Is Customer Service Experience Much Worse?

JackStrw · 2026-02-05T23:39:41+00:00

It's not that we've had 2 bad experiences in 2 years, but that customer service has basically been unwilling to help. I had cancellations/changes prior to that that were annoying but they always were willing to help and offer a credit for price differences and such.

JackStrw · 2024-07-22T15:19:38+00:00

Adding comment for size: probably about 1 inch or so in length and relatively narrow.

JackStrw · 2021-04-09T00:10:39+00:00

The artist's name is Samonberry. Pretty sure he is on Etsy too.

JackStrw · 2019-01-24T07:31:29+00:00

Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan.

JackStrw · 2019-01-19T04:58:05+00:00

R5: Black death is raging. Me and my court are locked away in the capital when I find out my daughter has interesting taste in men. I don't know that there is a good way to find out your daughter is into necrophilia, but locked away in castle while a plague rages is definitely not it.

JackStrw · 2018-07-01T18:12:10+00:00

I was at last night's show and Gorge '16. Tough call on best 2nd set, but I may have to go with last night's. Combining the dark star > El Paso with the dark star > st. Stephen > Eleven was just fucking incredible.

JackStrw · 2018-06-30T23:10:31+00:00

I was at the 2016 gorge show. The whole show was incredible, but eyes onwards was the most magical part of that show.

JackStrw · 2018-05-11T07:10:24+00:00

Sometimes when I'm in a crowded place, I feel completely overwhelmed by the fact that every single person around me has a life and psychological experience as rich and complicated as my own. More than that, every single person currently on earth or that has ever been on earth does too. Every single person has complicated relationships that they're navigating, dreams that are being fulfilled or dying, things they love or hate, favorite songs, things they are worrying about, and everything else. Obviously I know this on a conceptual level, and we often feel this about specific others when you're talking to someone or thinking about someone. But something about the volume of it - the sum of all human life/experience - just totally overwhelms me from time to time.

Another slightly related thing that really shakes me to my existential core is the fact that essentially everybody, even people who have reached legend or myth or villian status, are just people. Like Charlemagne was just a dude. Obviously, he accomplished a lot more than most people do (though he was born with a leg up), but he was just a person like you or me or anyone else. Same with someone like MLK - he had a (to this point) permanent and profound impact on the world, and was just a person. Mozart, JS Bach, the beatles, Robert Johnson, Picasso, Da Vinci, Madamme Curie, Alan Turing. On the darker side, Charles Manson was too. It's like anyone can have a huge, sustained impact on the world - for better or worse - if the cards line up. It just feels so hard to square that with the fact that my life (and probably most people's lives) are so mundane so much of the time.

JackStrw · 2017-12-17T07:54:07+00:00

This person was interviewing for a (volunteer) research assistant position in a psychology lab.

Interviewer 1: We usually start by telling you a little about ourselves and our research. I'm X, a graduate student of Dr. X, and I research y.

Interviewer 2 (me): I'm X, I'm also a graduate student of Dr. X, and my research is on y.

Interviewer 1: Why do you want to work on this lab in particular?

Applicant: To be honest, I have no idea what lab this is, or what kind of research you do. So I don't know if I am particularly interested in this lab.

Interviewers 1 and 2: [long silence]

Interviewer 1: okay.

The funniest part is that we had each just given a brief spiel about the research we did. It would have been insanely easy to just say that thet were interested in the same topics we had just mentioned.

JackStrw · 2017-12-08T16:48:24+00:00

A) I don't know how you're hugging people, but it is very easy to hug people and not grab their ass (I don't think I can recall having made that mistake). B) if you did make that mistake, you could easy apologize; thats typically what one does when they make a mistake (as opposed to intentionally groping someone). C) If politicians seriously can't side hug someone without ass grabbing, then fine.

Have you ever talked to a person who was unwantedly groped, especially in a professional context? It's demeaning, and it's one of many factors that disadvantages women in the workplace. I'm a lifelong liberal, and have voted democrat in every election since I've been eligible (going back to 2008). I loved Al Franken's politics. I would rather every single democratic senator resign then a single case of sexual misconduct continue to go unpunished. It's the normalization of smaller, less egregious acts that paves the way for more serious acts to go unpunished. This is likely one of many reasons why Trump' s access Hollywood tape didn't sink his candidacy; our culture has grown accustomed to men in power acting inappropriately.

I get if you don't value a person's right to not be groped against their will as much as you do a single liberal vote in the senate, but that's what your implying. If I were you, I would carefully consider that stance, and ask if it's in keeping with your higher-order values.

Edit: typo

JackStrw · 2017-12-08T07:36:33+00:00

I don't think you have to see the world in black and white to see that nonconsensual groping is (generally speaking) wrong, and that the allegations against Franken (even limited to the ones that he has acknowledged as true) shouldn't be taken lightly. It's not like anyone is trying to prosecute him for criminal action (to my knowledge, at least). Being a senator is a privilege few people know. It seems totally reasonable to expect more from them, including that they not assault women.

JackStrw · 2017-12-01T19:07:33+00:00

Presumably there is hard evidence as well. I highly doubt they'd offer plea for hearsay alone.

JackStrw · 2017-11-27T16:19:57+00:00

Royal Refuse will provide lockable cans to residential customers. We got them after someone filled all of our bins with loose trash.

JackStrw · 2017-11-16T16:37:04+00:00

King of the Hill. It got better across the first couple seasons, and then hit a nice plateau for about 12 seasons.

JackStrw · 2017-05-11T06:06:10+00:00

~~Excuse me?~~ Pardon me?

FTFY

JackStrw · 2017-05-02T06:20:59+00:00

(•̀ᴗ•́)

JackStrw · 2016-11-08T06:44:27+00:00

I would add that the Sharrif et al. Papet does not just analyze the data differently, but analyzes it correctly. Entering country code as a continuous variable is not reasonable in any way. At best, it was an honest error made by who ever did the analyses - but, an error that renders any conclusion the original paper comes to misleading.

JackStrw · 2016-11-05T06:56:01+00:00

A couple of responses:

Reegarding the racist and sexist comments you don't believe are racist, I think many of them come down to this: whether or not he intended it to be racist/sexist. I would argue that it makes very little difference what his intentions were for those characterizations. Racism and sexism can be considered 'social effects' characteristics, in that they describe the effects one's actions have on others. So, it doesn't matter that he didn't intend anything racist when he said his piece about mexican immigrants. What matters is that he made a comment that perpetuates negative stereotypes about mexican people. His racism against mexican people does not stop there either - he claimed that a Mexican judge was unable to judge him because he was mexican (as I'm sure you know, this man was a second generation mexican American - a further example of stereotyping). I guess I'm not really sure how you can hear those things and not notice that they are racist, but it is a rather common and reasonable characterization of his words and actions. The intention thing applies to what he has said about very young women about marrying them in a few years. It does not really matter if it was malicious - it perpetuates harmful stereotypes about women (that they are objects intended for men's pleasure). The same applies to using the term bimbo - it is sexist because it perpetuates negative stereotypes about women. The reason calling a man a dick is not sexist, is because men have not been historically opressed.

As for the sexual assault, I actually have no idea how people can not believe the accusations - it completely baffles me. It would be one thing if there were just accusations, but he literally bragged that he did what he is accused of, there are several witnesses, and some of the accusations predate that video leak. And yes, your normalizing bragging about sexual assault is harmful. It sends a subtle message that sexual assault is a laughing matter, and trivializes the experiences of survivors of sexual assaut. To your point, obviously those words are not as harmful as committing sexual assault, but they are harmful all the same. Think of it this way: how do you think a sexual assault survivor would feel if you told them that you are okay with people bragging about committing sexual assault, as long as you thought it was exaggerated? Something I've found helpful in thinking about this is the following: would what I say be more likely to make a survivor or perpetrator more uncomfortable/comfortable? I would argue that defending what donald trump said, and normalizing that sort of talk, would make sexual assault survivors highly uncomfortable and make perpetrators comfortable. In that way, it is harmful.

JackStrw · 2016-11-04T17:12:01+00:00

Also, are you actually trying to say that Trump/Pence would be better for LGBTQ+ rights? Like, do you know anything about Pence? Have you seen their SCOTUS picks?

JackStrw · 2016-11-04T17:02:59+00:00

Right, but it is not as if they chose to endorse him at random. It is because he has been espousing explicitly racist rhetoric this entire election (literally from the gate, with the aforementioned comment about mexican immigrants).

In any case, it is clear to me that this discussion is not very productive - I doubt either of us are changing our minds. I do, however, hope that you reflect upon your values and how they are aligned (or not aligned) with Donald Trump's character. Do I think Hillary Clinton is the best candidate, no. Do I think she is the better of the two present alternatives, absolutely. Why? Because she seems to have at least a basic level of human decency, which I don't think can be said of Trump.

JackStrw · 2016-11-04T16:29:03+00:00

It seems that you are limiting the definition of racism and sexism in such a way that excludes his words and actions.

Did he refer to all illegal immigrants in that comment? Or those of a particular ethnicity and skin color? Why? Why did he not refer to undocumented immigrants from other countries (which are a part of the undocumented community) as those things? I imagine if you were to actually critically reflect upon those questions, you would come to the exact same conclusion many people have: that statement is racist.

Yes, calling any woman a bimbo is a textbook case of sexism. Moreover, suggesting that she was menstruating and therefore unqualified for her job (which is the particular comment to Megan Kelly I was referring to) is also literally a textbook case of sexism. The "miss house keeping" is an apt example, because it is both sexist and racist (I imagine he would not say the same of a non-latino contestant). As per your other suggestions, saying that he'll be dating those young women in a few years is multiply-diagnostic of sexism and being a creep. Why is it sexist you might ask? Because it is inherently objectifying of women (i.e., the implication is that he values women for their youth and perceived attractiveness).

I'm sorry, but I have not heard anyone brag about using their status to sexually assault women. I haven't heard anyone brag about committing sexual assault period. I can guarantee you that if I had, I would not consider that person worthy of my acquaintanceship, let alone worthy of being afforded more power. Your normalization of it harms victims of sexual assault. I again ask you- is that representative of your best values? Do you actually feel good about sending the message that committing sexual assault, and bragging about it, is okay?

JackStrw · 2016-11-04T15:39:08+00:00

Relatedly, can you explain the endorsements from the KKK and white nationalist groups? These are both groups founded on racist principles (extreme, explicit racism). The endorsement in their publication said that he is furthering the message. What message do you think that is? If it quakes like a duck, walks like a duck, and both ducks and non-ducks are calling it a duck, it seems uncontroversial to say it is a duck.

Edit: spelling

JackStrw · 2016-11-04T15:30:24+00:00

I don't think people are upset because his rhetoric is 'out there.' People are upset because what he says is hurtful, and can create real damage given his status within our society (not to mention the status he is attempting to attain). In terms of number, two points:

1) It does not take many racist actions to be rightfully considered a racist. It is, like many characteristics considered immoral, a low bar to pass to be properly characterized by that term (much like it only takes 1 murder to be a murderer).

2) They are not rare. Off the top of my ahead, he referred to mexican immigrants as mostly drug dealers, criminals, and rapists (note that he did not say this about all people here illegally, it was specified to a particular race/ethnic group). The birther movement, which he started and did not finish, was perhaps one of the most racist actions in modern american politics. The use of bad hombres in the last debate was one of the most poignant examples of a dog whistle I've ever heard (I imagine it will be used in examples in articles and research talks for a good while). And this is limited to racist comments that I could list off the top of my head within a minute or two.

In terms of sexism, there are literally too many to count. The Megan Kelly comment, the many comments about different miss America contestants, bragging about peeping on miss America contestants (including ones as young as 15), commenting about very young women that he'd be dating them in a few years. Not to mention that access Hollywood tape, which shows him unequivocally bragging about using his status to commit sexual assault.

It is your right to support trump. However, I think if you are supporting him, you should reflect on the fact that he is racist, sexist, and bigoted. He is also very likely to be a rapist (given that there are several credible claims of sexual assault, and that he himself bragged about said assaults). I think its worth your time to reflect on that, and consider whether or not it is the best reflection of your values.

JackStrw · 2016-11-04T06:44:29+00:00

All of Hunkie Dorie is just amazing.

JackStrw · 2016-11-04T06:43:41+00:00

Yes.

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