to post in online forums, because no matter that I’ve been posting in online forums longer than some of the members in forums have been able to type their names I’m often considered a “n00b” because I’ve only posted one or two comments in the couple of forums to which I still belong.
If you know me, you know that I am usually an avid sign reader and rule follower. I never park where I’m not supposed to park. If a sign says no trespassing — I don’t trespass — willingly, although when Dean is in the lead I usually reluctantly follow even if it goes against the rules (another subject for a blog post).
That said, I have been known to drive into and park/stand in the “buses only” part of the driveway leading to the kids’ school. At first I wouldn’t, because the signs clearly state “Buses only”, but because after school one can count dozens of vehicles that park and drive along that driveway, I decided that my one small car would not make a difference. And wasn’t it safer for the kids if they didn’t have to walk across an SUV filled driveway? So I began dropping Andrew off at wrestling and picking him up via the buses only area. All was fine until one day when Whitman’s assigned police officer was on his way out the front doors of the school. He looked at me, shook his head, smiled (not in a friendly way) and ambled up to my car. I rolled the window down and he asked me what I was doing. I said I was dropping my son off. He asked if I knew that cars were not allowed in the area. I said something about it being after school and I thought it was OK then (I should have mentioned the fact that usually there were dozens of cars doing the same thing after school, but didn’t). He said that the sign didn’t give specific hours, so it meant cars were never allowed within the buses only driveway. He then made me turn around and drive out the entrance.
That was my second interaction with the police officer at school. The first time I was dropping the kids off in the morning and turned on my blinker to move into the left lane in order to make the left turn lane (not into the parking lot) that would take me out of the lot. Office Aubrey motioned me over to the curb and chastised me for my action. I was too stunned by this to explain that I was actually going out the correct exit. He didn’t leave me room to defend myself anyway.
The other day my husband drove me to pick up our daughter at school after her driving lesson. He drove into the buses only driveway, against my protests that he was going to get in trouble from the school policeman. He said, look around — there were cars parked and standing everywhere along the “allegedly no cars allowed” driveway. Officer Aubrey was nowhere to be seen, although his squad car was right next to our car.
So I’m annoyed about that. The man needs to be consistent. If he picks on a lone woman in a Camry, shouldn’t he be out there telling the men and women driving their SUVs and minivans that they are not allowed to park or drive in the sign-posted buses only driveway? I think it’s a power thing. He can intimidate me but not a crowd of parents. It worries me that he might be picking on the shy high school students rather than dealing with the more aggressive students. And If the Rate my Teachers website can be trusted, here’s an example of his poor judgment, this time directed at a student.
You can see him “in action” in the following YouTube video of this “Senior Prank”. He made a judgment call – “I’m not going after [the modified streakers]. It’s senior prank.” Just like he makes judgment calls about carpool lines – I’m not picking on anyone when there is a crowd. I’m just intimidating the loners.
Until I was in grad school I’d never heard of the phrase “as per”. I’m not sure in what context I first saw it, but I know who wrote it. She was a nice 20- or 30-something woman who worked in the food industry or something like that. I believe she may have been an executive assistant, but I’m not sure. She and another 20- 30-something woman were friends and I don’t remember what each of them did for a living, but what they did was very similar and somehow business related.
To get to the point, however, I hate the phrase. It makes no sense. It is supposed to mean “in accordance with” as in “Enclosed is a check for $200 as per our discussion…” but it makes me gag. Why not say “as we discussed?” or “as we agreed”? Why use words that mean little to those outside the business field when writing to someone outside that field?
Whenever I see it I feel as if the person writing it is deliberately being cold and distant or else showing off his or her knowledge of business jargon.
Clutch Cargo Lips 