Smokin' Stork
 

Having been on the receiving end of some of them, I do. Not so much of the "yeah, go Paigow" variety (because, after all, who says that?), but a lot of the "anyone who sets foot in a bar is irresponsible and damaging her baby, you don't care about children's welfare, you shouldn't be allowed to have children, if you have a glass of wine your child will be born with three heads" variety.

I only remember Multo and Brit voicing the "alcohol-based mouthwash isn't child abuse and mind your own business anyway" position offhand, but :shrug:.

People with Horrid Demon Children
 

When I married the first hubby, he had 9 young nieces and nephews and most were undisciplined brats who, for whatever reason, loved me and always wanted to hug and touch me -- I carried tissues everywhere so that I could cleanse them beforehand and always loudly proclaimed about how damned messy they were. Anyway, I suggested to first hubby's mom that while the children would attend the wedding (semi-informal museum ceremony) and come to the reception to eat but that I would hire a babysitter to care for them at her home after dinner she fucking freaked and said she and hubby's dad just wouldn't come to the wedding if her grandchildren were not wanted. I explained that I thought their parents (and the other adults) might appreciate being child-free in the evening at the reception so they could better enjoy themselves. She was adamant and I finally had to give in to having the little shits there all night (among other changes she made to my once small and perfectly planned wedding to fit her taste, her quest list, etc. what a fucking wimp I was -- or maybe I just didn't give enough of a shit about it) -- right then and there I should have known that his family would drive me so batty that I would eventually flee and divorce him.

Thrashers(The best way to get married is the two of you in front of a judge without telling family until after -- and tell them to send cash in lieu of the gift they would have brought if a formal wedding had taken place)Fan

Kids
 

Some of us even travel with crayons and toys when we don't have our brats with us so that we can attempt to amuse brats that don't belong to us.

Kids
 

Listen, I don't claim to have all the answers. I am not even sure what the acceptable solution to the problem Str8 described is. I just know that his way-out-in-left-field proposed solution of abstinence from drunken-ness and highness in the presence of beautiful aggressive women-ness has shaken me to my very core. I mean, what kind of monster could come up with something like that?

first post on board the sequel
 

God I wish I was high right now.

Smokin' Stork
 

Really? I find this surprising from a "free-market" guy like you. It seems to me that most of the bartenders/servers I know either smoke themselves or are aware, nay expect that it is one of the incidents of the job. I know it was that way when I used to tend bar. I don't think I've ever heard of the workers being the driving force behind such a thing, especially since it likely means they'll wind up with far fewer tips. Who drove the ban in NY?

spooky(I know, I know -- it's not the politics board)fish

FWIW, I drink like a hobbit.

Kids
 

I should start to carry duct tape for that purpose. I can say, "let's play Harry Houdini, the worlds' greatest escape artist!" and then you hogtie and gag them with the tape and deposit them in their seat and let them try to escape for the rest of the flight.

Good suggestion, thanks.

People with Horrid Demon Children
 

I find that, if you keep your kids in big zip-lock bags, they stay much cleaner.

Quieter, too.

Horrid Demon Children At Weddings
 

I barred rugrats from the ceremony entirely and paid the reception space for an extra room and hired a couple of babysitters--filled the place with art supplies and Disney videos and bought 'em kids meals they'd like instead of letting them gack their way through grown-up hors d'oeuvres. Kids allowed into reception to dance and for cake and ice cream, immediately removed by babysitters when started to destabilize. Family complained but I had a blast--kids got to dress up and have fun, no adults bugged at all.:)

Another rant
 

The use of "nay" must be stopped!

I mean, it's one thing in Parliament or on NPR, but twice on the Fashion Board in one day is on a whole different plane.

Smokin' Stork
 

OK, well then there's a third person (if I understand you correctly) and it wasn't just MM/GWNC. Maybe it is my misperception, because I'm in the MM/GWNC/BRC (fka DS) camp, but didn't post anything, not wanting to hear a bunch of ignorant claptrap about how a glass of wine induces instant fetal alcohol syndrome.

If I am misremembering, perhaps it's because I was IM'ing with several people about the subject, all of whom thought the scorn-heaped-upon-pregnant-woman-in-bar attitude was absurd.

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

Yeah. It was. I just thought it was unfair to look at it in a vacuum. But you knew that already, didn't you?

TM

People with Horrid Demon Children
 

Actually, I purposely did not invite them. However, they somehow assumed that anyone would be welcome at the ceremony. The kids did not come to the reception.

As long as we're ranting
 

I second the motion.

I also add the clipping of nails on the train to the list. I've seen numerous people do this, dead nail clippings (and all the underlying germs and dirt) flying who knows where. Thankfully I haven't seen anyone clip their toe nails. Yet.

Smokin' Stork
 

Just as "oops, it caved in - sorry" is no longer accepted as an "incidence of the job" for miners, (well, in theory), nor are lead fumes accepted for battery makers, neither is cig smoke for waitstaff (this last is my prediction, not a statement of current law.) Our system has pretty much discarded the idea that any hazard (that is reasonably addressable) can remain in a workplace. (No, I don't do WC.) So, I can't see smoking bars lasting much longer anywhere.

Here in MN, in a nearby suburb, they just went through this fight. Main issue (explicit issue, that is) from proponents was health of employees.

As long as we're ranting
 

You are my SP. I once gave a tourist on the metro the dirtiest glare I have ever seen in response to her clipping her nails in the seat behind me.

It was the most effective glaring at a stranger that I have ever performed, because she stopped, and actually looked rather cowed.

I'm sure she turned to her hubby and said "Can you believe that bitch?" after I got off the train, but who cares?

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

Agreed. That's why I said, "One of the main reasons why the trial was so huge was because a black man killed an attractive white woman."

TM

Kids
 

Well, there is always the Vegas exception.

Smokin' Stork
 

It was a workplace safety issue, I guess just like in MN.

Physician, heal thy_____
 

This is mostly just false. I'm hoping it's sarcasm.

I have two cousins who are siblings. One was a monster at birth and has continued to be, the other was an angel at birth and hasn't changed. Exact same parenting. Different people. She is the most selfish person I've ever met and always has been, he was born with a concern for how everyone around him felt. No one who's ever spent time around children has any illusions that they are not born with their own distinct personalities (which includes generous qualities and a concern for others or the lack thereof).

You can mold a child's personality and affect how s/he interacts with others, but every kid is different.

TM

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

That can be argued, but I don't think it would be as huge.

It was a defining moment in our history. A snapshot of race relations in this (or that) era. It split the country down the middle, mostly on color lines. Montana would be huge, but all of the extra, hot-button, race stuff made the OJ trial tremendous.

TM

Kids
 

Some of us keep toys in our offices, generally for our own amusement but they also come in handy when brats belonging to partners come in.

One of the partners at my former firm had a three year old. She'd come in maybe three or four times a month, and she'd have a run of the place. She'd open office doors, barge in on telephone calls, and otherwise cause disruptions. I think that her presence in the office was some sort of passive agressive "see what I have to go through" from his wife, since the wife and the kid would usually show up together towards the end of the day and the wife would go off to do something other than manage her kid. The partner's secretary became an ad hoc baby sitter whenever the daughter would come into the office. No work could get done until the whole family was out of there. The kid knew that I keep toys in my office, so she'd make a beeline for my slinky or koosh balls or nerf footballs.

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

I don't want to get into a big OJ thing, so I'll just say I pretty much agree with what you said, which is true.

TM

Kids
 

A coworker used to make fun of me for carrying several little action figures in my briefcase at all times.

Then, one day, we both got stuck on the runway at Detroit in the snow for four hours, with several kids sitting very close by.

He never made fun again.

Smokin' Stork
 

Around here, that was the main "reason" given, as well. I note that it was not given by the employees, however. Of the barstaff I or the Mr. talked to, many liked the idea of a smoke-free workplace, but many felt that it was outweighed by some combination of (i) having to "leave the building for smoke breaks on the street like some pathetic white-collar cubicle drone" (ii) likelihood of lower tips (apparently non-smokers are widely considered crappy tippers in bars, though if based on what I don't know) and (iii) likelihood of losing job if receipts decreased because non-smokers don't replace lost smoker volume, non-smokers having lots of other places to go and smokers having only really had bars.

(i) is certainly a reality, and (iii) is looking like a real concern here. (iii) is the reason a similar ban was rescinded in Toronto.

Physician, heal thy_____
 

I hope your wife didn't have to use the bathroom.

Thurgreed(oh wait, he was acquitted, right?)Marshall

"I was happy, hungry and relaxed, but I was not impaired."
 

Now this is a way to prepare for oral argument, though I suspect it's not uncommon . . .

Dude, Is This the High Court?
By Randall Palmer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - There is now another reason to call it Canada's high court.

An activist seeking the overturn of Canada's marijuana law smoked hashish and cannabis on Tuesday before arguing his own case in the Supreme Court, dressed completely in hemp products.

"I took a couple hits off some bubble hash and a little bit of cannabis," David Malmo-Levine told reporters after delivering a 40-minute monologue to the nine justices.

"I was happy, hungry and relaxed, but I was not impaired."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...m/marijuana_dc

Kids
 

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan That used to happen in our office until a higher-up brought in a child who was supposed to have been sent home from daycare with pink-eye (brought to work instead). Child went around the office and gave pink-eye to a large number of the support stuff - it was the really invasive kind that causes permanent eye damage in some people. Support staff successfully got damages, worker's comp., etc. Now we have a brand new policy about kids in the office.


P.S. Hello to my co-worker who is also on here. Yes, I know who you are because when I noticed that you were in the process of posting - I ran back to my office and logged on to figure out who you were - you would have done the same thing. You might want to rearrange your furniture so that your computer doesn't broadcast into the hallway and/or post with your door closed.

People with Horrid Demon Children
 

Going back to the original point of the posts that if you don't "like kids", don't have them. It's no sin. It's worse to have them just because that's the thing to do.

The people I hate are the ones who treat kids almost like they are "accessories". I'm thoroughly convinced my SIL is one of these people. She wanted two. A boy and a girl. Had the girl first. Fortunately (or not so) had the boy second. Now that the boy is in the picture, the girl is ignored and is shipped off to the grandparents every chance the parents get.

The SIL is not one to have the kids put a dent in her "active lifestyle", so she continually tries to get my wife (who stays at home) to watch the kid for "an hour" while she runs off to some dumb fucking basket weaving class or some such thing. Usually when my wife consents, these "hours" tend to grow into two (or three, or four). The one advantage in her mind to having kids is that she can meet new friends while dropping the kids off for ballet lessons or sitting them all in a corner at the "mom and me" class so she can bullshit with the other moms.

Meanwhile, when the kids are at home, she expects them to sit around with their hands folded on their laps in her presence, while she don't really concern herself with the fact that the kids are playing with matches when they are out of her field of vision.

If you aren't ready to deal with the good, the bad (or the ugly) don't breed.

Kids
 

That was funny

"I was happy, hungry and relaxed, but I was not impaired."
 

The insensitive justices should've known to provide counsel with appropriate snacks. Of course he should be expected to argue well when high, but when battling the munchies?;)

Another rant
 

I vote nay.

Physician, heal thy_____
 

Yeah, but his admitted conduct sort of put the nail in his proverbial coffin around here. He's been in the news for similar things too many times, even for a Kirby Puckett. (I mean, he was like god around here.)

Kids
 

I read this post really quickly and at first I thought you said your coworker made fun of you for carrying action figures in your briefs.:what?:

Physician, heal thy_____
 

I think you're misunderstanding what I mean by "concern for others." Not believing anyone can see into the soul of another, I don't give a crap about whether it actually cares about how you feel or not, I care only about behavior. I never said they don't have their own distinct personalities. However, whatever its innate personality, when it screams at 3 am, you just tell me how much concern it is showing for you, other than its concern for making you do what it wants. However it is born, it has to LEARN that its desires are not reason to wake somebody else up in the middle of the night. Or, at least, eventually it learns that it isn't effective, and you get "concern for others" in behavior if not in sentiment.

However, your sibling tale is (somewhat) well taken. From day one I was always the quiet, well behaved one, while my sister was a hellion. I was born premature, quiet and not crying, she came out late, fat, and screaming. We both pretty much stayed that way - she's screaming still. However, one thing most people have noted who know us both well is that, despite being raised together by the same parents, we did NOT have the same parenting, at all. We don't to this day. Which is cause and which is effect, I don't know.

Kids
 

No, he was okay with that part. He just thought that having more in the briefcase was overkill.

Kids
 

Just as long as he never asked you if you had an "action figure" in your briefs or were just glad to see him. (Wait, that could be construed as redundant).

Another rant
 

Settle down, bucky. It just sorta fell out onto the page -- maybe because I read it on the other post earlier. Who the hell knows. It is not like I would use it in a conversation or anything. Let's just chalk it up to something like lighting a smoke and then realizing you already had one blazing in the ashtray -- it was a slip that I really didn't even notice until you pointed it out. Thanks a fucking lot. I didn't mean to and now I have become your personal kicking dog and everyone knows it. I bet you laugh at people who accidentally light the filter end so that they suffer publicly rather than in their own private pit of stupid shame.


Thrashers(neigh)Fan

Another rant
 

Wait--are you neighsayer? Or just a nay sayer?

As long as we're ranting
 

Whoa! This is the thing I hate as much if not more than umbrellas! I was just thinking about this friend I used to have. She was a heavy user of the word quote classy unquote. One time I was riding into NYC with her on metro north (she for a job interview, me for some other reason) and she just sat on the train cracking her fucking gum. I couldnt take it anymoe and passive aggresively asked her if she planned to chew gum during her interview (bc people who say "classy" don't know better) and she WAS. She just sat there, cracking away for 45 minutes driving the quote classy unquote people heading to the city nuts.

addendum- last time I spoke to her was after I moved to California. SHe had just gotten engaged to some limo driver and got fake tits. I asked her if he made her do that to herself. Never really spoke to her again after that. Oh well. I am sure she lived classily ever after. CRACK.