The Age of outrage

[Buddha Dharma]

Why? What started something like that on a campus?

The town of Charlottesville was going to remove a confederate monument, which is any locality's right to do. The federal government has no oversight over such a case.

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

That's probably the bulk majority of everyone who works food service. There is also huge lack of respect coming from customers. Not every employee is going to spit in food, and not every costumer brings grief, but the lack of respect is definitely a two-way street.

The "respect" avenue was more there because she was a "chef", or called herself a "chef." If food prep is your calling, I would think you might try to at least respect your craft and the face you put on it for your customers, even if you don't respect the customers themselves.

But yeah, I've been witness to, and have been with as part of my party, people who can't seem to hold their tongue and blurt out some of the most condescending, unnecessary nonsense to wait-staff.

My brother-in-law once called our waitress over to complain that his burger did not having pickles on it, stating that the menu said right on it that the burger had pickles. He wouldn't drop it through the whole meal, and kept talking about it loud enough for people to hear. On the way out I grabbed a menu just to see, and listed was "pickled onions"... not pickles.

My dad is also ridiculously particular, and for a few years he had picked up this completely dumb saying from some movie he thought was especially clever - "Did I stutter?". So, when someone would ask him to repeat himself, or explain something again he would usually offer it as an aside, hypothetical response - like something he "should have said." The first time he actually used it on a waiter at a Chinese restaurant we were at as a family had us all intervening to stop him and apologize to the waiter - especially considering that it was obvious English wasn't his first language, and he likely had zero idea what my dad was even trying to convey.

 

[Srivijaya]

Nothing on your list is as outrageous as this:
Holly Willougby sparks outrage with ‘sick’ rainbow tracksuit post

I spent the whole morning punching my pillow in outrage!!! How could she???

For those of you who have never heard of the lady... don't worry.

 

[Stevicus]

That's probably the bulk majority of everyone who works food service. There is also huge lack of respect coming from customers. Not every employee is going to spit in food, and not every costumer brings grief, but the lack of respect is definitely a two-way street.

That's the one thing that turned me off on food service altogether. I did it for a couple of months, and it astounded me just how finicky a lot of people are about their food. I was that way as a little kid, but once I got to my teen years, my appetite was so ravenous I'd eat just about any slop that was put in front of me.

While I respect other people's choices, I have to admit that vegans, health food nuts, and/or people who prefer high-class "fine dining" tend to get under my skin. The ironic thing about health food nuts is that, of those I know, they're constantly getting sick, while I eat junk food and chain smoke, and I'm hardly ever sick.

Here's an example of the restaurants that I like:

"Elegant dining elsewhere." This place has stayed in business for decades while many high-class, elegant, expensive restaurants have gone belly up.

And here's one for Revoltingest:

 

[Shadow Wolf]

While I respect other people's choices, I have to admit that vegans, health food nuts, and/or people who prefer high-class "fine dining" tend to get under my skin.

I'm not fond of people who insist on eating at the trendy hipster joints, despite the food being bland, over priced, and there being nothing more than the trendy label/name to say you went to. I also don't care for the idea of "fine dinning" either, because there is something fundamentally and inherently wrong about putting too much emphasis on different eating utensils, sparkly white dishes, and proper manners and presentation. It's food. Dive in and enjoy.

 

[dfnj]

If only people were so passionate about ending corruption, poverty, pollution, inequality, etc…

The people in power are not interested in giving it up.

 

[columbus]

It's one thing to attack an individual, it's quite another to attack an idea. In general, folks who torment individuals ought to be marginalized.

But attacking ideas MUST be fair game - no holds barred.

A big part of the problem with this is that people get so attached to ideas. They identify as something, from a religion to LBGT to almost anything, so strongly that they tend to see criticism of the idea as an attack on them personally. And respond to the criticism as such.
Tom

 

[columbus]

hen the state gives college to citizens for free then they can determine what students should be forced to listen to and allow on campuses.

One of the problems I see is people failing to distinguish between these two very different things.
Allowing a speaker who isn't popular with some students, even a large majority, isn't at all the same as being forced to listen.

There's plenty of examples of student outrage over simply hosting a speaker. The same dynamic occurs in other public settings as well.
Tom

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Outrage is everywhere. The smallest little thing that people would simply ignore a few years ago because they had more important things to worry about, now merits a youtube video, a twitter outrage or some other form of online expression.

Indeed. Just today, I saw someone ranting online about how much they're offended by being asked to use people's preferred gender pronouns and another who absolutely freaked out at the idea that maybe we ought not to honour slavers and racists with monuments. You'd think that they would have something better to expend their energy on, wouldn't you?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Great article. I particularly liked this idea: "If students cannot handle the challenge without crying that they feel unsafe, they should not be at university in the first place. If universities refuse to challenge them, I wonder about their usefulness too."

Right on: if people are going to be hateful and discriminatory to students, the students should just take it without getting all uppity. Respect is for chumps.

 

[YmirGF]

Nothing on your list is as outrageous as this:
Holly Willougby sparks outrage with ‘sick’ rainbow tracksuit post

I spent the whole morning punching my pillow in outrage!!! How could she???

For those of you who have never heard of the lady... don't worry.

OMG! A beautiful, privileged, white women buying an outfit she can well afford? The HORROR! The Horror! The horror...

 

[YmirGF]

I'm not fond of people who insist on eating at the trendy hipster joints, despite the food being bland, over priced, and there being nothing more than the trendy label/name to say you went to. I also don't care for the idea of "fine dinning" either, because there is something fundamentally and inherently wrong about putting too much emphasis on different eating utensils, sparkly white dishes, and proper manners and presentation. It's food. Dive in and enjoy.

I did this recently with a nearby restaurant and was pretty unimpressed ... until I got the bill. I recall mumbling that I could produce a similar dinner while in a drunken stupor as we made our way to the car... "and it wouldn't have cost $145.00!" (The wine was excellent though.)

 

[Revoltingest]

The "respect" avenue was more there because she was a "chef", or called herself a "chef." If food prep is your calling, I would think you might try to at least respect your craft and the face you put on it for your customers, even if you don't respect the customers themselves.

But yeah, I've been witness to, and have been with as part of my party, people who can't seem to hold their tongue and blurt out some of the most condescending, unnecessary nonsense to wait-staff.

My brother-in-law once called our waitress over to complain that his burger did not having pickles on it, stating that the menu said right on it that the burger had pickles. He wouldn't drop it through the whole meal, and kept talking about it loud enough for people to hear. On the way out I grabbed a menu just to see, and listed was "pickled onions"... not pickles.

My dad is also ridiculously particular, and for a few years he had picked up this completely dumb saying from some movie he thought was especially clever - "Did I stutter?". So, when someone would ask him to repeat himself, or explain something again he would usually offer it as an aside, hypothetical response - like something he "should have said." The first time he actually used it on a waiter at a Chinese restaurant we were at as a family had us all intervening to stop him and apologize to the waiter - especially considering that it was obvious English wasn't his first language, and he likely had zero idea what my dad was even trying to convey.

This isn't just food service...it's dealing with the general public.
Some highlights of things tenants have done....
- Pissed in my electrician's tool box.
- Called an employee a "n****r".
- Called an employee a "man hating b***h".
- Physically attacked me for speaking German with a hochdeutsch accent.
- Threatened to kill a resident manager (who allegedly would sneak into the tenant's apartment to rearrange the furniture at nite.)
The list goes on & on.

Btw, I provided training on dealing with difficult people.

Btw again, some tenants were so shockingly responsible that
I fully expect them to be nominated for sainthood some day.

 

[columbus]

I learned something as a young person.
If you're interested in pursuing a relationship with someone, go out to eat with them somewhere nice. Observe carefully how they treat the staff. Because that's how they will be treating you a few months into a relationship.
Tom

 

[YmirGF]

I learned something as a young person.
If you're interested in pursuing a relationship with someone, go out to eat with them somewhere nice. Observe carefully how they treat the staff. Because that's how they will be treating you a few months into a relationship.
Tom

Very telling stuff @columbus

 

[Revoltingest]

I did this recently with a nearby restaurant and was pretty unimpressed ... until I got the bill. I recall mumbling that I could produce a similar dinner while in a drunken stupor as we made our way to the car... "and it wouldn't have cost $145.00!" (The wine was excellent though.)

Only blithering idiots & the fabulously wealthy buy wine
at restaura......uh....congrats on being in the 1% of the 1%!

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

One of the problems I see is people failing to distinguish between these two very different things.
Allowing a speaker who isn't popular with some students, even a large majority, isn't at all the same as being forced to listen.

There's plenty of examples of student outrage over simply hosting a speaker. The same dynamic occurs in other public settings as well.
Tom

By the same token, denying a speaker the use of a particular venue isn't at all the same as silencing them.

... and if you think the outrage of allowing a controversial speaker is something, you should see the outrage when a controversial speaker is turned away.

 

[columbus]

By the same token, denying a speaker the use of a particular venue isn't at all the same as silencing them.

Very true. What I would expect from a large, high quality, institution is a broad variety of different viewpoints aired.

... and if you think the outrage of allowing a controversial speaker is something, you should see the outrage when a controversial speaker is turned away.

It depends a good deal on what turned away means. Nobody can host an unlimited number of guests. You have to exercise some discretion.
But it's something else entirely to cancel part of that broad array because some students don't want the views aired. That happens all too often.
Tom

 

[Vee]

The town of Charlottesville was going to remove a confederate monument, which is any locality's right to do. The federal government has no oversight over such a case.

And that was worth people hurting each other?

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

OMG! A beautiful, privileged, white women buying an outfit she can well afford? The HORROR! The Horror! The horror...