Entries Tagged as 'a little patronizing'

When parking gets political

January 31st, 2010 · 200 Comments

One day, Mike in Seattle pulled into his section of the parking garage, where there were dozens of open spaces that never fill up. “Rather than doing a 12-point turn to get right next to a concrete column, I just pulled in and called it good enough. Apparently I had been taking liberties with Mother [...]

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Tags: a little patronizing · casual sexism · parking · politics

theo(logical) fallacy

January 26th, 2010 · 184 Comments

Joel in Glendale, California was raised in a religious Christian family, and apparently someone let it slip to his grandmother (bless her heart!) that he’s — gasp!— an atheist. Aaaaand…let the backhanded compliments begin!

Dear Joel, I have heard that you say you’re an athesis [sic]. I don’t believe that because you have so many Christian qualities. [...]

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Tags: a little patronizing · family · jesus · old folks

Sounds like somebody’s got a case of the Mondays…

November 15th, 2009 · 150 Comments

Perhaps Dirty Lady #2 got an office job?

related: the most disgusting thing is a nasty lady

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Tags: "helpful" advice · a little patronizing · hygiene · odor · office

You gotta hand it to HR…

October 26th, 2009 · 134 Comments

With morale at many companies coasting towards all-time lows, those peppy human resources specialists keep coming up with new budget-conscious ways to keep us worker bees happily humming along. To wit: “Popcorn Thursday.” Sounds like a total blast, right?

Meanwhile, an anonymous post-it writer in Denver speaks up for how employees really feel about these “morale [...]

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Tags: a little patronizing · all-staff e-mail · office · party planning committee

the patron(izing) saint of roommates

September 1st, 2009 · 91 Comments

Carmen in Washington, D.C. says she and her roommates suffered for months at the hands of this “crazy, obsessive-compulsive who made our lives miserable.” By the end of the fall semester, Carmen says, the house was a near-war zone, and the girl finally moved out.
“Around the time she was packing up her things, we decorated for [...]

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Tags: a little patronizing · cleaning · holiday spirit · mean girls · roommates · thanks (but not really) · university

And a very happy Earth Day to you!

April 22nd, 2009 · 86 Comments

Alec in Houston found this little work of art on his desk, he says, “after I went out for lunch and didn’t do the dishes like they had asked.” With gritted teeth, he goes on: “They have ‘too much work’ and I have ‘none’ so I might as well wash them!”

related: Al Gore knows you [...]

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Tags: a little patronizing · dishes · houston · office · thanks (but not really) · the earth

But what about Hawaiian shirt day?

March 23rd, 2009 · 116 Comments

Our submitter, Glenn, says this all-staff e-mail “just kinda sucked the life out of us” around his office. “It was like a Mom saying ‘Guess what, kids?” in a really excited voice, and then saying ‘You’re going to the dentist!!!‘”

But the best part of this note — besides the pitch-perfect forced jollity — is the [...]

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Tags: a little patronizing · all-staff e-mail · now that's management · office · rhetorical question · texas

art depreciation

February 2nd, 2009 · 256 Comments

Our anonymous submitter in Seattle, an artist, used to pass the downtime at his day job by doodling on boxes. “They know it was me,” our submitter says, but instead of, you know, confronting him, management decided — in true passive-aggressive style — to hang this critique up for all to see.

related: Just a friendly [...]

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Tags: a little patronizing · art · now that's management · retail hell · seattle · smiley

i do, however, have a very charming coat rack

July 17th, 2008 · 150 Comments

christoph found this polite and friendly note on the door of his apartment in san francisco. a reasonable enough request, to be sure, except for the fact that — despite his neighbor’s claimed omniscience — “i don’t own any exercise equipment.”

(admits christoph: “it was likely a swivel chair…and my habit of rolling back and forth [...]

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Tags: a little patronizing · irregular capitalization · neighbors · noise · san francisco · washington

spinal manipulation

June 26th, 2008 · 240 Comments

after messing up his back, clay in knoxville figured he’d give a chiropractor a shot, but when the doc he saw refused to show him the x-rays he’d taken until after a “seminar” about payment plans — oh, and treatment options — clay decided to take his aching back else where. a few days later, [...]

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Tags: "customer service" · a little patronizing · knoxville · oh-so-sincerely · tennessee · thanks (but not really)

News you can use

May 25th, 2008 · 62 Comments

The word “newsflash,” like the phrase “no offense,” is an early indicator that what follows is probably going to be something pretty bitchy. Unless, of course, you’re watching TV news, in which case the word “newsflash” more likely heralds the announcement of a hard-hitting segment about the household product in your kitchen that could be [...]

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Tags: "helpful" advice · a little patronizing · facebook · garbage · ice · moms & dads · office · roommates · sarcasm · thanks (but not really) · whiteboard

but who’s counting?

March 16th, 2008 · 74 Comments

writes an anonymous new yorker: “our neighbors hate us because we are the youngest in the building. thus, any malfunction that occurs in the building results in notes directed towards us. and yes, this note was a follow-up to another note (seen at left) also directed at us.”

happy st. patrick’s day, kids!
related: infinite note project

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Tags: "helpful" advice · a little patronizing · kids today · neighbors · new york · opening/closing

The minor gall, the major rift

March 11th, 2008 · 114 Comments

To quote Chris Anderson responding to Milton Friedman: “A free lunch doesn’t necessarily mean the food is being given away or that you’ll pay for it later — it could just mean someone else is picking up the tab.”
Indeed, Craig in New York offers this example of the negative externalities that can come along with [...]

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Tags: TLDR · a little patronizing · beverages · excessive underlining · gloriously redundant · highlighter · new york · p.s. · spelling and grammar police

je comprends…moi non plus

March 10th, 2008 · 275 Comments

marc in san francisco spotted this at a restaurant in the haight called all you knead (have fun with those puns, kids). i can certainly empathize, but after reading some of the reviews…well, maybe there’s a reason the tips aren’t so great.

related: a friendly tip from your waitress

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Tags: "helpful" advice · a little patronizing · francais · restaurant · san francisco · tipping

P-E-T-T-Y

July 3rd, 2007 · 42 Comments

Tim is the night auditor at a hotel in Fort Smith, Arkansas and hardly ever sees his bosses. Instead, they communicate with him through charming memos like this one.

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Tags: a little patronizing · arkansas · exclamation-point happy! · highlighter · now that's management · sarcasm · spelling and grammar police

Et tu, Dora?

June 13th, 2007 · 21 Comments

Spotted by Ivy from Nashville in the offices of Nickelodeon in New York…

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Tags: a little patronizing · new york · office · toilet