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I'm not special.

Nor am I awesome, deserving, or any one of the dozens of other random compliments you try to throw at me to get me to open your email with offers and discounts on household goods I don't want. Also you're not my friend, my workmate, my associate nor my companion or family - so for crying out loud at least try to sound half professional as a company.

Further "HI" is not how you address a letter to someone, let alone an email when you are the representative of a company engaging in formal customer service. Nothing is more off-putting than super-casual emails that leave one confused as to the nature of the person one is talking with and questioning their customer service skills, general standards and if the company has anyone on their books with any professional skills. This is doubly the case when your'e replying to a customer service or general enquiry email which was formatted in at least a generally polite and formal manner!

Also people (esp on the TV) - if you're going to wear a smart shirt and suit at least put a darn tie on! You look half dressed with the top buttons undone and no tie (or bow-tie). I know you're not at school any more but you either get fully dressed smart or not, stop going half way and giving up! You can even get clip-on-ties if you can't remember how to do it!



And breath -- yep a general thread for venting about random niggles and things that annoy you in the world (don't worry there will be threads galore about happy things and new toys on Christmas day very soon! Let get the inner grinche* out before Christmas Day!


*see its working I'm not even complaining about the remake of the grinch film that's coming out this winter

there is a useful link you can click at the bottom of those emails. its called unsubscribe.

I agree and disagree about suits. I think the tie is the kicker, if youre wearing one, do up your top button, if you want your top button undone, remove the tie.

This is sounding suspiciously like a "get off my lawn!" senior moment, I can identify it since I am almost 50.

I think it is where you get old enough that you get fed up with people choosing to live in shades of grey: effort was made (kinda) but the message or motivation seemed to have been lost, it appears wasteful... a lack of commitment.

- I do business with you, I do not go to the bar with you or even "friend" you on Facebook, (did I even send them a "like"?) the false sense of familiarity has not been earned and is irritating PLUS you are trying to make money off me, you are not my friend.

- Are you dressing up or going casual? Suit and no tie is the look of an executive that just left work going on a drinking binge, is this the look you are trying for? To what purpose?

- If you are going to do a remake of something, do it justice: you have to exceed in execution the original by a fair margin plus it is sad when you are still beaten by something that may be decades old.
BTW: Benedict Cumberbatch is a surprisingly good Grinch. Plus just when I thought all Christmas music was lame:

My best "old man rant" is that I see so often a lack of effort and lack of sincerity all hand-waved away in the almighty effort to appear "casual".
"Hey, don't be so intense, I just wanted some of your money, you are not using it and I have cool ideas and deserve it for my positive attitude and laid-back entitlement."

Bah! Humbug!

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
there is a useful link you can click at the bottom of those emails. its called unsubscribe.

I live in hope that the UK gets more of the general % off everything discounts that the USA gets Actually we have had a couple of them.



And if this is oldman ranting them I'm early (still in early 30s) - I mean dear gods I could be a monster by the time I'm 50 - or I could have one of those huge relapses and wind up powerboarding, motorbike riding and stuff!

This is the world of "yolo" marketing.

What really grinds my gears:
People that wear suits or other highly formal clothing to not so formal parties or dinners. You are just a student, not a CEO or anything, and you are not at work or in presence of the king. You are just having dinner with friends in a cheap restaurant. You are way overdressed. Just neat clothing would have sufficed, you don't need a full suit.

Suits should be reserved for business meetings, balls, galas and other highly formal classy dinners and parties. Not the Christmas dinner with your fellow archaeology students at the local pizzeria while wearing crazy Christmas hats.
Yet every year there is like half of the guys who show up wearing suits. It is so pretentious. And if there is anything I can't stand it is pretentiousness.

Iron I bet half the half of guys turning up in suits are turning up in suits because terms like "smart casual" are nearly impossible to interpret; so they overdress to be on the safe side.

That or their parents told/advised them to turn up smart and they are trying their best.


But yeah smart casual there's an annoying term!

Smart casual for a woman: anything goes as long as it’s not grossly inappropriate/revealing. (I appreciate this can occasionally be minefield in itself with what sort of dress or skirt is ok depending on the occasion)

Smart casual for a man: You probably don’t have to wear a tie, but a shirt and suit is expected.

Workplaces expecting ‘smart casual’ then have women wearing mostly anything decent they like but men have to wear a suit.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
What really grinds my gears:
People that wear suits or other highly formal clothing to not so formal parties or dinners. You are just a student, not a CEO or anything, and you are not at work or in presence of the king. You are just having dinner with friends in a cheap restaurant. You are way overdressed. Just neat clothing would have sufficed, you don't need a full suit.

Suits should be reserved for business meetings, balls, galas and other highly formal classy dinners and parties. Not the Christmas dinner with your fellow archaeology students at the local pizzeria while wearing crazy Christmas hats.
Yet every year there is like half of the guys who show up wearing suits. It is so pretentious. And if there is anything I can't stand it is pretentiousness.

I must be the only person on earth that finds wearing a suit actually kind of comfortable, particularly in the pants.

I dunno, maybe I need to get the rest of my clothes tailored too.

Also, when standard workplace attire is polo shirt at best, nothing gets management to start being super friendly with you quite like when you show up all of a sudden wearing a suit one day, and then making it expressly clear that you need to take lunch at a very specific time that day.

A well-tailored suit does make even the most oddly-shaped man look good, so I can understand wearing one on a night out.

However, take that ****ing hat off indoors. The only excuse otherwise is if you've got a hole in your head.

Annoyances ...

People who get on the train then stand in the doorway rather than moving down the carriage. And people who sit in the aisle seat then scowl when I push past them to sit down.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and "a lot" means a large quantity of whatever you're writing about. "allot" means to assign or give, and "a lot" is just not a word.

yes! a fashion ripping thread.

Hats indoors. just poor decorum. take them off.

people who wear PT gear as general wear. Stop, lycra leggings don't make your ass look good, especially if you dont actually do any phys.

I actually don't mind seeing people in suits. I'd rather see that out and about than grotty sweatpants and nike air max which seems to be the uniform of the youth these days.

however, poorly made suits. no excuse. the shiny grey polyester 'fitted' suits from top man. Grim. Combine those with a skinny tie and a god awful pair of pointed 'brogues' and you have the 'smart' uniform of the modern man who's never been taught anything about how to dress correctly, which leads me to...

Weddings. you want to see poor suits, heres your place. royal blue suits with brown shoes. skinny black hipster jeans with blazers. Matching pocket square/tie combos. theyre a 101 on how to look like you dont have a clue.

People who don't leave the bottom button of their suit/waistcoat undone.

Match your F-ing belt to your shoes.

Converse/vans are not smart shoes. stop wearing them with suits!

I could go on and on.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
...the shiny grey polyester 'fitted' suits from top man. Grim. Combine those with a skinny tie and a god awful pair of pointed 'brogues' and you have the 'smart' uniform of the modern man who's never been taught anything about how to dress correctly,

Ah, the "court appearance" suit.

haha nah the court appearance suit is an oversized, well faded suit borrowed from a dad/uncle.

the grey shiny suit is what I call the 'Lads go to the races' suit, as in York whenever the races are on you see legions of the douchebags in their terrible suits followed by trampy lasses with too much fake tan.

I'm actually glad to see suits fading out of fashion in these parts. But then I manage records for a maintenance division of a national park. Anyone in a suit in these offices is signalling they have no clue how to do anything of use.

To me, someone in a suit is just as badly dressed as someone in sweats and lycra.

I always am weary of people in suits. They always seem to be like they are hiding something and are insecure about themselves so they dress up.
But then again my field we work with children so suits are weird in general, even for the top of the company.

I like to see people in suits, as you know who to avoid or be wary around.
Pointy shoes is a sure sign, too.