Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13253196 times)

Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8450 on: June 02, 2015, 10:18:35 AM »
Oh... my... word... My coworker wants the new Iphone because she is "out of space" on her old phone and it "runs slow" (it's an iPhone 4). She said she can't take any more pictures, so it's like she can't even hold onto memories. I asked if she's gone through the pictures and deleted old ones, she says yes but most of them she wants to keep. So I asked why she didn't put them on Facebook. She said she doesn't want to share them all with other people.

Me: Well you could just set them to private. Then Facebook acts as free picture storage.
Her: Yeah that's true...

It gets worse. With a discount she gets the new Iphone for $165, but still wants to put it on payments. And this after we just talked about having the freedom/flexibility for extended travel and she said she really needs to win the lottery. Smh.....

Google also has unlimited photo storage. Mention that to her. It's a new thing so you may not have heard of it yet.

mm1970

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8451 on: June 02, 2015, 10:21:06 AM »

Ha!  I have a coworker who eats beans and rice for breakfast almost every day, and I tease him about it.

But of course, I bring lunch every day.  And since we've had 3 layoffs in 1.5 years, most people bring their lunch now.  This particular coworker goes through phases where he will go out a lot or bring lunch (leftovers or sandwiches).  But anyway, my teasing is good natured because I eat a lot of beans and rice, plus his girlfriend is vegan (and he's not).

Everyone who teases thinks it's good natured (and I'm sure that is your intention). But actually, commenting on what people are eating over and over is just really annoying, in my experience. Especially if you are saying the same things. I heard you the first 100 times you said it! I know I am eating rice and beans they are in front of me! /rant
Personally it's funny, because a few years ago when everyone else was eating out more (before the layoffs), he was one of the guys who said "beans and rice again??"

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8452 on: June 02, 2015, 10:25:30 AM »
Oh... my... word... My coworker wants the new Iphone because she is "out of space" on her old phone and it "runs slow" (it's an iPhone 4). She said she can't take any more pictures, so it's like she can't even hold onto memories. I asked if she's gone through the pictures and deleted old ones, she says yes but most of them she wants to keep. So I asked why she didn't put them on Facebook. She said she doesn't want to share them all with other people.

Me: Well you could just set them to private. Then Facebook acts as free picture storage.
Her: Yeah that's true...

It gets worse. With a discount she gets the new Iphone for $165, but still wants to put it on payments. And this after we just talked about having the freedom/flexibility for extended travel and she said she really needs to win the lottery. Smh.....

Google also has unlimited photo storage. Mention that to her. It's a new thing so you may not have heard of it yet.

There's a cap on the storage size per photo/video though.  Most people won't hit it, but if you will, Flickr's free 1TB is probably the better route.  Either option is really good though.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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cripzychiken

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8453 on: June 02, 2015, 10:39:46 AM »
Oh... my... word... My coworker wants the new Iphone because she is "out of space" on her old phone and it "runs slow" (it's an iPhone 4). She said she can't take any more pictures, so it's like she can't even hold onto memories. I asked if she's gone through the pictures and deleted old ones, she says yes but most of them she wants to keep. So I asked why she didn't put them on Facebook. She said she doesn't want to share them all with other people.

Me: Well you could just set them to private. Then Facebook acts as free picture storage.
Her: Yeah that's true...

It gets worse. With a discount she gets the new Iphone for $165, but still wants to put it on payments. And this after we just talked about having the freedom/flexibility for extended travel and she said she really needs to win the lottery. Smh.....

Google also has unlimited photo storage. Mention that to her. It's a new thing so you may not have heard of it yet.

There's a cap on the storage size per photo/video though.  Most people won't hit it, but if you will, Flickr's free 1TB is probably the better route.  Either option is really good though.

Or just move all the photos to your computer.  You can then back them up somewhere else as a 2ndary safety (burn to a dvd, store them on a thumbdrive, etc).  I do this once a year during the December holiday shutdown at work.  It's always a nice way to remember all the great (and sometimes stupid) stuff I did the last year.  Plus it keeps my phone clear so I can always have enough space.

WerKater

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8454 on: June 02, 2015, 10:46:58 AM »
Oh... my... word... My coworker wants the new Iphone because she is "out of space" on her old phone and it "runs slow" (it's an iPhone 4). She said she can't take any more pictures, so it's like she can't even hold onto memories. I asked if she's gone through the pictures and deleted old ones, she says yes but most of them she wants to keep. So I asked why she didn't put them on Facebook. She said she doesn't want to share them all with other people.

Me: Well you could just set them to private. Then Facebook acts as free picture storage.
Her: Yeah that's true...

It gets worse. With a discount she gets the new Iphone for $165, but still wants to put it on payments. And this after we just talked about having the freedom/flexibility for extended travel and she said she really needs to win the lottery. Smh.....

Google also has unlimited photo storage. Mention that to her. It's a new thing so you may not have heard of it yet.

There's a cap on the storage size per photo/video though.  Most people won't hit it, but if you will, Flickr's free 1TB is probably the better route.  Either option is really good though.

Or just move all the photos to your computer.  You can then back them up somewhere else as a 2ndary safety (burn to a dvd, store them on a thumbdrive, etc).  I do this once a year during the December holiday shutdown at work.  It's always a nice way to remember all the great (and sometimes stupid) stuff I did the last year.  Plus it keeps my phone clear so I can always have enough space.
This. Frankly, I always assumed that everyone does this. Isn't it the most obvious solution?

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8455 on: June 02, 2015, 10:50:44 AM »
It's easier for me to backup online than on the computer (automatic transfer from phone and camera straight to online service), but to each his own.  I'd do both if they're important--you never know when an online company that's hosting them will go out of business, and you never know when a hard drive might fail.  :)
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Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8456 on: June 02, 2015, 10:55:18 AM »
It's easier for me to backup online than on the computer (automatic transfer from phone and camera straight to online service), but to each his own.  I'd do both if they're important--you never know when an online company that's hosting them will go out of business, and you never know when a hard drive might fail.  :)

Gotta RAID your drives, print things in triplicate, and take out multiple life insurance policies because you never know.

Redstone5

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8457 on: June 02, 2015, 11:43:00 AM »

Ha!  I have a coworker who eats beans and rice for breakfast almost every day, and I tease him about it.

But of course, I bring lunch every day.  And since we've had 3 layoffs in 1.5 years, most people bring their lunch now.  This particular coworker goes through phases where he will go out a lot or bring lunch (leftovers or sandwiches).  But anyway, my teasing is good natured because I eat a lot of beans and rice, plus his girlfriend is vegan (and he's not).

Everyone who teases thinks it's good natured (and I'm sure that is your intention). But actually, commenting on what people are eating over and over is just really annoying, in my experience.
Especially if you are saying the same things. I heard you the first 100 times you said it! I know I am eating rice and beans they are in front of me! /rant

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Even if it's a compliment, I just don't like people commenting on what I'm eating. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something. I don't know why it bugs me, but I eat at my desk to avoid the comments. I hate when people smell my food. *shrug*
« Last Edit: June 02, 2015, 11:44:50 AM by Redstone5 »

Cressida

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8458 on: June 02, 2015, 03:16:06 PM »
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Even if it's a compliment, I just don't like people commenting on what I'm eating. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something.

I agree. My choice of food shouldn't be a source of entertainment for others.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8459 on: June 02, 2015, 03:27:57 PM »
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Even if it's a compliment, I just don't like people commenting on what I'm eating. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something.

I agree. My choice of food shouldn't be a source of entertainment for others.

Sounds like something a dirty soup-eater would say.

Melody

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8460 on: June 02, 2015, 06:19:23 PM »
Best quote of the day. Me too!

Skalm

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8461 on: June 02, 2015, 10:33:04 PM »
I'm still slogging through the first few pages of this thread, so apologies if I'm butting in the middle of a conversation, but I have another story of anti-Mustachian behavior.

So my job hires temps during the summer and puts the full-time workers over them while we do projects. One of my guys, let's call him Jim, was astoundingly careless with his money.

He said he needed the two weeks of work that were quasi-guaranteed to be able to pay rent and take care of his pregnant girlfriend, but he spent money on stuff like a Red Bull every day, a WWE PPV over the weekend, eating lunch from a gas station every day (I offered him some cup o noodles and a sandwich but he declined), and bragged about his designer clothes. He begged rides from anyone who drove, claiming that he didn't have the dollar it takes to take the bus that goes right by his area of town.
We ended up letting him go early because his quality of work was below our standards and he kept sneaking off to mess on his phone (a Galaxy S6, with the included smartwatch).
« Last Edit: June 04, 2015, 12:18:45 AM by Skalm »

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8462 on: June 02, 2015, 10:43:50 PM »
I'm still slogging through the first few pages of this thread, so apologies if I'm butting in the middle of a conversation, but I have another story of anti-Mustachian behavior.

So my job hires temps during the summer and puts the full-time workers over them while we do projects. One of my guys, let's call him Jim, was astoundingly careless with his money.

He said he needed the two weeks of work that were quasi-guaranteed to be able to pay rent and take care of his pregnant girlfriend, but he spent money on stuff like a Red Bull every day, a WWE PPV over the weekend, eating lunch from a gas station every day (I offered him some cup o noodles and a sandwich but he declined), and bragged about his designer clothes. He begged rides from anyone who drove, claiming that he didn't have the dollar it takes to take the bus that goes right by his area of town.
We ended up letting him go early because his quality of work was below our standards and he kept sneaking off to mess on his phone.

This is why we need social security, so poor Jim doesn't eventually die in the streets

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8463 on: June 03, 2015, 01:17:36 AM »
Several years ago I overhead a conversation of several coworkers talking about their hour+ commutes. I asked why they didn't just move closer to work. One guy replied that luck would have it that when he moved closer he'd change jobs. I guess the past three years of his job stability were because of his lucky commute.

Adventine

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8464 on: June 03, 2015, 02:05:00 AM »
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Even if it's a compliment, I just don't like people commenting on what I'm eating. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something.

I agree. My choice of food shouldn't be a source of entertainment for others.

I've never had a problem with people commenting on my homemade lunch, because I always comment on their lunches too. Seems like harmless lunchtime office conversation to me. I don't know how it can get on some people's nerves. I just smile broadly and say "Yep! Made my own lunch again today. Where'd you buy yours?" and inwardly smile at how expensive their food usually is.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2015, 02:14:35 AM by Adventine »

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8465 on: June 03, 2015, 06:07:34 AM »
My father in law commuted more than an hour sometimes longer depending in when he left,  he worked for the same company for 40 years.  He got a huge severance package for an early layoff and a full pension (whose value was changed a couple of times but is still damn good).  By the time the kids were done school, (after college) he was counting down the years to retirement.  My wife still lived at home.  And they liked where they lived.
I had an hour+ because my wife needed the easier commute and we wanted to be closer to friends.  Sometimes there really isn't a choice.  I may be taking a job that will be about an hour commute on a good day.  We can't move right now because my in-laws provide the wife with help during the week and we like the school district. 

There are trade offs, but when you are married that is what it is about.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8466 on: June 03, 2015, 07:02:05 AM »
Oh... my... word... My coworker wants the new Iphone because she is "out of space" on her old phone and it "runs slow" (it's an iPhone 4).

This is actually something that pisses me off about my Iphone (I got it because I wanted to be able to facetime with my sister and it was the free option with the contract I had at the time.)

With my previous android I could put any memory card I wanted in there.  It was basically impossible to run out of space.  I can't have external memory on the iphone.

So I can understand getting a different phone for this reason.  But certainly not another iphone.

cripzychiken

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8467 on: June 03, 2015, 07:42:18 AM »
for the work commute issue - another reason is favoring one spouse's work location over another (my wife works 1.2miles away, I work 14.7) as well as schools (schools near my work are levels below the school near my wife's work).  This doesn't even account for housing costs, access to city amenities and other features that are heavily located near my wife's work.

I still hate the commute though.  Can't wait until it is no longer required.

GuitarStv

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8468 on: June 03, 2015, 08:34:44 AM »
Oh... my... word... My coworker wants the new Iphone because she is "out of space" on her old phone and it "runs slow" (it's an iPhone 4). She said she can't take any more pictures, so it's like she can't even hold onto memories. I asked if she's gone through the pictures and deleted old ones, she says yes but most of them she wants to keep. So I asked why she didn't put them on Facebook. She said she doesn't want to share them all with other people.

Me: Well you could just set them to private. Then Facebook acts as free picture storage.
Her: Yeah that's true...

It gets worse. With a discount she gets the new Iphone for $165, but still wants to put it on payments. And this after we just talked about having the freedom/flexibility for extended travel and she said she really needs to win the lottery. Smh.....

Google also has unlimited photo storage. Mention that to her. It's a new thing so you may not have heard of it yet.

There's a cap on the storage size per photo/video though.  Most people won't hit it, but if you will, Flickr's free 1TB is probably the better route.  Either option is really good though.

Or just move all the photos to your computer.  You can then back them up somewhere else as a 2ndary safety (burn to a dvd, store them on a thumbdrive, etc).  I do this once a year during the December holiday shutdown at work.  It's always a nice way to remember all the great (and sometimes stupid) stuff I did the last year.  Plus it keeps my phone clear so I can always have enough space.
This. Frankly, I always assumed that everyone does this. Isn't it the most obvious solution?

I think people get wayyy to set on preserving photos.  The average person takes thousands of photographs a year.  Typically they go into some gigantic unsorted pile and are ignored.  After a few years of this there's a really really big unsorted pile of photos that is unmanageable without a lot of effort . . . which means it will never be managed.

Don't be a photo hoarder.  Nobody (even you) cares about most of the pictures you have.  Your device has more than enough space to keep one of two important photos.  Delete the rest.

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8469 on: June 03, 2015, 08:38:13 AM »
My wife and I are terrible at taking pictures. We've been together over 10 years, and aside from our wedding photos, there's maybe three or four pictures of us together.

So I like to make sure the photos I do have are backed up decently.

I've lost a lot of data due to hard drive failure, computer crashes, etc.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Papa Mustache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8470 on: June 03, 2015, 09:03:38 AM »

I couldn't agree more with these two statements. There are tons of horrible stories of small children being killed by their own parents. Think of a little toddler, running out of the house excited to see daddy, runs behind the car, and daddy backs over her because she is shorter than the window. It can all happen so fast to any parent. Kids are swift little things.

All true. And it's yet another reason to drive something that is a reasonable size. Not saying my smallish vehicles don't have a blind spot but everything is low enough, the windows big enough, and the glass untinted enough to see everything around me pretty good. We've always had kids and critters and had to teach all of them to get out of the way when the engine is running.

A commenter earlier in this thread said that they prefer low tech vehicles and I have to agree.  I don't want to be required to buy a car with more tech than a spaceship. I'm perfectly happy to wear out a car daily with a/c and electric windows and a manual transmission.

Wouldn't mind having the "space ship" car with all the bells and whistles for out of town trips ala a Tesla S or Chrysler T&C minivan, etc. Registration and insurance in my state is cheap enough to garage an occasionally used vehicle while wearing out something more basic and older for daily use.  In reality my nice car would be something with 50K miles and a used car pricetag while I wear out $1500 daily drivers. This was common in southern Italy where I lived for a while. The most basic Fiat with no frills or a/c for daily driving and a Lancia or Alfa Romeo for the weekends.

amberfocus

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8471 on: June 03, 2015, 09:29:26 AM »
I had to spend a few hours in a car with a colleague traveling for work, and amid all the small talk we engaged in, I was subjected to quite the litany of financial woe.

It started with taxes. Apparently, she pays more than $1000 per month in property taxes for a "modest four bedroom" (to be fair, they are a family of five), but another family member pays the same amount for a "tiny!" 1500 sq ft house. (I mildly commented that my own house is way smaller than 1500 sq ft -- and we don't even use half of it -- and our tax bill is one-fifth of theirs.) And last year, they were hit with an extra tax bill of $13K because "Obamacare", and "somebody has to pay for all those subsidies". I could not for the life of me figure out what this is, because it's not the tax penalty for going uninsured. At first I thought it might be the Cadillac tax, but that doesn't start until 2018?

Then came her kids. Her teenage son plays hockey, which is apparently the most expensive sport outside of equestrian. Last year, he needed new skates that cost $1000, and being only 13, he will probably outgrow them soon. He also needs extra blades for those skate, although she didn't itemize how much those were. The fancy team he plays on cost $6000 to join. He needs private lessons every week to the tune of $100 per hour. To attend his next tournament, they have to travel and stay at a hotel for three nights at $180 per night. Throw in food and other expenses, and it'll be $1000 for the entire affair. And now her other son wants to do crew. She's already shelling out for windbreakers and the like. She better not have to buy him a boat!

Of course the obvious conclusion is that all these taxes and costs are so outrageous that you NEED two incomes just to get by. Throughout all of this, I reacted quite appropriately with grimaces and gasps of horror. It's just that I don't think the horror referred to what she thought it referred to.

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8472 on: June 03, 2015, 09:59:00 AM »
I had to spend a few hours in a car with a colleague traveling for work, and amid all the small talk we engaged in, I was subjected to quite the litany of financial woe.

It started with taxes. Apparently, she pays more than $1000 per month in property taxes for a "modest four bedroom" (to be fair, they are a family of five), but another family member pays the same amount for a "tiny!" 1500 sq ft house. (I mildly commented that my own house is way smaller than 1500 sq ft -- and we don't even use half of it -- and our tax bill is one-fifth of theirs.) And last year, they were hit with an extra tax bill of $13K because "Obamacare", and "somebody has to pay for all those subsidies". I could not for the life of me figure out what this is, because it's not the tax penalty for going uninsured. At first I thought it might be the Cadillac tax, but that doesn't start until 2018?

Then came her kids. Her teenage son plays hockey, which is apparently the most expensive sport outside of equestrian. Last year, he needed new skates that cost $1000, and being only 13, he will probably outgrow them soon. He also needs extra blades for those skate, although she didn't itemize how much those were. The fancy team he plays on cost $6000 to join. He needs private lessons every week to the tune of $100 per hour. To attend his next tournament, they have to travel and stay at a hotel for three nights at $180 per night. Throw in food and other expenses, and it'll be $1000 for the entire affair. And now her other son wants to do crew. She's already shelling out for windbreakers and the like. She better not have to buy him a boat!


Oh gawd.

I ref hockey, and have been playing it from age 6 to now. Tell her to go to Play it again sports for the skates. Or Ebay. Or Hockeymonkey.com closeout, or Hockeygiant.com closeout, or... And tell her that the blades that came with the skates are fine. And that he is 13, his slapshot sucks, and he doesn't need the most expensive stick (I can probably guarantee my slapshot is about 4 times as good as his... and my stick cost $30, although those are near impossible to find now).

Also tell her that the kid isn't going to make the NHL, or even a decent college team, so pull him out of AAA and go down to AA or A. Private lessons? They're over paying. Because, again, he isn't making the NHL. Put a hockey net in the basement, tell him to shoot for an hour a day aiming at the corners, and give him a golf ball and tell him to stick handle it througha bucnh of pucks for obstacles.

Signed, a guy who could have played club hockey in college but didn't, and a guy who has reffed everything from Club College to Juniors (pre-pro) to semi-pro, and everything below that.

Cheddar Stacker

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8473 on: June 03, 2015, 10:47:26 AM »
And last year, they were hit with an extra tax bill of $13K because "Obamacare", and "somebody has to pay for all those subsidies". I could not for the life of me figure out what this is, because it's not the tax penalty for going uninsured. At first I thought it might be the Cadillac tax, but that doesn't start until 2018?

It's likely an additional Medicare tax that no married couple pays until after they have > $250K in taxable income. So while it sucks to pay an additional $13K, that equates to a very, very large amount of income so don't get out your violin just yet. The tax is either 0.9% of earned taxable income > $250K, or 3.8% of investment income > $250K. Let's assume it's the higher of the two tax rates. This means in order to pay $13K in additional medicare tax from Obamacare: $13,000 / 3.8% = $342,105 investment income in excess of the $250K taxable income threshold.

So either your CW is lying, confused about exactly where the taxes came from, didn't explain it properly, or made a shit ton of money, like $600K + and can afford to subsidize a few people.

Redstone5

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8474 on: June 03, 2015, 01:29:29 PM »
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Even if it's a compliment, I just don't like people commenting on what I'm eating. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something.

I agree. My choice of food shouldn't be a source of entertainment for others.

I've never had a problem with people commenting on my homemade lunch, because I always comment on their lunches too. Seems like harmless lunchtime office conversation to me. I don't know how it can get on some people's nerves. I just smile broadly and say "Yep! Made my own lunch again today. Where'd you buy yours?" and inwardly smile at how expensive their food usually is.

I guess I feel like I need to either explain or justify my food choice to people, or describe the recipe, or defend how easy it was to make, etc. Also, it feels kind of unhygienic to me to have people point at my food or lean over my shoulder to see what I'm eating while I'm eating it.

Hunny156

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8475 on: June 03, 2015, 01:38:17 PM »
My wife and I are terrible at taking pictures. We've been together over 10 years, and aside from our wedding photos, there's maybe three or four pictures of us together.

So I like to make sure the photos I do have are backed up decently.

I've lost a lot of data due to hard drive failure, computer crashes, etc.

This is totally us too!  We come back from trips with lots of pictures of the scenery, but as a friend once put it, no "proof" that we were actually there.

I just checked my phone, I have exactly 49 pictures on there.  Most of them are cure kitty pics...

HairyUpperLip

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8476 on: June 03, 2015, 01:42:51 PM »
My wife and I are terrible at taking pictures. We've been together over 10 years, and aside from our wedding photos, there's maybe three or four pictures of us together.

So I like to make sure the photos I do have are backed up decently.

I've lost a lot of data due to hard drive failure, computer crashes, etc.

This is totally us too!  We come back from trips with lots of pictures of the scenery, but as a friend once put it, no "proof" that we were actually there.

I just checked my phone, I have exactly 49 pictures on there.  Most of them are cure kitty pics...

haha, us too. My wife always gets "mad" that I end up with better photos of myself with other women (friends) when we do go to events/functions.

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8477 on: June 03, 2015, 02:39:47 PM »
I'm trying to piece together the puzzle of a client's books and prior year tax return and I get this in response:

"I needed to show a lot of income on the tax return so that we could qualify for a bigger house."

I'm dying here... W... T... F.

In fairness, my broker told me that if I claimed things like significant unreimbursed business expenses, that would decrease my available income that would be used in my D:I metrics for affording my house.  The idea being that you'd have to spend that money every year so it wouldn't be available for mortgage payments.  That did keep my from claiming ~$1000 of mileage from my wife driving back and forth between offices unreimbursed, but I don't think it actually made a tangible difference to either my return or my mortgage qual.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8478 on: June 03, 2015, 03:16:50 PM »
I'm trying to piece together the puzzle of a client's books and prior year tax return and I get this in response:

"I needed to show a lot of income on the tax return so that we could qualify for a bigger house."

I'm dying here... W... T... F.

In fairness, my broker told me that if I claimed things like significant unreimbursed business expenses, that would decrease my available income that would be used in my D:I metrics for affording my house.  The idea being that you'd have to spend that money every year so it wouldn't be available for mortgage payments.  That did keep my from claiming ~$1000 of mileage from my wife driving back and forth between offices unreimbursed, but I don't think it actually made a tangible difference to either my return or my mortgage qual.
That probably cost you anywhere from nothing to a few hundred and probably qualified you for 5k more on your loan. Depends on a lot of things.
I've encountered situations where taking full advantage of deductible expenses did hinder me on the DTI calculation, but to be honest, if you're in a marginal scenario you probably shouldn't be trying to qualify for more anyway. (probably being the key word)

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8479 on: June 03, 2015, 03:27:20 PM »
I'm trying to piece together the puzzle of a client's books and prior year tax return and I get this in response:

"I needed to show a lot of income on the tax return so that we could qualify for a bigger house."

I'm dying here... W... T... F.

In fairness, my broker told me that if I claimed things like significant unreimbursed business expenses, that would decrease my available income that would be used in my D:I metrics for affording my house.  The idea being that you'd have to spend that money every year so it wouldn't be available for mortgage payments.  That did keep my from claiming ~$1000 of mileage from my wife driving back and forth between offices unreimbursed, but I don't think it actually made a tangible difference to either my return or my mortgage qual.
That probably cost you anywhere from nothing to a few hundred and probably qualified you for 5k more on your loan. Depends on a lot of things.
I've encountered situations where taking full advantage of deductible expenses did hinder me on the DTI calculation, but to be honest, if you're in a marginal scenario you probably shouldn't be trying to qualify for more anyway. (probably being the key word)

I was marginal only in the sense that I have multiple properties and couldn't use rental income as income because I lacked the required history (it's pretty recent).

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8480 on: June 03, 2015, 04:38:29 PM »
Some tales of commute silliness.

A couple weekends ago, chatting with a friend of a friend at a party, she remarks that she commutes from town A to town B.  The distance is not measured in miles, but *hours*, I think she said 1 1/2 hours commute if she leaves so that she arrives by 7am.  The part that hurts my head is she used to live in town B.  Wha.....?

Then there is my co-worker who is actually getting close to (normal age) retirement, maybe in the next year or so.  She has been commuting 2 hours to & from work for DECADES!  How in the heck does one keep up with that lifestyle?  The lifestyle with no free time???
Is she overweight?  Because seriously, the worst part about no free time is no time to work out.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8481 on: June 03, 2015, 04:39:50 PM »
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Even if it's a compliment, I just don't like people commenting on what I'm eating. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something.

I agree. My choice of food shouldn't be a source of entertainment for others.

I've never had a problem with people commenting on my homemade lunch, because I always comment on their lunches too. Seems like harmless lunchtime office conversation to me. I don't know how it can get on some people's nerves. I just smile broadly and say "Yep! Made my own lunch again today. Where'd you buy yours?" and inwardly smile at how expensive their food usually is.
You know how some people comment on your clothing, etc?  Well, I don't.  I like food, it's an interest and a hobby of mine - what can I say?  Always looking for new ideas.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8482 on: June 03, 2015, 04:40:10 PM »
And last year, they were hit with an extra tax bill of $13K because "Obamacare", and "somebody has to pay for all those subsidies". I could not for the life of me figure out what this is, because it's not the tax penalty for going uninsured. At first I thought it might be the Cadillac tax, but that doesn't start until 2018?

It's likely an additional Medicare tax that no married couple pays until after they have > $250K in taxable income. So while it sucks to pay an additional $13K, that equates to a very, very large amount of income so don't get out your violin just yet. The tax is either 0.9% of earned taxable income > $250K, or 3.8% of investment income > $250K. Let's assume it's the higher of the two tax rates. This means in order to pay $13K in additional medicare tax from Obamacare: $13,000 / 3.8% = $342,105 investment income in excess of the $250K taxable income threshold.

So either your CW is lying, confused about exactly where the taxes came from, didn't explain it properly, or made a shit ton of money, like $600K + and can afford to subsidize a few people.

Or owed $13K for a completely unrelated reason (capital gains, underwithholding) and finds Obamacare a convenient scapegoat.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8483 on: June 04, 2015, 12:29:43 AM »
Or her accountant does...

11ducks

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8484 on: June 04, 2015, 03:25:56 AM »
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Even if it's a compliment, I just don't like people commenting on what I'm eating. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something.

I agree. My choice of food shouldn't be a source of entertainment for others.

I've never had a problem with people commenting on my homemade lunch, because I always comment on their lunches too. Seems like harmless lunchtime office conversation to me. I don't know how it can get on some people's nerves. I just smile broadly and say "Yep! Made my own lunch again today. Where'd you buy yours?" and inwardly smile at how expensive their food usually is.
You know how some people comment on your clothing, etc?  Well, I don't.  I like food, it's an interest and a hobby of mine - what can I say?  Always looking for new ideas.


Aargh- I used to sit opposite the most negative, draining woman ever. She was overweight,  loudly claimed it was thyroid (nope, it's the cakes you shove into your gaping maw daily), and would critique every piece of food I brought in, looking for the unhealthy stuff, and then exclaim about the sugary/fatty parts of my lunch, and oh, aren't you lucky, wouldn't it be nice to have a metabolism like yours??? Drove me nuts. I used to put a square of chocolate in my oats each morning in lieu of sweetener, and god, she never failed to tell the whole office about my 'chocolatey' breakfast (never mind the hour I spent in the gym before work, and that it was 10grams of chocolate). She would point out my bananas and handful of nuts and smugly tell me they were way too full of sugar/fat for her, but ooh, lucky naturally skinny you, you can eat it. I wanted to smother her. Sorry, a bit OT. Coworkers.

purplish

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8485 on: June 04, 2015, 07:18:45 AM »
At work they're changing the dates we get paid slightly (essentially the same frequency, just different dates). So I opened my email to see they're providing a CLASS to understand it lol. The email starts off "Changing the date or frequency of a payday can be a traumatic event for some". Traumatic??  What in the world....

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8486 on: June 04, 2015, 07:36:17 AM »

At work they're changing the dates we get paid slightly (essentially the same frequency, just different dates). So I opened my email to see they're providing a CLASS to understand it lol. The email starts off "Changing the date or frequency of a payday can be a traumatic event for some". Traumatic??  What in the world....

Hah.

How big is the shift?  From what days to what days?
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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purplish

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8487 on: June 04, 2015, 07:54:57 AM »

At work they're changing the dates we get paid slightly (essentially the same frequency, just different dates). So I opened my email to see they're providing a CLASS to understand it lol. The email starts off "Changing the date or frequency of a payday can be a traumatic event for some". Traumatic??  What in the world....

Hah.

How big is the shift?  From what days to what days?
Literally changing from being paid twice a month on specific dates, to twice a month on a certain day of the week instead. So, instead of the 1st of each month which will fall on a different day each month, it will be the first friday.

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8488 on: June 04, 2015, 08:00:51 AM »
I mean, I guess that's a big change if they rely on that first payment for rent and now it doesn't come in sometimes until the 6th or 7th.  Many live paycheck to paycheck, unfortunately.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8489 on: June 04, 2015, 08:05:05 AM »
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Even if it's a compliment, I just don't like people commenting on what I'm eating. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something.

I agree. My choice of food shouldn't be a source of entertainment for others.

I've never had a problem with people commenting on my homemade lunch, because I always comment on their lunches too. Seems like harmless lunchtime office conversation to me. I don't know how it can get on some people's nerves. I just smile broadly and say "Yep! Made my own lunch again today. Where'd you buy yours?" and inwardly smile at how expensive their food usually is.
You know how some people comment on your clothing, etc?  Well, I don't.  I like food, it's an interest and a hobby of mine - what can I say?  Always looking for new ideas.


Aargh- I used to sit opposite the most negative, draining woman ever. She was overweight,  loudly claimed it was thyroid (nope, it's the cakes you shove into your gaping maw daily), and would critique every piece of food I brought in, looking for the unhealthy stuff, and then exclaim about the sugary/fatty parts of my lunch, and oh, aren't you lucky, wouldn't it be nice to have a metabolism like yours??? Drove me nuts. I used to put a square of chocolate in my oats each morning in lieu of sweetener, and god, she never failed to tell the whole office about my 'chocolatey' breakfast (never mind the hour I spent in the gym before work, and that it was 10grams of chocolate). She would point out my bananas and handful of nuts and smugly tell me they were way too full of sugar/fat for her, but ooh, lucky naturally skinny you, you can eat it. I wanted to smother her. Sorry, a bit OT. Coworkers.

You know what, at the risk of annoying a ton of people (because in my experience any mention of fatness or slimness bring out INTENSE emotions in people) I totally empathise with you on this.
My feelings on weight:
1. I don't care what size anyone is
2. I don't care what they eat
3. Food is tasty, it's nice to eat it. Sometimes it's nice to talk about it too.
4. BUT my own body weight, and the amount I eat, is not something to judge, loudly, infront of me. Or make jokes about.

I am naturally quite thin, which for some reason seems to be similar to wearing a sign saying 'please comment on my body in any way you wish, be as rude as you like, I'm thin so it doesn't count as rude anyway'. I have lost count of the amount of times that someone (and it has always been a woman, overweight) has commented along the lines of 'I wish I could eat the way you do', 'you don't understand how hard it is to diet', 'it'll catch up with you when you're older', 'where do you put it all', etc etc.

It makes me so angry, and here is another list for why.

1. I'm female. This is women hating on other women about their size. Just doing the work of mysogynists all by ourselves. Way to go ladies.
2. I don't comment on their bodies. And I'm not judging them for what they eat.
3. But... when they say they wish they could 'eat the way I do', sometimes I just wish I could take them up on that idea and take over their eating habits for just one week, so they have to eat everything I do. And then they might believe me that I just eat a normal amount. And do some exercise.

Sorry for derailing the thread. Rant over.

Candace

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8490 on: June 04, 2015, 08:07:47 AM »
At work they're changing the dates we get paid slightly (essentially the same frequency, just different dates). So I opened my email to see they're providing a CLASS to understand it lol. The email starts off "Changing the date or frequency of a payday can be a traumatic event for some". Traumatic??  What in the world....
A long time ago the company I worked for changed the pay schedule from getting paid for a two-week pay period on the last day of the pay period (obviously problematic because time hadn't been reported when paychecks were cut) to being paid two weeks in arrears, which is more standard.

To bridge the gap that would have resulted in pay, the company gave every employee an interest-free loan in the amount of their normal paycheck. They never had to pay back the loan until they left the company. So basically, they were trying to make the change transparent. Well, you should have seen the reactions. People didn't understand, and thought they were being taken advantage of. There was a lot of tension.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8491 on: June 04, 2015, 08:15:28 AM »
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Even if it's a compliment, I just don't like people commenting on what I'm eating. It feels like an invasion of privacy or something.

I agree. My choice of food shouldn't be a source of entertainment for others.

I've never had a problem with people commenting on my homemade lunch, because I always comment on their lunches too. Seems like harmless lunchtime office conversation to me. I don't know how it can get on some people's nerves. I just smile broadly and say "Yep! Made my own lunch again today. Where'd you buy yours?" and inwardly smile at how expensive their food usually is.
You know how some people comment on your clothing, etc?  Well, I don't.  I like food, it's an interest and a hobby of mine - what can I say?  Always looking for new ideas.


Aargh- I used to sit opposite the most negative, draining woman ever. She was overweight,  loudly claimed it was thyroid (nope, it's the cakes you shove into your gaping maw daily), and would critique every piece of food I brought in, looking for the unhealthy stuff, and then exclaim about the sugary/fatty parts of my lunch, and oh, aren't you lucky, wouldn't it be nice to have a metabolism like yours??? Drove me nuts. I used to put a square of chocolate in my oats each morning in lieu of sweetener, and god, she never failed to tell the whole office about my 'chocolatey' breakfast (never mind the hour I spent in the gym before work, and that it was 10grams of chocolate). She would point out my bananas and handful of nuts and smugly tell me they were way too full of sugar/fat for her, but ooh, lucky naturally skinny you, you can eat it. I wanted to smother her. Sorry, a bit OT. Coworkers.

You know what, at the risk of annoying a ton of people (because in my experience any mention of fatness or slimness bring out INTENSE emotions in people) I totally empathise with you on this.
My feelings on weight:
1. I don't care what size anyone is
2. I don't care what they eat
3. Food is tasty, it's nice to eat it. Sometimes it's nice to talk about it too.
4. BUT my own body weight, and the amount I eat, is not something to judge, loudly, infront of me. Or make jokes about.

I am naturally quite thin, which for some reason seems to be similar to wearing a sign saying 'please comment on my body in any way you wish, be as rude as you like, I'm thin so it doesn't count as rude anyway'. I have lost count of the amount of times that someone (and it has always been a woman, overweight) has commented along the lines of 'I wish I could eat the way you do', 'you don't understand how hard it is to diet', 'it'll catch up with you when you're older', 'where do you put it all', etc etc.

It makes me so angry, and here is another list for why.

1. I'm female. This is women hating on other women about their size. Just doing the work of mysogynists all by ourselves. Way to go ladies.
2. I don't comment on their bodies. And I'm not judging them for what they eat.
3. But... when they say they wish they could 'eat the way I do', sometimes I just wish I could take them up on that idea and take over their eating habits for just one week, so they have to eat everything I do. And then they might believe me that I just eat a normal amount. And do some exercise.

Sorry for derailing the thread. Rant over.

Preach, sister. I could have written that myself.

theadvicist

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8492 on: June 04, 2015, 08:33:52 AM »

You know what, at the risk of annoying a ton of people (because in my experience any mention of fatness or slimness bring out INTENSE emotions in people) I totally empathise with you on this.
My feelings on weight:
1. I don't care what size anyone is
2. I don't care what they eat
3. Food is tasty, it's nice to eat it. Sometimes it's nice to talk about it too.
4. BUT my own body weight, and the amount I eat, is not something to judge, loudly, infront of me. Or make jokes about.

I am naturally quite thin, which for some reason seems to be similar to wearing a sign saying 'please comment on my body in any way you wish, be as rude as you like, I'm thin so it doesn't count as rude anyway'. I have lost count of the amount of times that someone (and it has always been a woman, overweight) has commented along the lines of 'I wish I could eat the way you do', 'you don't understand how hard it is to diet', 'it'll catch up with you when you're older', 'where do you put it all', etc etc.

It makes me so angry, and here is another list for why.

1. I'm female. This is women hating on other women about their size. Just doing the work of mysogynists all by ourselves. Way to go ladies.
2. I don't comment on their bodies. And I'm not judging them for what they eat.
3. But... when they say they wish they could 'eat the way I do', sometimes I just wish I could take them up on that idea and take over their eating habits for just one week, so they have to eat everything I do. And then they might believe me that I just eat a normal amount. And do some exercise.

Sorry for derailing the thread. Rant over.

I agree. There is no need to comment on people's weight or eating habits, either at work or out of work. That goes in all directions - thin people commenting on fat people, and fat people telling thin people to 'eat a sandwich'.

But, if people are themselves going on about their weight THEY are opening up the converstion, and it is super-annoying to hear people who are clearly eating badly and not exercising complain about being overweight. I don't care how much someone eats / exercises, but please stop complaining about things you can (likely, not in all cases) change. Same goes for whinging about how you have no money (er, stop spending it!), and doing all the chores at home even though you have a partner, kids and a job (well, they won't do them if you do them for them, will they!). And now my rant is over too!

Too long, don't read: I agree. The caveat is when people bring up their weight / eating habits themselves.


Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8493 on: June 04, 2015, 08:50:27 AM »
My sister in law and her husband are morbidly obese, like land-monster sized.  I've got a beer belly I can stand to get rid of, but I'm not going to keel over tomorrow like these two.  Whenever she comes around, she's always got to comment on everyone else's meal, like "oh, do you know how many calories are in that slice of birthday cake you're eating?"  "If you didn't drink that beer you probably wouldn't have to walk after dinner to burn it off" etc.  And she's huge into the diet cooking, always into the latest celebrity chef fad, etc that she has to tell us all about.  All I can do not to crack "yeah, really looks like it's working out for you, you fat f$#%@".

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8494 on: June 04, 2015, 09:08:13 AM »
  "If you didn't drink that beer you probably wouldn't have to walk after dinner to burn it off" etc. 

"If you didn't make comments like that, I wouldn't have to drink the beer"

I do feel bad for the [few] people out there that legitimately do have a health issue that is making them obese. Someone I knew in a former life was like that, I remember her complainaing about a hormone that the doctors had identified that was being way overproduced in her and making it near impossible for her to loose weight. She did eat too much, but it wasn't an amount that would lead to more than a little chubbiness.

Redstone5

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8495 on: June 04, 2015, 09:20:52 AM »

You know what, at the risk of annoying a ton of people (because in my experience any mention of fatness or slimness bring out INTENSE emotions in people) I totally empathise with you on this.
My feelings on weight:
1. I don't care what size anyone is
2. I don't care what they eat
3. Food is tasty, it's nice to eat it. Sometimes it's nice to talk about it too.
4. BUT my own body weight, and the amount I eat, is not something to judge, loudly, infront of me. Or make jokes about.

I am naturally quite thin, which for some reason seems to be similar to wearing a sign saying 'please comment on my body in any way you wish, be as rude as you like, I'm thin so it doesn't count as rude anyway'. I have lost count of the amount of times that someone (and it has always been a woman, overweight) has commented along the lines of 'I wish I could eat the way you do', 'you don't understand how hard it is to diet', 'it'll catch up with you when you're older', 'where do you put it all', etc etc.

It makes me so angry, and here is another list for why.

1. I'm female. This is women hating on other women about their size. Just doing the work of mysogynists all by ourselves. Way to go ladies.
2. I don't comment on their bodies. And I'm not judging them for what they eat.
3. But... when they say they wish they could 'eat the way I do', sometimes I just wish I could take them up on that idea and take over their eating habits for just one week, so they have to eat everything I do. And then they might believe me that I just eat a normal amount. And do some exercise.

Sorry for derailing the thread. Rant over.

I agree. There is no need to comment on people's weight or eating habits, either at work or out of work. That goes in all directions - thin people commenting on fat people, and fat people telling thin people to 'eat a sandwich'.

But, if people are themselves going on about their weight THEY are opening up the converstion, and it is super-annoying to hear people who are clearly eating badly and not exercising complain about being overweight. I don't care how much someone eats / exercises, but please stop complaining about things you can (likely, not in all cases) change. Same goes for whinging about how you have no money (er, stop spending it!), and doing all the chores at home even though you have a partner, kids and a job (well, they won't do them if you do them for them, will they!). And now my rant is over too!

Too long, don't read: I agree. The caveat is when people bring up their weight / eating habits themselves.

I agree! I hate inter-office personal chit chat about things that should be private, unless it's with a CW who is an actual friend. Otherwise, it's just constant complaining that you can't escape because you're paid to be there.

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8496 on: June 04, 2015, 09:33:00 AM »

You know what, at the risk of annoying a ton of people (because in my experience any mention of fatness or slimness bring out INTENSE emotions in people) I totally empathise with you on this.
My feelings on weight:
1. I don't care what size anyone is
2. I don't care what they eat
3. Food is tasty, it's nice to eat it. Sometimes it's nice to talk about it too.
4. BUT my own body weight, and the amount I eat, is not something to judge, loudly, infront of me. Or make jokes about.

I am naturally quite thin, which for some reason seems to be similar to wearing a sign saying 'please comment on my body in any way you wish, be as rude as you like, I'm thin so it doesn't count as rude anyway'. I have lost count of the amount of times that someone (and it has always been a woman, overweight) has commented along the lines of 'I wish I could eat the way you do', 'you don't understand how hard it is to diet', 'it'll catch up with you when you're older', 'where do you put it all', etc etc.

It makes me so angry, and here is another list for why.

1. I'm female. This is women hating on other women about their size. Just doing the work of mysogynists all by ourselves. Way to go ladies.
2. I don't comment on their bodies. And I'm not judging them for what they eat.
3. But... when they say they wish they could 'eat the way I do', sometimes I just wish I could take them up on that idea and take over their eating habits for just one week, so they have to eat everything I do. And then they might believe me that I just eat a normal amount. And do some exercise.

Sorry for derailing the thread. Rant over.

I agree. There is no need to comment on people's weight or eating habits, either at work or out of work. That goes in all directions - thin people commenting on fat people, and fat people telling thin people to 'eat a sandwich'.

But, if people are themselves going on about their weight THEY are opening up the converstion, and it is super-annoying to hear people who are clearly eating badly and not exercising complain about being overweight. I don't care how much someone eats / exercises, but please stop complaining about things you can (likely, not in all cases) change. Same goes for whinging about how you have no money (er, stop spending it!), and doing all the chores at home even though you have a partner, kids and a job (well, they won't do them if you do them for them, will they!). And now my rant is over too!

Too long, don't read: I agree. The caveat is when people bring up their weight / eating habits themselves.

I agree! I hate inter-office personal chit chat about things that should be private, unless it's with a CW who is an actual friend. Otherwise, it's just constant complaining that you can't escape because you're paid to be there.

My family feels the need to comment on my body when I was rail thin (high school runner), each time I would politely tell them that they would likely lose weight if they stopped eating like a pig and started to exercise. They stopped bringing up my thinness.

infogoon

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8497 on: June 04, 2015, 09:37:07 AM »
Aargh- I used to sit opposite the most negative, draining woman ever. She was overweight,  loudly claimed it was thyroid (nope, it's the cakes you shove into your gaping maw daily), and would critique every piece of food I brought in, looking for the unhealthy stuff, and then exclaim about the sugary/fatty parts of my lunch, and oh, aren't you lucky, wouldn't it be nice to have a metabolism like yours??? Drove me nuts. I used to put a square of chocolate in my oats each morning in lieu of sweetener, and god, she never failed to tell the whole office about my 'chocolatey' breakfast (never mind the hour I spent in the gym before work, and that it was 10grams of chocolate). She would point out my bananas and handful of nuts and smugly tell me they were way too full of sugar/fat for her, but ooh, lucky naturally skinny you, you can eat it. I wanted to smother her. Sorry, a bit OT. Coworkers.

I believe I've posted this here before, but I have _never_ gotten unsolicited advice on my diet or exercise from someone who was actually fit.

ender

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8498 on: June 04, 2015, 09:48:07 AM »
Aargh- I used to sit opposite the most negative, draining woman ever. She was overweight,  loudly claimed it was thyroid (nope, it's the cakes you shove into your gaping maw daily), and would critique every piece of food I brought in, looking for the unhealthy stuff, and then exclaim about the sugary/fatty parts of my lunch, and oh, aren't you lucky, wouldn't it be nice to have a metabolism like yours??? Drove me nuts. I used to put a square of chocolate in my oats each morning in lieu of sweetener, and god, she never failed to tell the whole office about my 'chocolatey' breakfast (never mind the hour I spent in the gym before work, and that it was 10grams of chocolate). She would point out my bananas and handful of nuts and smugly tell me they were way too full of sugar/fat for her, but ooh, lucky naturally skinny you, you can eat it. I wanted to smother her. Sorry, a bit OT. Coworkers.

I believe I've posted this here before, but I have _never_ gotten unsolicited advice on my diet or exercise from someone who was actually fit.

This is a really interesting perspective that I think is true for me, too!

Though you tend to get encouragement and support from those folks.

mm1970

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #8499 on: June 04, 2015, 11:07:18 AM »
Quote
She would point out my bananas and handful of nuts and smugly tell me they were way too full of sugar/fat for her, but ooh, lucky naturally skinny you, you can eat it. I wanted to smother her. Sorry, a bit OT. Coworkers.

Quote
3. But... when they say they wish they could 'eat the way I do', sometimes I just wish I could take them up on that idea and take over their eating habits for just one week, so they have to eat everything I do. And then they might believe me that I just eat a normal amount. And do some exercise.

Just wanted to point these two out because...it took a long time for me to realize that maybe looking at someone who is trim and fit, and trying to eat like they do - is not a bad idea.  It doesn't always work (I've done a lot of experimentation in the last few years).  But about 10 years ago, when I was having toast for breakfast, I worked with a very fit guy who was eating apples and nuts for breakfast.  Hmm...