Idiocy vs Common Sense
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I went to the post office to drop off regular white envelope mail which it had 3 pieces of paper. The post cleric felt the envelope from different spots and asked me the regualr "any thing liquid, fragile, hazardous, perishable ....";P. I decided to take it light and joked by saying "Yea! it has liquid":confused: now this is flat envelope and he felt it there is no plastic in it. He freaked out and told me I can not mail it. I told him I was kidding and the second cleric reminded me I am not suppose to joke. I asked him, "how in the world, could I put liquid in the envelope with no plastic in it?" :omg: Then there is this supermarket I frequently visit. Usually I like to take the self-check-out lane and do it by my self. It is all automated and I pay using my credit card. One day I decided to go to a cashier. The cashier want to see my ID and verify my signature. After his was done his verification, I asked the manager "who verifies the card and the signature in the self-check-out lane?":confused: Look, I am not against policy or procedure. But common sense should be rule #1, or is it?
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
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El Corazon wrote:
One of my friends joked with a soldier during an anti-terrorist drill once... once. Common sense should rule out such things too.... It just delays and complicates your life.
Your friend is lucky to've gotten off with a delay. :doh:
-- If you view money as inherently evil, I view it as my duty to assist in making you more virtuous.
dan neely wrote:
Your friend is lucky to've gotten off with a delay.
well, we were coming back from lunch and they locked down everyone.... we were in the middle of the street, which means soldiers came to us, and questioned us, which is protocol.... he got a little more treatment than I after joking. I just wanted to crawl away and hide.... "Do I know him? No, never saw him before in my life." though I would not have done that. I am all too honest, so I got delayed too waiting for his delay because I did know him.... Since it was a drill, we got delays. Had it been more than a drill.... he would have got much more.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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Yusuf wrote:
But common sense should be rule #1, or is it?
common sense should have ruled out joking in the postal line! The postal clerk is not there to solve or fight the engneering problem of hiding liquid within the small envelope. He is there to ask you if you have done so, whether or not "asking" is kind of silly. Never joke with a government worker in their official capacity. This rule applies equally to soldiers armed and pointing rifles in your general direction as well as postal workers or border patrol agents. The gentleman on the bus to Albuquerque early this year joked about his citizenship. Common sense should rule out such things, but they do happen, and everyone had to wait as he was asked to stand, verify his identity with multiple forms of ID and multiple people verifying it, and he got a pat-down and search through his stuff for even doing the joke. One of my friends joked with a soldier during an anti-terrorist drill once... once. Common sense should rule out such things too.... It just delays and complicates your life. :) Always remember: spontaneity has its time and place. ;P;P
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
El Corazon wrote:
Never joke with a government worker in their official capacity
Thank you for reminding us all of our duties comrade Corazon, the motherland is grateful. :) -- modified at 16:45 Wednesday 24th October, 2007
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt
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Isn't this as bad as the idiots who say they've got a bomb in their backpack when they are checking in at the airport?
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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I went to the post office to drop off regular white envelope mail which it had 3 pieces of paper. The post cleric felt the envelope from different spots and asked me the regualr "any thing liquid, fragile, hazardous, perishable ....";P. I decided to take it light and joked by saying "Yea! it has liquid":confused: now this is flat envelope and he felt it there is no plastic in it. He freaked out and told me I can not mail it. I told him I was kidding and the second cleric reminded me I am not suppose to joke. I asked him, "how in the world, could I put liquid in the envelope with no plastic in it?" :omg: Then there is this supermarket I frequently visit. Usually I like to take the self-check-out lane and do it by my self. It is all automated and I pay using my credit card. One day I decided to go to a cashier. The cashier want to see my ID and verify my signature. After his was done his verification, I asked the manager "who verifies the card and the signature in the self-check-out lane?":confused: Look, I am not against policy or procedure. But common sense should be rule #1, or is it?
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
I use my debit card at supermarkets, and there are some places where I can type in my PIN wrong, and the transaction will still happen. Very reassuring. :wtf:
--Mike-- Visual C++ MVP :cool: LINKS~! Ericahist | PimpFish | CP SearchBar v3.0 | C++ Forum FAQ "That's what's great about doing user interface work. No matter what you do, people will say that what you did was idiotic." -- Raymond Chen
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El Corazon wrote:
Never joke with a government worker in their official capacity
Thank you for reminding us all of our duties comrade Corazon, the motherland is grateful. :) -- modified at 16:45 Wednesday 24th October, 2007
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt
hey, you can go on with life without having to joke about serious matters. Try walking into a police station and reporting someone stole your cocaine as a joke. See how well they take the joke too. :rolleyes: There really are somethings that should not be joked about. Interfering with anyone's job is really one of them, but official jobs that you are paying for, and thus wasting your own money and everyone else's? That's just as silly, really. There is a common tale, maybe even urban legend at this point about the guy on site who called in on April 1 to report he ran over and killed someone. After starting the report with his boss, he said, "Oh my Go..." and hung up the phone. He laughed all the way to his office in his vehicle. There were emergency crews out looking for him. When he turned up, and the boss found out it was all a joke, he was fired and escorted off the site before even all the emergency crews had returned. There are just somethings not worth joking about. And watch the name please, El if you don't mind. Thanks for the correction.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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hey, you can go on with life without having to joke about serious matters. Try walking into a police station and reporting someone stole your cocaine as a joke. See how well they take the joke too. :rolleyes: There really are somethings that should not be joked about. Interfering with anyone's job is really one of them, but official jobs that you are paying for, and thus wasting your own money and everyone else's? That's just as silly, really. There is a common tale, maybe even urban legend at this point about the guy on site who called in on April 1 to report he ran over and killed someone. After starting the report with his boss, he said, "Oh my Go..." and hung up the phone. He laughed all the way to his office in his vehicle. There were emergency crews out looking for him. When he turned up, and the boss found out it was all a joke, he was fired and escorted off the site before even all the emergency crews had returned. There are just somethings not worth joking about. And watch the name please, El if you don't mind. Thanks for the correction.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
I guess my definition of serious and yours are different. A postal clerk asking stupid questions is asking for a stupid answer. I'm quite certain most of us have the common sense to not joke around when it's a serious matter. You guys are wound up way too tight down there. :)
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt
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I guess my definition of serious and yours are different. A postal clerk asking stupid questions is asking for a stupid answer. I'm quite certain most of us have the common sense to not joke around when it's a serious matter. You guys are wound up way too tight down there. :)
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt
John Cardinal wrote:
A postal clerk asking stupid questions is asking for a stupid answer.
the postal clerk is asking VERY serious questions. Although I find it silly to "ask," it is none-the-less important. A lot of scenerios were "tossed around" following the postal incidents involving a certain white powder (both real, and false copycats) and has nothing to do with the level of coffee I have had or not. ;P Seriously, it is a very serious question and not as silly as you might think. The question is extremely serious, and well intentioned, though difficult to do much about. Asking is better than doing nothing. :-D
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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I went to the post office to drop off regular white envelope mail which it had 3 pieces of paper. The post cleric felt the envelope from different spots and asked me the regualr "any thing liquid, fragile, hazardous, perishable ....";P. I decided to take it light and joked by saying "Yea! it has liquid":confused: now this is flat envelope and he felt it there is no plastic in it. He freaked out and told me I can not mail it. I told him I was kidding and the second cleric reminded me I am not suppose to joke. I asked him, "how in the world, could I put liquid in the envelope with no plastic in it?" :omg: Then there is this supermarket I frequently visit. Usually I like to take the self-check-out lane and do it by my self. It is all automated and I pay using my credit card. One day I decided to go to a cashier. The cashier want to see my ID and verify my signature. After his was done his verification, I asked the manager "who verifies the card and the signature in the self-check-out lane?":confused: Look, I am not against policy or procedure. But common sense should be rule #1, or is it?
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
The difference between "common sense" and "total idocy" is a slight shift in the point of view.
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
My first real C# project | Linkify!|FoldWithUs! | sighist -
I went to the post office to drop off regular white envelope mail which it had 3 pieces of paper. The post cleric felt the envelope from different spots and asked me the regualr "any thing liquid, fragile, hazardous, perishable ....";P. I decided to take it light and joked by saying "Yea! it has liquid":confused: now this is flat envelope and he felt it there is no plastic in it. He freaked out and told me I can not mail it. I told him I was kidding and the second cleric reminded me I am not suppose to joke. I asked him, "how in the world, could I put liquid in the envelope with no plastic in it?" :omg: Then there is this supermarket I frequently visit. Usually I like to take the self-check-out lane and do it by my self. It is all automated and I pay using my credit card. One day I decided to go to a cashier. The cashier want to see my ID and verify my signature. After his was done his verification, I asked the manager "who verifies the card and the signature in the self-check-out lane?":confused: Look, I am not against policy or procedure. But common sense should be rule #1, or is it?
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
There is nothing more uncommon then common sense!
Kelly Herald Software Developer
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I went to the post office to drop off regular white envelope mail which it had 3 pieces of paper. The post cleric felt the envelope from different spots and asked me the regualr "any thing liquid, fragile, hazardous, perishable ....";P. I decided to take it light and joked by saying "Yea! it has liquid":confused: now this is flat envelope and he felt it there is no plastic in it. He freaked out and told me I can not mail it. I told him I was kidding and the second cleric reminded me I am not suppose to joke. I asked him, "how in the world, could I put liquid in the envelope with no plastic in it?" :omg: Then there is this supermarket I frequently visit. Usually I like to take the self-check-out lane and do it by my self. It is all automated and I pay using my credit card. One day I decided to go to a cashier. The cashier want to see my ID and verify my signature. After his was done his verification, I asked the manager "who verifies the card and the signature in the self-check-out lane?":confused: Look, I am not against policy or procedure. But common sense should be rule #1, or is it?
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
Yusuf wrote:
I asked him, "how in the world, could I put liquid in the envelope with no plastic in it?"
Waxed paper?
every night, i kneel at the foot of my bed and thank the Great Overseeing Politicians for protecting my freedoms by reducing their number, as if they were deer in a state park. -- Chris Losinger, Online Poker Players?
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Bloody hell, NO...it's not.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt
John Cardinal wrote:
Bloody hell, NO...it's not.
Bloody Hell, YES it is. You may not of thought about it, but after the anthrax incidents (plural) it was finally realized by some.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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John Cardinal wrote:
Bloody hell, NO...it's not.
Bloody Hell, YES it is. You may not of thought about it, but after the anthrax incidents (plural) it was finally realized by some.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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you really have no idea of the significance of the results of the Amerithrax investigations do you? you honestly have not a clue? damn. I wish I lived in your world John.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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you really have no idea of the significance of the results of the Amerithrax investigations do you? you honestly have not a clue? damn. I wish I lived in your world John.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
Speaking of common sense: a) there are no significant results of those investigations, no arrests, no gurantees it won't happen again (how could they really, it's impossible) b) Do you really believe that a post office clerk asking people *who bring mail up to the counter* if there is any liquid in the envelope constitutes even a remotely realistic security measure of *any* kind? (If so I have a bridge you might be interested in buying) That's a clear absurdity worth laughing at in my not so humble opinion c) Approximately 40,000 people a year die in automobile related accidents, 5 people died from Anthrax in that incident, I choose to not be one of those people who are "dead at 25 and buried at 75" as the old saying goes. I understand you are living in what is rapidly becoming a fear based economy, something easy to see from the outside but perhaps not so easy to see from the inside, but that is no reason to succumb to it, life is a fatal condition, no one gets out of it alive, a little humor and acceptance that there is really nothing in the end that can gurantee anyone's safety 100% goes a long way. More people die each year from worry than from anthrax or lightning strikes or airplane crashes etc. Remember when governments felt responsible to reassure their populace? Not make them afraid? "The only thing we have to fear is fear it'self - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." ---- FDR - First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933 The postal clerk in the post is a visible sign of a very old political tactic "We must be seen to be doing something", not actually doing anything realistic, just being seen to be doing something. It's funny and sad all at the same time, but more funny than sad.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt
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Speaking of common sense: a) there are no significant results of those investigations, no arrests, no gurantees it won't happen again (how could they really, it's impossible) b) Do you really believe that a post office clerk asking people *who bring mail up to the counter* if there is any liquid in the envelope constitutes even a remotely realistic security measure of *any* kind? (If so I have a bridge you might be interested in buying) That's a clear absurdity worth laughing at in my not so humble opinion c) Approximately 40,000 people a year die in automobile related accidents, 5 people died from Anthrax in that incident, I choose to not be one of those people who are "dead at 25 and buried at 75" as the old saying goes. I understand you are living in what is rapidly becoming a fear based economy, something easy to see from the outside but perhaps not so easy to see from the inside, but that is no reason to succumb to it, life is a fatal condition, no one gets out of it alive, a little humor and acceptance that there is really nothing in the end that can gurantee anyone's safety 100% goes a long way. More people die each year from worry than from anthrax or lightning strikes or airplane crashes etc. Remember when governments felt responsible to reassure their populace? Not make them afraid? "The only thing we have to fear is fear it'self - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." ---- FDR - First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933 The postal clerk in the post is a visible sign of a very old political tactic "We must be seen to be doing something", not actually doing anything realistic, just being seen to be doing something. It's funny and sad all at the same time, but more funny than sad.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt
I agree with John here, besides, if a terrorist was indeed taking anthrax in that letter he whouldn't be joking about it, it whould say "No, of course not!". When your fear of death reaches a certain threshold of reason then you end up not living life at all...
Crazy? Don't tell me I'm crazy! I'm the single sanest person in the world.
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Speaking of common sense: a) there are no significant results of those investigations, no arrests, no gurantees it won't happen again (how could they really, it's impossible) b) Do you really believe that a post office clerk asking people *who bring mail up to the counter* if there is any liquid in the envelope constitutes even a remotely realistic security measure of *any* kind? (If so I have a bridge you might be interested in buying) That's a clear absurdity worth laughing at in my not so humble opinion c) Approximately 40,000 people a year die in automobile related accidents, 5 people died from Anthrax in that incident, I choose to not be one of those people who are "dead at 25 and buried at 75" as the old saying goes. I understand you are living in what is rapidly becoming a fear based economy, something easy to see from the outside but perhaps not so easy to see from the inside, but that is no reason to succumb to it, life is a fatal condition, no one gets out of it alive, a little humor and acceptance that there is really nothing in the end that can gurantee anyone's safety 100% goes a long way. More people die each year from worry than from anthrax or lightning strikes or airplane crashes etc. Remember when governments felt responsible to reassure their populace? Not make them afraid? "The only thing we have to fear is fear it'self - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." ---- FDR - First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933 The postal clerk in the post is a visible sign of a very old political tactic "We must be seen to be doing something", not actually doing anything realistic, just being seen to be doing something. It's funny and sad all at the same time, but more funny than sad.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt
It's along the lines of 'did you pack this bag yourself?' at airport check-in. Everyone knows by now that answering 'no' leads to a long delay while they search it. And a terrorist may well have packed the bomb into the bag themselves anyway, so can quite honestly answer 'yes'. It's security theatre.
DoEvents: Generating unexpected recursion since 1991 -
It's along the lines of 'did you pack this bag yourself?' at airport check-in. Everyone knows by now that answering 'no' leads to a long delay while they search it. And a terrorist may well have packed the bomb into the bag themselves anyway, so can quite honestly answer 'yes'. It's security theatre.
DoEvents: Generating unexpected recursion since 1991 -
Speaking of common sense: a) there are no significant results of those investigations, no arrests, no gurantees it won't happen again (how could they really, it's impossible) b) Do you really believe that a post office clerk asking people *who bring mail up to the counter* if there is any liquid in the envelope constitutes even a remotely realistic security measure of *any* kind? (If so I have a bridge you might be interested in buying) That's a clear absurdity worth laughing at in my not so humble opinion c) Approximately 40,000 people a year die in automobile related accidents, 5 people died from Anthrax in that incident, I choose to not be one of those people who are "dead at 25 and buried at 75" as the old saying goes. I understand you are living in what is rapidly becoming a fear based economy, something easy to see from the outside but perhaps not so easy to see from the inside, but that is no reason to succumb to it, life is a fatal condition, no one gets out of it alive, a little humor and acceptance that there is really nothing in the end that can gurantee anyone's safety 100% goes a long way. More people die each year from worry than from anthrax or lightning strikes or airplane crashes etc. Remember when governments felt responsible to reassure their populace? Not make them afraid? "The only thing we have to fear is fear it'self - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." ---- FDR - First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933 The postal clerk in the post is a visible sign of a very old political tactic "We must be seen to be doing something", not actually doing anything realistic, just being seen to be doing something. It's funny and sad all at the same time, but more funny than sad.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt
John Cardinal wrote:
that a post office clerk asking people *who bring mail up to the counter* if there is any liquid in the envelope constitutes even a remotely realistic security measure of *any* kind?
Actually it does, as small as it is. The potential for disaster in those investigations was revealed to be exceedingly high. Much higher than the person who did that realized, luckily for all of us. Yes, asking seems silly. But it is actually something more than you would believe. I make light of it also primarily because of the chances of catching someone. However, it is true that more criminals are caught in stupid things like traffic accidents and speeding. Primarily because the person knows they were doing something wrong and the risks, and adrenaline from stress pushes them too hard to do something. This ignores the dedicated, the calm "believer" who absolutely believes they are doing something right. However, to lie you give signals, when you know you are lying. Although I bet half the individuals at the post office ignore the training, they get it the same as other groups. If they believe you are lying they can and will ask you more questions. If you continue to get more nerveous, they will reject your mail or call someone. And yes, joking about it is a common, a VERY common method of lying. Instead of lying, you tell the truth, but tell it as a joke hoping to be ignored. They are told specifically to ALWAYS accept a joke as truth. Had the postal workers not ignored their training, the letter would have been refused and authorities notified of a possible incident. I used to joke about the border patrol agents who ask if you are a citizen. It seems silly, and I travel through the checkpoints often. But when I went up for my grandfather's funeral, they asked, and my responses were verbally acceptable, but too slow. They asked more questions, the responses were verbally okay again but secondary responses were not what they would have expected. I got pulled out of line and investigated in detail. When the commanding officer in questioning me in more detail found out I was going up for a funeral, and that this person was the man who raised me, equivalent emotional loss of a father, he stopped the search and sent me on my way. I had triggered their warnings because my verbal responses were 100% acceptable in words, but not in tone and secondary action. Something was amiss, they had to find out what. This is how most of the drug busts at the check p
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I went to the post office to drop off regular white envelope mail which it had 3 pieces of paper. The post cleric felt the envelope from different spots and asked me the regualr "any thing liquid, fragile, hazardous, perishable ....";P. I decided to take it light and joked by saying "Yea! it has liquid":confused: now this is flat envelope and he felt it there is no plastic in it. He freaked out and told me I can not mail it. I told him I was kidding and the second cleric reminded me I am not suppose to joke. I asked him, "how in the world, could I put liquid in the envelope with no plastic in it?" :omg: Then there is this supermarket I frequently visit. Usually I like to take the self-check-out lane and do it by my self. It is all automated and I pay using my credit card. One day I decided to go to a cashier. The cashier want to see my ID and verify my signature. After his was done his verification, I asked the manager "who verifies the card and the signature in the self-check-out lane?":confused: Look, I am not against policy or procedure. But common sense should be rule #1, or is it?
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
I hate it when that sort of thing happens....and (annoyingly) one happened today. Beth and I are travelling to Cologne at the end of next week for the European Software Conference[^], and we've not got around to booking the flights until today (no biggie; it's a short hop). The tricky bit is that we need to take three laptops with us (one of them a hulking great widescreen beast to run a rolling demo on). At first glance, no problem...carry one each as hand luggage (you're allowed one bag on UK flights) and check the other into the hold in a (very) padded case with the rest of the luggage. Easy. No go. Easyjet informed me (after 15 mins of fruitless chasing around their crappy "customer service" line) that they have a policy of not allowing any electrical goods to be checked into the aircraft hold. Not even with the battery removed. Given that and the one bad hand luggage restriction, the only ways around it I could see would be to leave behind one of the other machines or bring along a third person to carry the demo machine. The end result? It will cost twice as much, but we're going by EuroStar instead. Much more civilised...:cool:
Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"