Page 2 of 4

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:05 am
by LoyalTubist
Coming to the end of my stay in Vietnam, I think I can speak frankly about life here now:

My top pet peeves about living in Vietnam:
1. I can't use the sidewalk for walking because the motorcyclists use it for a thoroughfare.
2. An apology means, "I don't have to explain anything to you. Didn't I just finish telling you 'I'm sorry?' Why do you need to know why?"
3. No root beer.
4. Since there are no toasters, "toast" is fried.
5. Children can do no wrong. What I mean is that if a child acts arrogantly or acts rude, it's forgivable, since children don't know any better (I have several anecdotes about that.)
6. This is a country with no checks (that's "cheques" for those of you who speak "real English".) Everyone is expected to be home between the hours of 8-11 am on Sunday morning because that's when the bill collectors come (phone company, cable company, trash, etc.)
7. People shout at each other in normal conversation, especially at school or waiting for the dentist.
8. Smokers. I've met a few who deliberately puff smoke in my face.
9. Personal questions. When meeting someone for the first time they usually want to know my age and how much I earn (the latter is easy now since I'm "in between gigs.") I explain that in my culture that it's rude to ask anyone their age. They say, "Oh, I thought that was only women." Also, if I'm walking down the street and a person doesn't know me, does that person REALLY need to know where I'm going? I live here.
10. The horrible way handicapped people are treated here.

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:36 am
by Hostrauser
Pet peeves: disaster survivors

(oh Kevin, are you really going there?)

Specifically, all these morons still in Galveston complaining about the destruction, lack of food and water, etc. Hey genius, you had the better part of a week to get out of town, but you pooh-poohed the warnings, considering yourself a meteorological expert just because you'd experienced a hurricane before, and now that Mother Nature has pimp-slapped your arrogance back to 1900 you expect me to feel sorry for you? No dice, chump change. This wasn't a fast-moving wildfire or an earthquake that hit without warning: this was a thousand-mile-wide hurricane and you were too f'n stupid to get out of the way. Too bad for you.

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:31 am
by LoyalTubist
I will agree to some extent with what Hostrauser said...

On December 18, 1997, Typhoon Paka hit the island of Guam. I was a middle school band director at the time and that was the night we had planned for our Christmas Concert. Now, we had nowhere to go but we had taken most of the precautions you're supposed to take and we fared very well. Most of us didn't do without anything, except that school was canceled for exactly one month (and I was still getting paid, so I wasn't complaining!) We stocked up on water (four weeks worth), food (canned or dried... nonperishable), batteries, and candles.

My parents actually came from California to see us four days later. They stayed in a hotel with a generator, so we ended up staying with them. I don't remember anyone really doing without anything. One whole school was destroyed. So were several houses. The only death, as I recall, was a horse that got picked up. Even though the power was out, stores that had generators were open. The airport had such a good generator, they ran everything there, including the air conditioning.

Not all disaster survivors are so dense. We did well.

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:40 am
by mkosbie
Hostrauser wrote:Pet peeves: disaster survivors

(oh Kevin, are you really going there?)

Specifically, all these morons still in Galveston complaining about the destruction, lack of food and water, etc. Hey genius, you had the better part of a week to get out of town, but you pooh-poohed the warnings, considering yourself a meteorological expert just because you'd experienced a hurricane before, and now that Mother Nature has pimp-slapped your arrogance back to 1900 you expect me to feel sorry for you? No dice, chump change. This wasn't a fast-moving wildfire or an earthquake that hit without warning: this was a thousand-mile-wide hurricane and you were too f'n stupid to get out of the way. Too bad for you.
I couldn't agree more. What about people who insist on living in disaster prone areas (*hem* Malibu *hem*) and then expect the government to help every time there's... a disaster. I honestly think people who choose to live in certain parts of the world should have to agree to assume the risk for themselves; that way, when the storm comes (that they knew was coming), I don't have to shell out my tax dollars to save them.

And no, this gripe doesn't apply to honest unexpected disasters. I know those happen, and I don't mind assisting people with them.

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:26 pm
by IsnipeWithAknife
I HATE PEOPLE WHO TORRENT DURING THE DAY IN MY HOUSE

ITS RUDE AND THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:37 pm
by LoyalTubist
IsnipeWithAknife wrote:I used to work at a call center. Once I accidentally dialed a number on the east coast at 10PM PST. Ooops! This person's number was mixed in with a bunch of people from Hawaii.

You might be interested in knowing that most of these calls go to the Philippines. Most of the call centers are either in Quezon City or Makati. The company with the biggest call center network is Washington Mutual. One of the jobs being offered me (which is why I am still in Saigon and not there) is as a manager for one of the call centers. Supposedly, most of the people who work at the call centers are native English speakers (yes, there are some people who are Filipinos whose first language is English) or people whose Tagalog accents can't be detected. If I take this job, part of the paid training for me is to master Tagalog in just a few months.

Now these call centers handle ONLY INCOMING CALLS.

When I moved here to Vietnam, I had an account with another bank (it has its headquarters in San Francisco, which is where their call center was.) To use their call center, I had to call from the main post office. The number didn't work on my cell phone. They kept losing my new ATM card. It was sent in flimsy paper which didn't make it off the airplane when it got here. I finally had to get the card sent to a drop shipping address I used to have in Las Vegas and, sure enough, it looked like it had a tough time getting from their office in Concord (CA) to Las Vegas. That wasn't the only problem. Their call center people were very rude and condescending, especially the manager when I complained.

That's why they outsource overseas. That bank lost me as a customer.

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:53 pm
by IsnipeWithAknife
I thought the main reason why companies outsource is because it costs so much to run a business in the US (taxes, minimum wage, insurance....)

Also Philippines is the 3rd largest english speaking country in the world

New pet peeve: Going for a long run around town, turning the corner only to run into a bunch of smokers. I think next time I'm going to the gym

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 12:12 am
by Flying bird
Pregnant teenagers.

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:52 am
by LoyalTubist
IsnipeWithAknife wrote:I thought the main reason why companies outsource is because it costs so much to run a business in the US (taxes, minimum wage, insurance....)

Also Philippines is the 3rd largest english speaking country in the world
That's part of it. It is the largest English speaking country in Asia. And they actually speak with an American accent, unlike Singapore and Malaysia. I actually got fired from one of my many jobs in Vietnam because I don't know British English. It was explained after the firing that they didn't care how I speak it, but I had to write it correctly.

color = colour
ice cream = ice-cream
hamburger = beefburger
zee = zed
mold (casting) = mould
engineer (railroad) = train driver
railroad = railway
two weeks = fortnight
movie (it's an American word, guys) = film
fanny = bum
(female anatomy) = fanny (it's a dirty word in the U.K.)
butt (cigarette) = end (they also say "f a g," which might be smokable.)
rest room = toilet (it's OK to say in public)
break room (with a bed) = rest room
bathroom = toilet
(room with only a bathtub in it) = bathroom
movie theater = cinema
theater = theatre
small truck = lorry
station wagon = estate car
civilized = civilised
(most words with a "z" like that use an "s")

You think all you have to do is change the spelling but you have to change your whole way of thinking.

In the Philippines, they do have some local additions to the American English language, but you learn them quickly. The main word to know is:

comfort room (usually abbreviated CR) = rest room (US) or toilet (UK)

_______________________________________________________

Oh, I wasn't really fired. I was sacked.

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:35 am
by JazzGeek
In my experience, brits like to call a restroom the "loo" and toilet paper was "loo rolls" --- I kept wondering why my girlfriend kept asking for the Lou Rawls.......LOL :twisted:

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:52 am
by LoyalTubist
Lieu in Vietnam is a common girl's name. Most Brits don't want to offend anyone in that regard. They'd rather offend the Americans and say, "I'm going to the toilet."
To which I think to myself, "That's way too much information!"

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:11 am
by The Aceman
I actually have several years of call center experience, I now hate call centers and have vowed never to get into that line of work again. You want to know why people at call centers are always pissed off. Dealing with a bunch of dumbass customers that need to pull their head out. It's not a very forgiving job, you can come into work in a good mood and leave every day pissed off. And customers are ruthless (esp. over the phone, they are much more brave that way than in person) they don't just insult the company, they will insult YOU PERSONALLY, just because they don't like the companies rules (usually its just because they can't pay).

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:45 am
by LoyalTubist
This was a bank. One of the biggest in the country (if you know which one is based in San Francisco, when I get to Manila I'll treat you to a pizza). I couldn't get my ATM card because they put the thing in a mailer that could barely make it to Las Vegas. I didn't insult anyone until the supervisor insulted me.

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:07 am
by Hostrauser
LoyalTubist wrote:This was a bank. One of the biggest in the country (if you know which one is based in San Francisco, when I get to Manila I'll treat you to a pizza). I couldn't get my ATM card because they put the thing in a mailer that could barely make it to Las Vegas. I didn't insult anyone until the supervisor insulted me.
Sounds like Wells Fargo.

Re: Pet peeves

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:09 am
by LoyalTubist
What do you want on your pizza?