talkmagic.co.uk

Oh No ! No No !
My name is Hardik ! and Hindi is the language we speak in India.
I meant, my name in the Hindi language means 'From the Heart'.
Add a 'c' somewhere in 'Hardik' and you get years of mockery since 5th grade

1. People who phone up call centres ranting and raving about this that and the other problem then expect you to know exactly who they are because they said their title and their surname.

Heaven forbid I should ask for a reference number so I know who I'm talking about and can actually access the bloody file to do anything!

"Reference number? Have you even listened to a word I've said?!"
Yes. I have. And if you want my help you'll give me the bloody number and stop being so rude!

2. People who phone up call centres and complain about companies we use. "I just had to wait 20 minutes on hold to get through to Axa. It's disgusting. I want to make a complaint!". That's fine sir. Just * off and phone Axa instead.

3. People who phone call centres and have no idea what they want. "I need to change my address". Sorry, you don't have your reference number, can't remember your old postcode and don't know the new one as you've, hilariously, not got any post since you moved there?

4. People who phone up call centres and speak accusingly about the industry as whole directed solely at you. "Insurance companies are all a bunch of thieving gits! You've taken money out of my account without telling me!". A) I have done no such thing. B) If you read your paperwork you'd see that this is the date the Direct Debit was agreed on.

5. People who phone up call centres and think that being loud, abusive and rude will really endear them to me and make me really want to help you. "Such and such has happened because of your *enter string of expletives in agitated tone getting louder and louder*. Sort it out for me now!". Yes sir. Can I polish your shoes whilst we're at it?

6. People who phone up call centres.

EckoZero wrote:And if you want my help you'll give me the bloody number and stop being so rude!

You should ask them to write the number down on an oddly small piece of paper, then fold it up for them, hand it back to them and ask them to really concentrate on the number.

Just to practice my psychic abilities here..

Im getting the feeling Mr Echo works in a ......... in a ......... hmm something to do with telephones, a call centre??..

Oh and im getting negative vibes.. a bad day maybe lol...

Oh and i predict a move to somewhere near mackerel...

F x

people wearing backpacks, who seem to think they are the same size with or without one on...especially on tubes and trains...take it off, before i bonfire you...

people who stop at the top of escalators and look around aimlessly...

people...

bicycle-types, not only happy with jumping red lights, no noticing a zebra crossing or indeed, other humans...ring their bell (yes phnar) at you angrily if you happen to not spot them 300000000 yards away when move across "their lane" on foot...

people waiting for the tube - pushing, nudging and trying to get on before me, when i've done the decent thing and given up two of my tubes cos they're too packed...but oh no...they can just push past...well no you can't....

that'll do pig...

Here's one: unhelpfulness. Mostly revolving around "policies", people who don't know the "policy" but don't help you because they don't know that what you've asked them to help you with is definitely, definitely not against some policy or other, and are too weak of mind and character to just do it anyway.

A recent example. Morrisons had a nice big piece of pre-packed and unsliced ham the other week, at a much better price than buying it pre-packed sliced or from the meat counter (I refuse to call it a "deli counter" on the grounds that billy bear meat roll, four types of cheddar cheese and a few dried chicken satay sticks at 80p a pop do not in anyway constitute a delicatessen).

I'm not sure whether you know this, but at most supermarkets with an in-house bakery, you can buy one of their own unsliced loaves and ask them to slice it. I thought, "why not ham?". It was a Morrison's own brand product. The people behind the meat counter use the big slicey machine all the time. And they can get it way thinner than I'll be able to get it at home, and I needed to make a lot of sandwiches (it was for a tea party).

So I handed it over, gave the guy a friendly smile and said "I know this is a bit irregular, but would you be able to slice this for me?"

A look of confusion descends on the poor fool's face. "This doesn't bode well" I think to myself... sure enough, he goes off to check with someone (another ominous sign) - a miserable girl, as it turns out. I see her look at the ham, look dubiously at me as if I've asked him to finely slice me a block of frozen dog turd, and shake her head. He returns; "sorry mate, it's pre-packed. We can't."

Well then. Firstly, I bet you there isn't a clause in their contract that says "meat counter operatives must on no account slice cooked meat products from elsewhere in the store", they just imagine there to be one because they're so sh*t-scared of getting a wee bit of a telling off from their supervisor. But even if they did, who cares? It was a one off, and it's not like they have targets to meet: "number of days since a request to helpfully slice some pre-packed ham denied: 82... Oh, Jimmy, you've gone and screwed up our targets. We were doing so well, no meat counter bonuses for you..."

And secondly, why even check? Why not just grow some balls, realise that you'd really helping me out, and do it when no one's looking? When I worked in Spar, whether it be letting them off a few pence, carrying an old lady's shopping despite not having done a "moving and handling course" - whatever - I'd do it just to be helpful, and make everyone's day that little bit better.

We seem to have totally lost that kind of "ah, go on then, don't tell anyone!" attitude. And it's very, very annoying

Lloyds bank have an idiotic system whereby, if they think they detect unusual transactions, a computer phones your home and asks you questions about your account. Starting with your account number, sort code and date of birth! If you don't voluntarily provide this information (to an automated and unsolicited phone call remember!) then they block your account! Ridiculous!

But the best one has to be the DVLA. I had a complaint due to their screw-up and yet they only provided one number to ring. The form with the number on said "this number can ONLY be used to pay fines, not for any other purpose". I rang it anyway. It gave me two options "Press 1 to pay your fine and press 2 if you have rung for any other reason". I pressed two. A message then said "This number is only to be used to pay fines NOT FOR ANY OTHER REASON - GOODBYE" and cut me off! It has a specific phone-menu option to shout at you and then cut you off - awesome!

People who are rude and offensive to other people, then justify their rudeness by saying "I'm only being honest with you."

But in general, is it me or are people just becoming ruder and more angry? I used to be a real boy about town but these days I live out in the sticks. The only time I enter big cities these days is to work, and I'm constantly amazed at just how widespread the "chav" mentality has spread. People seem to be hugely selfish but justify this with a "but it's my right" attitude.

I know from experience that the police, teachers etc receive absolutely no support from a sizeable minority of parents. If their child gets in trouble at school, these parents react by getting aggressive with the teacher - "Wot u been sayin' 'bout my Dwayne? Ee's not done owt wrong."
Whereas in my day (when beer was tupence a pint and the streets were lined with Mary Poppins) if I'd been in trouble with a teacher my parents would have given me a secondary rollocking and told me in no uncertain terms not to do it again.

The thought of getting in trouble with the police was nothing to the thought of what action my parents would take when they found out. These days that level of parental responsibility seems to have disappeared with the parent siding with the child when the child falls foul of authority. That then teaches the child that it's okay to disober rules/laws and those who enforce such rules/laws because the parents by their actions have endorsed this bad behaviour.

I have a cousin who is doing particularly badly at school. It is no surprise to hear then that his parents have told him consistantly that they didn't like school either, that they always hated teachers, and not to worry because qualifications aren't that important. Even if you as a parent thought that, surely your duty is to reinforce the education is good message if only for the long term benefit of your child?

Or perhaps I'm just getting old. Perhaps people have always been a bit rubbish. I'm sure you can find an entry in Samual Pepys diary where the entry begins, "Alas for this our poor society, bereft as 'tis of all good parenting and social skills."

I'm quite convinced it's all pure selfishness, the attitude that most religious books refer to as 'original sin', the 'Me first and foremost and stuff everyone else', 'Greed is good' style of living. Fortunately there are still plenty of caring people around but the yobs seem to be louder and get all the publicity. On the front page of the local paper last night was an article about a 'problem' family who had terrorised the local housing estate for over ten years with vandalism, loud music day and night, theft, and threats of violence to anyone who complained - the usual stuff. They were only the day before being evicted because they'd played the 'human rights' card successfully to preserve their status quo and it was only through a small technicality that the council obtained an eviction order. Of course, the same council will have to find alternative accommodation so the problem hasn't been resolved, just moved elsewhere to start all over again.

A friend of ours is a teacher and she used to work in one of the less civilised areas of the city. One of the pupils there, a 13 year old 6ft tall built like a brick shipyard Neanderthal chappie who had no intention of learning anything at all had a 'minder', appointed by the school, at his side each and every day. Not to look after him but to stop him assaulting teachers and support staff which was his true mission in life. His parents were upset that their child was being singled out and 'traumatised' by being labelled 'different'. You couldn't make it up, you really couldn't.....

themagicwand wrote:The only time I enter big cities these days is to work, and I'm constantly amazed at just how widespread the "chav" mentality has spread. People seem to be hugely selfish but justify this with a "but it's my right" attitude.

Oh, it's not just the chavs, believe me.

Try visiting Canary Wharf around lunchtime on a week day.

I used to live round there. And I found Canary Wharf to have the highest concentration of rude people I'd ever encountered. And here I'm talking about the besuited business drones that work in the big high rise offices. Most of them were bankers. And the rest were something that rhymes.

Example: I get off the tube at Canary Wharf and head into the shopping centre - it's the nearest shopping area to where I used to live, in Canning Town. Woe betide you if you're there at lunchtime...

I'm not the tallest Pete in the world, and I can't help but notice that most of the *cough* aerosols *cough* that muscle their way into big office jobs are pretty tall.

Now, I have nothing against tall people. Some of my best friends are tall. So long as they don't sit in front of me in the cinema or stand in front of me at a concert, I'm happy to live and let live. They were born like that after all.

What I take exception to are the ones that chart a straight line between their office and their favourite sandwich shop, and follow that line at high speed, trampling all who get in their way.

I've honestly had these forkwits speed up behind me, grab me by the shoulders, physically move me to one side, and carry on marching.

Maybe I'm just a bit too sensitive, but that doesn't strike me as being very polite.

But it's the prevailing attitude in places like canary Wharf - when you get a whole load of rich ex-school-bullies with an extreme superiority complex.

Chavs are gentlemen by comparison!

I hate cities for that very reason and avoid London unless I really have to go there. People are just to too much of a rush, they need to take a breath and just slow down. Can't be good for you.

One of the worst things I've seen in London was on a packed tube train, a poor pregnant woman stood squashed by the door while a load of perfectly able people had planted themselves on the seats with no thought for the poor girl or a couple of elderly people who were also on the train. I pointed this out to them and although they did move, I got the most hatefull look I've ever known from them. Some people are jsut so inconsiderate and for some reason it seems 100 times worse in London than anywhere else (except maybe for Paris, now that is a rude city).

bananafish wrote:Urinal Cakes. It just goes to prove that it isn't always great to have your cake and eat it too...

Especially when the things are garnished with a long, pubic hair.

Another thing that irks me is when my Tube train is approaching the platform and some comedian thinks it's funny to stand right on the edge and stick his thumb out. Well, I have news for you, my witty friend.

It's not funny.

It wasn't when I saw it the first time and it certainly isn't funny now I've just seen it 3,762 times. And it was even less amusing when a young lad did the same thing and his girlfriend thought it would be a laugh to jump on his back. He wasn't expecting it and they both ended up under the train. She had serious injuries but lived. The lad wasn't so lucky. They had to pick bits of him off the track.

Moral of the story: don't be an idiot on train platforms.

Replicant wrote:It wasn't when I saw it the first time and it certainly isn't funny now I've just seen it 3,762 times. And it was even less amusing when a young lad did the same thing and his girlfriend thought it would be a laugh to jump on his back. He wasn't expecting it and they both ended up under the train. She had serious injuries but lived. The lad wasn't so lucky. They had to pick bits of him off the track.

Please tell me you weren't driving that one!

I can't imagine what it's like for the drivers when they get 'one under'...

Lady of Mystery wrote:...except maybe for Paris, now that is a rude city.

Strange, that has never been my experience.

Paris is my first choice of weekend break away, and I've always found the people to be friendly and polite.

There is a reluctance among shopkeepers to speak English (even if they speak it quite well), so you've got an uphill climb unless you at least make the effort to parlez franglais

But, on the whole, I've always found Paris to be very relaxed and friendly and beautiful and wow.

J'adore Paris!!

pcwells wrote:Please tell me you weren't driving that one!

I can't imagine what it's like for the drivers when they get 'one under'...

Thank God, no. I am fortunate enough to have not had a one under so far, but have come close once. A friend of mine had one and was off for nine months with counselling; yet another driver was back from a one under after taking just two days off. Another driver I know had one and couldn't do the job anymore and had to leave. It affects people in different ways.