Really?

A new thread for surprising unprepared behavior - as in "Really? You live in Seattle and don;'t carry an umbrella?"

You drive and can't read a map?

You voted Brexit and didn't understand what it meant?

qjs

You work in an office and don't carry a pen.

You have a 1 hour commute and no water bottle?

I live in Canada, north of Seattle. We get just as much rain as Seattle and I don't carry an umbrella, so this is "unprepared behavior" for me and thousands of my fellow compatriots in my area who also don't carry umbrellas?

Comment threads like this should be titled GOM. Give you a hint on the GOM nomenclature. First word is grumpy, the last is men.

"You hike bare headed in the desert?"

You didn't bring your own TP with you,into a public restroom?

You wore Crocs on a hike in the Rocky Mountains?

(I actually observed this.)

The hiking path up here is paved with fist sized gravel and you managed to make it in high heels? (observed this in Saxony)

You tried to light your fireplace.....with gasoline? Person got 'burned' (singed eyebrows) when it flashed over. Actually happened. Best comment was.....and I quote.....,"It never did that before!"

You brought no food, water, or supplies, and you are complaining about the stuff I am sharing with you? Really?

Yup !!

I train people time to time, and one of the most annoying things is when some of them ask for MY pen to write notes. Really ? Yes !!

Well, I've seen a number of dumb-ass stunts. Ill-considered ploys. Plans that succeeded only by divine intervention and/or dumb luck, without the intervention of an ounce of earthly brain power.

And so have we all.

Full disclosure: one or two may possibly have been my own.

So I'm a little cautious when it comes to throwing stones.

People in glass houses, etc.

Big tent, remember? Welcoming people into the big tent for the common good?

My job involves spending a lot of time at whiteboards. I will ask new people where their whiteboard markers are, and I get some confused looks. "I don't have my own."

My response, "Yes you do. They're at the store, go get them."

I do not find that too annoying. It offers a great opportunity for a lesson in resource managment (you can use all the resources you brought to write your notes).
I am a proud owner of a fountain pen using actual ink. In times of elevated sensitivity people may also learn that it is not a good idea to ask me for MY pen. Really? You want to do WHAT? (the actual joke may not be appropriate while children are watching)

Your home loses power EVERY winter and you still haven't stocked up on the basic stuff you need to get through for a few days?

This happened today. I was seeing a doctor today and a snake came in the waiting room. It may have mistaken the doctor's office with a veterinary office. Anyhow a patient said it slithered under the cabinet so I use my EDC D Cell MAG-LITE to find it. I could not find the snake.

By the time I was checking out, the rain was coming down hard. A staff member says "I hope you brought your umbrella." I didn't. She continues. "You carry a large flashlight but not an umbrella?"

I live in Florida and it's the raining season.

Jeanette Isabelle

So true. its like being in an office without a pen. Really?

Perhaps not 'worse' but a sign of the times... I help teach an Academy for our work and one would think these adults would have something to write with when they show up for the four week cycle. Nope. It is so common that opening day materials now include a pen.

To help ensure they understand it is a necessary tool - I carry three on me all the time and DONOT loan any of them out. I have a sleeve pocket on my work shirt for a pen and make it a point to have one there for the entire cycle of training. Sad to say on more than one occasion somebody has to borrow a pen to take the end of week four written exam. The real kicker is 98% of them have a damn phone - I have only seen two without this last year of classes.

Paul -

My employer provides both the whiteboards and the markers. The markers are kept with the whiteboard, for anyone to use. That's surely more efficient than everyone carrying their own, and not sharing. I guess if I were a new person at your company, I'd be looking confused too.

I'm a network security engineer and my team is visiting customers rather than working in one office consistently. Almost all of our customers have whiteboards but few consistently have good markers in whatever room we end up in. The system you describe is more efficient to be sure, but the one we use is far more reliable for us.