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What Really Grinds Your Gears?


jimmydasaint

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What really grinds my gears is probably the Western civilization meta-story that is so pervasive (i.e. a unified block that made the long march to modernity from Roman civilization, dark ages, to enlightenment, industrial revolution, rationality and so on). Not only is it inaccurate, it can an often is used to morally justify questionable actions (such as colonization and racism), which, perhaps tellingly, was one of the roots of modern (also termed scientific) racism.

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  • 3 weeks later...

And another thing that really grinds my gears. As soon as my wife sees me sitting around "relaxing", she immediately thinks of something to do that takes about half an hour. Really, I should send her on holiday and build myself a panic room with drinks, snacks and the possibility of a small fort with room for one inside.

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And another thing that really grinds my gears. As soon as my wife sees me sitting around "relaxing", she immediately thinks of something to do that takes about half an hour. Really, I should send her on holiday and build myself a panic room with drinks, snacks and the possibility of a small fort with room for one inside.

 

I realise this is a joke, it's just not very funny for some, but in case it wasn't intended as a joke; grow a pair.

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I realise this is a joke, it's just not very funny for some, but in case it wasn't intended as a joke; grow a pair.

Of course, it's a bloody joke mate! However, the panic room, like the eponymous film, sounds like a good idea to me.

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People who post under the guise of asking a noob question, then it later it turns out that they aren't interested but do have a pet theory to promote. Why don't they just come out with it from the beginning.

Edited by StringJunky
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And another one... rude shopkeepers who think they are doing you a favour when you are the customer with the money to pay their goddamn wages - I met two of these shopkeepers in the last few days who looked as if they were squeezing a lemon between their ass cheeks!

Edited by jimmydasaint
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  • 1 month later...

When science teachers/doctors bring up religion in a professional conversation/class room.

 

My science teacher used to say "God works in mysterious ways" on a serious tone whenever he didn't know the answer to some science question.

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As a 54 yr-old middle-aged man, I have a number of things which really grind my gears. However, after reading another thread on how to pronounce De Broglie, I have to let off some steam.

 

Cheers from another 54 year-old middle-aged man.

One of my gear-grinders is people that "set themselves above" others, even in small ways (maybe especially in small ways). A daycare I used to take my kids to provided care for infants and older children. They requested that parents dropping off multiple children drop off their older child first in the appropriate room and then their infant, to minimize the chances of having sleeping infants woken up by noisy older kids. Made perfect sense to me, and at any rate it was their place.

 

The father of one of my daughter's friends pointedly snubbed this rule, and I always found myself wondering what it was that made him feel like it wasn't necessary for him to show respect for the management's desires. So, a small thing, but at the time it did grind my gears. I am no fan of overly authoritarian rules per se, but on the other hand there are a lot of people on this ball and without some rules we'll fall into chaos.

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What grinds my gears might make me unpopular here, but I'll say it anyway. In fact, some semblance of the very sentiments I'm going to address seem have to been tacitly expressed here, but please note before I begin that I'm not accusing anyone here of specifically doing what I'm about to address. It just made me think about it:

 

Some of the guys here were talking about how "annoying" America is because they call football "soccer", and they have their own sport called "football". The sentiment usually boils down to this notion that America is bad and ignorant, and often intolerant or indifferent to other cultures. I get tired of this idea that all other cultures are allowed to have their own traditions and customs, and are allowed to express them freely. But somehow it's "offensive" when Americans have their own ways, and show any pride for their own traditions and their own heritage. I see this sentiment in action every day. My fellow white Americans constantly have to watch the degree to which they express their own pride for their culture and traditions lest they offend someone of a different culture. Meanwhile we must always genuflect upon the "cultural enrichment" of other cultures. Well, guess what, I have absolutely no ambition to suppress other cultures, and am glad to have other cultures freely express themselves, but I'll be damned if I'm going to capitulate this notion that I have to be mildly ashamed of being a white, American, male, and that I need to sort of keep quiet about my culture lest I offend some other culture. Americans have the right to theirs too. If that makes you upset, feel free to go cry about it.

 

That's one thing that grinds my gears.

Edited by Code42
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Some of the guys here were talking about how "annoying" America is because they call football "soccer", and they have their own sport called "football". The sentiment usually boils down to this notion that America is bad and ignorant,

 

You do realise those exchanges were jocular? Besides, no one expressed that sentiment.

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You do realise those exchanges were jocular? Besides, no one expressed that sentiment.

And you'll see that I said I'm not accusing anyone of directly expressing it. It just made me think about it.

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I understand your point, in England with have a political movement called the BNP ultra right wing (fascist) that uses our flag as a symbol, so anyone with a modicum of moral fortitude distances themselves from the symbol, because they fear the judgement of others, there's nothing wrong with being proud of your fellow man, just be sure what it is you're so proud of because every country has a percentage of their populace that holds extreme views and that percentage correlates directly with poverty, spooky.

 

 

By which I mean relative poverty.

Edited by dimreepr
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