Comedic "things you would ban": minor things that irritate you

[Mcr Warrior]

We get a Christmas card each year addressed to our road, house and postcode but with a different town name. I guess someone Googled for the postcode and picked the wrong one.
Despite several years of writing the correct postcode on it, in the hope the recipient would tell the sender of their mistake, it still made no difference.
The Christmas card goes straight in the bin now, I don't see why I should make the effort.

Think you really should put it back in the mail system, marked "Not known at this address" or similar.

 

[Gloster]

About fifteen or so years ago I was in the now closed small post office in the village (two counters in the corner of the Spar). A respectably dressed middle-aged woman, probably younger than I am now, was sending a package that looked like a rolled up newspaper. The woman behind the counter asked if she knew the postcode as it would help. The customer exploded. Postcodes were an instrument of the devil invented by the European Union and ‘Jack Delors’ to destroy England and make it a slave of the Nazis in Brussels and so on. She went on for several minutes before grabbing her package and storming out. As she reached the door she turned and shouted back at the counter that ‘you b*****ds in the Post Office’ should stand up for England.

One of the strangest things I have seen in a shop, along with a car driving through Woolworths in Exeter.

 

[gg1]

About fifteen or so years ago I was in the now closed small post office in the village (two counters in the corner of the Spar). A respectably dressed middle-aged woman, probably younger than I am now, was sending a package that looked like a rolled up newspaper. The woman behind the counter asked if she knew the postcode as it would help. The customer exploded. Postcodes were an instrument of the devil invented by the European Union and ‘Jack Delors’ to destroy England and make it a slave of the Nazis in Brussels and so on. She went on for several minutes before grabbing her package and storming out. As she reached the door she turned and shouted back at the counter that ‘you b*****ds in the Post Office’ should stand up for England.

One of the strangest things I have seen in a shop, along with a car driving through Woolworths in Exeter.

.....though she did go on to have a successful stint as a UKIP MEP.

 

[D821]

Think you really should put it back in the mail system, marked "Not known at this address" or similar.

I think I did do that once, but it seemed a waste of Royal Mail's time, too. What are they going to do with it apart from store it for a while and eventually destroy it?

 

[duncanp]

What annoys me is people who refuse to acknowledge that posties are generally quite busy people and that genuine mistakes can happen!

A few months ago I had a letter delivered (a replacement bank card) that had been addressed correctly, but it had inadvertently been delivered to number 3 instead of number 4. The envelope had been marked "NOT NUMBER 3" and deposited in the post box for re-delivery. While the fault was either with the person who sorted the post or with the postie who failed to notice, my anger was, quite rightly, with the resident of number 3 who would have had to walk further to get to the postbox than the distance from her front door to mine!

This is the same person that nearly threw a tantrum on my doorstep because I'd taken in a parcel while she was out because apparently she'd instructed the company not to deliver to a neighbour.

At Christmas I sometimes receive cards intended for number 14, but have been addressed to me in error. I'll either walk over and post them through the correct door right away or, if I'm busy, I'll leave them by the door and deliver them the next time I'm out.

In your situation it depends if it is a one off or not.

If it is a one off, then the easiest thing is to put the incorrectly delivered mail through the correct letter box, which was what I used to do most of the time when I was in London.

But occasionally, I would mark it "delivered to incorrect address" and put it back in the post box. The reason for this is that if there is an ongoing problem with mail be delivered to the wrong address it is important to let the Royal Mail know about it, so that they can take some action to resolve the situation.

Suppose you were away on holiday for a week or two, and an important piece of mail such as a replacement bank card or a passport was delivered to your address when it should have been delivered to your neighbour.

But in my case in London I even had the London Ambulance knocking on my door at 1:30am because they confused my address with XXXXX XXXX Road, and they had been there in an emergency. I simply directed them to the correct address in that case.

 

[Runningaround]

This is not really comedic. All those gushing family tributes that newspapers, mostly local ones, print, despite knowing that the deceased is an utter low life. How somebody was a loving family man and father, when they have either been killed as a result of a criminal dispute or, more often, died in a road accident when driving with a total disregard for the rest of the population. Note: it is the way the papers uncritically print all this that I object to.

Its the families that send them in, what should they write, he's a ''right wrong un'', ''hated by a lot'', ''loved by few''?

 

[D6130]

Think you really should put it back in the mail system, marked "Not known at this address" or similar.

In almost every other country in the Western World - and probably quite a few others besides - it is a legal requirement to write or stamp the sender's name and address on the back of the envelope. Thus in the case of a letter being delivered to an incorrect address where the addressee is not known, the recipient can mark the front of the envelopet 'Not known at this address - please return to sender' and put it back in the post.

 

[Gloster]

Its the families that send them in, what should they write, he's a ''right wrong un'', ''hated by a lot'', ''loved by few''?

No, I am referring to the reports that the newspapers print as ‘news’, not the tributes in the ‘In memorian’ sections. I realise that the papers print anything that people send in and say, but I object when such gushing tributes are included in the same report as the details of how the deceased has wrecked others’ lives.

This was prompted by hearing about the situation with a friend’s niece: she is only in her mid-thirties, but has had to start to use a stick as a result of an accident about fifteen years ago. A low-life with a string of minor offences and a suspended licence lost control when driving at an estimated 80 in a 50 limit and collided with two cars. Even when the report appeared in the local paper it was known that the driver of one of the cars (not the niece) had suffered life-changing injuries. Yet the paper was full of how he was a loving father (several times by different women): presumably the injured‘s family were not available for comment, so they just filled up with praise for the dead man.

The above may be an extreme example, but such reports are all too common.

 

[Techniquest]

Extreme example or not, you're not wrong. The deceased is almost always made out to be such an amazing person etc.

I do hope your friend's niece is OK Such a life-changing event all because of one reckless person

 

[PeterY]

Extreme example or not, you're not wrong. The deceased is almost always made out to be such an amazing person etc.

Absolute low life. I agree with you Techniquest.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

"Don't speak ill of the dead" used to be a virtue and apparently still is... even for those I'd personally make an exception for.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Bus passengers who hold inane and pointless conversations on their phones, with the person on the other end on speakerphone, so that the whole bus can hear everything that is being said.

Don't travel by bus much (there aren't many round here) but I approve of the use of speakerphone by railway passengers.
That's because I try to be fair, and like to hear both sides of an argument

 

[xotGD]

"Don't speak ill of the dead" used to be a virtue and apparently still is... even for those I'd personally make an exception for.

Actually, you can say what you like about them, as libel laws don't apply!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Actually, you can say what you like about them, as libel laws don't apply!

Obituaries and news stories are generally a bit more diplomatic though. Then again, if the thing we most want to "ban" is journalists not writing controversial news stories about people who've died in car crashes they caused, perhaps society isn't quite as broken as we thought...

 

[dangie]

Television dramas, usually American, where the opening credits are still coming up 15-20 minutes into the programme.

 

[Meerkat]

"Happy Easter to those celebrating"
How weak and pathetic is that, its not like anyone is getting crucified or having chocolate forced down their throat? If someone wished me personally Happy Ramadan (or whatever the greeting is) I wouldn't get upset because I am not Muslim - someone is wishing me happiness; that's nice, friendly. Anyone who is upset by a greeting from another culture/religion is a miserable sod who should be ignored.

Rant ends - Happy Easter everyone!!

 

[duncanp]

"Happy Easter to those celebrating"
How weak and pathetic is that, its not like anyone is getting crucified or having chocolate forced down their throat? If someone wished me personally Happy Ramadan (or whatever the greeting is) I wouldn't get upset because I am not Muslim - someone is wishing me happiness; that's nice, friendly. Anyone who is upset by a greeting from another culture/religion is a miserable sod who should be ignored.

Rant ends - Happy Easter everyone!!

When I used to work, we would have Muslim colleagues who would bring in sweets to celebrate Eid-Al-Fitr, and Hindu colleagues who would bring in sweets to celebrate Diwali.

I was never offended by this, and neither were the Muslim or Hindu colleagues offended by celebrations for Christmas and Easter.

Sometimes people would bring in cakes for their birthday, but if the birthday occurred during Ramadan the Muslim colleagues were never offended by this, nor were Jewish colleagues offended if the birthday occurred during Passover and they were unable to eat the cake.

If anything needs banning, it is oversensitive snowflakes who, to quote the late Sir Terry Wogan, make a professional career out of being offended about anything and everything.

Happy Easter to everyone here.

 

[Meerkat]

When I used to work, we would have Muslim colleagues who would bring in sweets to celebrate Eid-Al-Fitr, and Hindu colleagues who would bring in sweets to celebrate Diwali.

I was never offended by this, and neither were the Muslim or Hindu colleagues offended by celebrations for Christmas and Easter.

Sometimes people would bring in cakes for their birthday, but if the birthday occurred during Ramadan the Muslim colleagues were never offended by this, nor were Jewish colleagues offended if the birthday occurred during Passover and they were unable to eat the cake.

If anything needs banning, it is oversensitive snowflakes who, to quote the late Sir Terry Wogan, make a professional career out of being offended about anything and everything.

Happy Easter to everyone here.

It would be an oddly grumpy puritan attitude - "No to any more joyful festivals! Keep your happiness to yourselves!"

 

[yorksrob]

Electrostars that only have annoying high density seating.

They seem to be infesting the South Eastern mainline more than previously.

 

[Gloster]

This may have appeared before: all those companies that claim to be ‘passionate’ about something. No, you are not. You are trying to sell me carpets, bread rolls or garden furniture: you are trying to get my money and this is how you do it. The object or service being supplied doesn’t matter: it is my money you want and that may interest you a bit, but if you could get more money another way your claimed passion would rapidly disappear. Those people who do have a passion tend to just get on with it.

 

[Intercity110]

People who call everyone ‘hun’ ‘darling’ or the dreaded ’Queen’.

 

[VauxhallandI]

People who call everyone ‘hun’ ‘darling’ or the dreaded ’Queen’.

I’ve never heard anyone being called Queen, where is this?

 

[duncanp]

People who call everyone ‘hun’ ‘darling’ or the dreaded ’Queen’.

Can we add "babe" to that?

 

[Mag_seven]

I’ve never heard anyone being called Queen, where is this?

Buckingham Palace?

 

[dangie]

When your meal arrives and the server says “enjoy….”

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Apr 2023 ==

People who call everyone ‘hun’ ‘darling’ or the dreaded ’Queen’.

My dentist is, as far as dentists can be, lovely. Her chairside manner really puts you at ease. She calls me “sweetheart”.

Yes I know she probably calls many male patients sweetheart, but for a 72 year old like me I think it’s wonderful.

 

[D821]

I’ve never heard anyone being called Queen, where is this?

It used to be a Liverpool thing, thankfully you don't hear it much nowadays. I'm sure I've been told it's an east end thing, too.

 

[Techniquest]

Can we add "babe" to that?

Absolutely. Babe or baby, when used as a term of endearment, just sounds silly and childish.

 

[daveo]

25 page books of instructions for a new electrical item that has a maximum 3 pages of English!!!

 

[py_megapixel]

25 page books of instructions for a new electrical item that has a maximum 3 pages of English!!!

Also, instructions for electronics which tell you to "follow the on-screen instructions". Would it really be that hard to put the instructions in the booklet as well?

 

[birchesgreen]

Digital screens in cafes, especially when you are about to give your order and the menu you was looking at suddenly changes to an animation.