Stupid Pet Peeves

[Gameface]

It certainly seemed by the comments

He does that sometimes...

I do.

But I think it's often misinterpreted as antagonistic, when it isn't. Not to say I'm not frequently antagonistic... or that that post isn't somewhat antagonistic. That's not the point of the post, though.

I hope that people who have engaged me in honest discussions know that I will concede the point when I'm wrong. I'm not trying to "win" an argument. I'm trying to understand where people are coming from. I find that often it is useful to make a challenging statement like that so that people can dispel the extreme interpretation of what they are expressing. I feel like it is an honest thing to do on my part, but maybe it isn't taken that way. Maybe people take is as though I'm trying to take a sly jab at people by asking a question like that, and that I'm waiting for a predictable response so that I can pounce and then beat my chest about how smart I am. I hope that people, like BigB, who I've spent dozens and dozens of hours with in person and years on jazzfans, know that I'm not trying to do that to them when I engage in a discussion with them.

 

[LogGrad98]

So charity given to a person who doesn't become active is someone abusing the charity?

Charity doesn't expect a return on investment.

 

[LogGrad98]

Good points. There are also finite resources, so I'm sure bishops have to carefully weigh who gets helped by the donations, and to what extent. Someone who has, for example, faithfully paid tithing and other donations but has fallen on hard times may (I imagine) get a higher priority than someone who has never done that. Or maybe not, if the second individual/family is deemed to have a higher need. I'm certain the bishops in the church have many tough decisions to make.

From the bishops I have known this is governed by their personal opinion (first and foremost), some direction from the stake, and guidelines from the brethren.

My dad always tried to help who he could and put their individual needs ahead of their status in the church. If you needed more than someone else, you got more.

By brother-in-law (currently serving as a bishop) is very stingy (by his own admission) and he has a generally bad attitude about people in need, leaning toward the idea that they are just looking for a hand-out and are generally lazy. He says some of this is driven by the stake to be better stewards over funds, but that is his cover imo, it is really his own attitude. Which is weird because in general he tends to be very liberal for a mormon.

Another bishop we dealt with, when we had a health crisis early in our marriage before I started into my career, insisted on checking our cupboards (literally) and bank accounts and bills before issuing even a bishop's storehouse order, and even then he let the RS president fill it out, then he cut items off the list. He made us feel like we were criminals that needed to be kept in check. He claimed it was because so many people take advantage. It didn't matter than before I got sick we had given freely, even taking on a sub-for-santa family one year when our kids were little and we had a little extra money. As soon as we were in need, we needed to be kept in check so we didn't "take advantage", whatever the hell that means when he decides a family of 5 with small children need 1 instead of 2 gallons of milk for the next 2 weeks, and don't need any carrots or apples (yes he cut those from our order entirely). But he left the canned beans on there, all 6 cans, so we ate a lot of those.

In short I guess the church just puts these guys in place and lets them run things the way they see fit. They are human beings and will all have different takes on how to handle their stewardship. And frankly, some will be better stewards, of both the flock and the money, than others.

 

[Archie Moses]

When people post pictures of themselves online and write captions other than, "I think I look good in this picture and I like attention, please like to confirm."

These pictures are usually a selfie of them sitting in a car or in their house somewhere and read like, "I'm about to start a long day of work!" or "The cats are playing and I'm hungry."

Damn it, I hate those posts and I used to do **** like that until I realized what the **** I was doing.

 

[bigb]

It certainly seemed by the comments

I do.

But I think it's often misinterpreted as antagonistic, when it isn't. Not to say I'm not frequently antagonistic... or that that post isn't somewhat antagonistic. That's not the point of the post, though.

I hope that people who have engaged me in honest discussions know that I will concede the point when I'm wrong. I'm not trying to "win" an argument. I'm trying to understand where people are coming from. I find that often it is useful to make a challenging statement like that so that people can dispel the extreme interpretation of what they are expressing. I feel like it is an honest thing to do on my part, but maybe it isn't taken that way. Maybe people take is as though I'm trying to take a sly jab at people by asking a question like that, and that I'm waiting for a predictable response so that I can pounce and then beat my chest about how smart I am. I hope that people, like BigB, who I've spent dozens and dozens of hours with in person and years on jazzfans, know that I'm not trying to do that to them when I engage in a discussion with them.

I think it’s the result of a digital conversation instead a live one. Usually, I don’t get the super antagonistic vibe from you. But with that comment I did. Maybe I jumped to it incorrectly. If so, I apologize.

 

[moevillini]

Did you try a chainsaw?

I did try a few implements (pliers, screwdriver, can punch) and the best I could do was get a minor gash in my thumb. The cover didn't budge.

It's very annoying when it looks like it should unscrew, but it doesn't.

 

[idestroyedthetoilet]

Having to rebuild my lawnmower carb every summer. Okay, it's not really rebuilding like a vehicle carb but it's still annoying. Almost as annoying as having to manually include the apostraphe in it's on a phone.

 

[Rubashov]

Sometimes I feel like i run a crazy woman collection agency. ****ing hell!!!

 

[colton]

When you try to remove a sticker and the outer part tears off, leaving much of the sticker still behind.

 

[bigb]

When you try to remove a sticker and the outer part tears off, leaving much of the sticker still behind.

My youngest son went to the doctor a while ago and they gave him a sticker. He naturally put it on his shirt. It didn’t get taken off and went through the wash. Damn thing won’t come off now.

 

[RJF]

Sometimes I feel like i run a crazy woman collection agency. ****ing hell!!!

Ditto

 

[fishonjazz]

I understand what you're saying. Truly, I do. I also firmly believe in the teaching of helping people when they need it. I'm also the son of a two time Bishop. The ratio of people who grossly abuse the system vs those that become very active is ridiculous. As a young teenager, I overheard my dad having to tell people that he had to stop giving them money if they didn't show up to help clean the church for an hour or come the Sunday meetings like they've been promising to do for the last 3+ months. I find it kind of disgusting.

My dad was also a bishop. (My older brother too)
It was pretty crappy. It was basically like having another full time job. He was stretched pretty thin between working full time and being a marriage counselor/therapist/life guide/referee/social worker/bishop.