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Why is it that Asians who are prone to sleeping on the bus/subway, while wobbling side to side, always end up sitting beside me?
Their head keeps swaying back and forth, sometimes landing on me, right before I jerk in my seat to get that gross head off me or move to the tip of my seat so when they tip over, they almost fall over in the void :) Even if the gross head doesn't land on you, it is still so damn distracting.
Close your eyes and rest or whatever but geez, using other people's shoulders to sleep on isn't cool.
Using the escalator is serious business
Saturday, January 22, 2011
The escalator landing area is not for fraternizing or tomfoolery
When you're on the escalator and reaching the end, and some idiot in front of you gets off it but JUST STANDS THERE AND CAUSES A PILE UP FOR THE PEOPLE BEHIND THEM! I.E. ME!
If you are confused about your surroundings or want to have a conversation with your buddy, at least take a few steps and THEN pause so people on something that is constantly moving towards you and have nowhere else to go can dismount it without falling on top of other people.
On that note, what's up with people who are about to step on the escalator but pause there for an eternity as they ponder which step to get on? Are you from a developing country that has not yet been introduced to the world of escalators and moving sidewalks?
When you're on the escalator and reaching the end, and some idiot in front of you gets off it but JUST STANDS THERE AND CAUSES A PILE UP FOR THE PEOPLE BEHIND THEM! I.E. ME!
If you are confused about your surroundings or want to have a conversation with your buddy, at least take a few steps and THEN pause so people on something that is constantly moving towards you and have nowhere else to go can dismount it without falling on top of other people.
On that note, what's up with people who are about to step on the escalator but pause there for an eternity as they ponder which step to get on? Are you from a developing country that has not yet been introduced to the world of escalators and moving sidewalks?
Email rage
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I'm all for email. In fact, I like email more than other kinds of communication when it comes to normal urgency type things. When people call you, and it's not related to anything urgent or to get clarification in such a way that email can't provide, then I find that annoying. If they are just asking a question that is not at all time-sensitive and you need to physically stop what you were doing to get an answer for them and you're being put on the spot for an answer (which, if sent via email, I'd take some time to look up first before answering), then I'd rather get it through email. Especially if they need to communicate details or important things that you will later need to reference but will have no paper trail (unless you do the "as discussed in our call, blahblahblah" follow up email).
Still, there are certain things about email that annoys the hell out of me.
- People who don't know how to use subject lines. I get that sometimes people forget to put a subject line but there are people who CONSISTENTLY don't use one. And then their entire email has just a few vague words referencing a poorly named attachment. Later on, when you need to find that email, search terms always fail. PUT SOME GODDAMN SUBJECT LINES IN YOUR EMAIL!
- In the same vein, people who don't use descriptive subject lines (especially when it pertains to a timeline) or put too much detail into the subject line that it's like the entire email is the subject line. Seriously, do people not know how subject lines work?
- Marking not important or time-sensitive emails as "high importance" with the little red exclamation point. Majority of the time, it's not even of high importance. High importance means that something's super urgent and if it's not looked at, IT WILL BE A DISASTUH! Like, if I don't see the email, I will literally (not figuratively) be in mortal danger. But really, if it's that important, maybe just come find me at my desk or give me a call then. And let's define "high importance". If you forgot to do something and because of that, it's now super urgent and of "high importance", then that's your damn fault. I will know whether or not it's your fault because I'll look at the time stamps in the email thread. If I see that something was originally sent the day before but then was forwarded to me with "high importance" an entire day later, and it's not because you were on vacation or out of the office, then I will ignore that little red exclamation point. And moving forward, I will not even really give much credence to your "high importance" emails.
Here's a good flowchart of when to and when not to use "high importance" priority.
- Email marketing from people who don't know how email marketing works. IT'S BEST PRACTICES TO ALLOW FOR EASY UNSUBSCRIBES! When I see at the footer of the email NOT a one-click link to unsubscribe, but a link that either requires me to log in to change my "email preferences" or a message that says "you have agreed to receive these communications. To change your preferences, go to this page and change your settings", then I want to march down to the company in question's head office and scream profanities at their marketing head. This is ridiculous. Do you know how often people sign up for sites and how often these stupid sites have a not opt-OUT by default but an opt-IN by default? And how often people eventually forget about these sites and eventually their usernames and passwords, only to suddenly get newsletters, offers or reminders months or years later? I'm looking at you, MySpace. I already have every email preference unchecked and yet, you continue to send me emails about stupid bands or movies or random nobodies adding me or sending me emails on the damn site. I DON'T CARE. STOP EMAILING ME! I'd delete my profile there if it weren't for the fact that I want it for nostalgia/posterity.
- Stupidly long email signatures. If you're going to put that disclaimer in, which I used to have to do at an old company, at least make it a tiny font. Or really, just get rid of that disclaimer. How often do people who actually receive an email intended for someone else actually look at the disclaimer and be like "OH NOES! I must abide by the stipulations in this email disclaimer!". COME ON!
Still, there are certain things about email that annoys the hell out of me.
- People who don't know how to use subject lines. I get that sometimes people forget to put a subject line but there are people who CONSISTENTLY don't use one. And then their entire email has just a few vague words referencing a poorly named attachment. Later on, when you need to find that email, search terms always fail. PUT SOME GODDAMN SUBJECT LINES IN YOUR EMAIL!
- In the same vein, people who don't use descriptive subject lines (especially when it pertains to a timeline) or put too much detail into the subject line that it's like the entire email is the subject line. Seriously, do people not know how subject lines work?
- Marking not important or time-sensitive emails as "high importance" with the little red exclamation point. Majority of the time, it's not even of high importance. High importance means that something's super urgent and if it's not looked at, IT WILL BE A DISASTUH! Like, if I don't see the email, I will literally (not figuratively) be in mortal danger. But really, if it's that important, maybe just come find me at my desk or give me a call then. And let's define "high importance". If you forgot to do something and because of that, it's now super urgent and of "high importance", then that's your damn fault. I will know whether or not it's your fault because I'll look at the time stamps in the email thread. If I see that something was originally sent the day before but then was forwarded to me with "high importance" an entire day later, and it's not because you were on vacation or out of the office, then I will ignore that little red exclamation point. And moving forward, I will not even really give much credence to your "high importance" emails.
Here's a good flowchart of when to and when not to use "high importance" priority.
- Email marketing from people who don't know how email marketing works. IT'S BEST PRACTICES TO ALLOW FOR EASY UNSUBSCRIBES! When I see at the footer of the email NOT a one-click link to unsubscribe, but a link that either requires me to log in to change my "email preferences" or a message that says "you have agreed to receive these communications. To change your preferences, go to this page and change your settings", then I want to march down to the company in question's head office and scream profanities at their marketing head. This is ridiculous. Do you know how often people sign up for sites and how often these stupid sites have a not opt-OUT by default but an opt-IN by default? And how often people eventually forget about these sites and eventually their usernames and passwords, only to suddenly get newsletters, offers or reminders months or years later? I'm looking at you, MySpace. I already have every email preference unchecked and yet, you continue to send me emails about stupid bands or movies or random nobodies adding me or sending me emails on the damn site. I DON'T CARE. STOP EMAILING ME! I'd delete my profile there if it weren't for the fact that I want it for nostalgia/posterity.
- Stupidly long email signatures. If you're going to put that disclaimer in, which I used to have to do at an old company, at least make it a tiny font. Or really, just get rid of that disclaimer. How often do people who actually receive an email intended for someone else actually look at the disclaimer and be like "OH NOES! I must abide by the stipulations in this email disclaimer!". COME ON!
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