the "things you wish you could say" thread

[arcturus]

We just took a vote. It was unanimous. Please stop your long winded discussion about how you do not trust unanimous votes. You started the meeting by stating that you prefer to have votes because you don't trust "consensus" determinations. First of all, we are voting to *continue doing what we are already doing*. To vote against would require significant reasons. Unanimous approval is the expected outcome. Please, please stop talking and wasting our time. We are going to vote to approve everything on the docket today.

Sort of the corollary to "If I didn't win there must have been something wrong with the electoral process" theory.

Some people just don't know how to lose, or how "lose" works.

M. 

But he didn't lose! We all voted yes, including him. It was the expected outcome. This is a make-work committee where we are just providing official cover for continuing the current practices. There is nothing to see here. Let us vote "yes" and go home. No need for grand standing.

To provide context, it was somewhat along the lines of "We currently sell bread in our stores. Do we think that we should continue to sell bread?" There could be lots of interesting discussion: "What do you consider as bread? Is selling the ingredients you need to make bread the same as selling bread? Do we provide options for gluten-free customers?" but the fundamental question is not really controversial. Because the chair blathered on about his concerns regarding unanimous results we did not have time (or will) for the more interesting discussions that could be had instead.

[Istiblennius]

Thanks for that reminder that not only is your upcoming retirement the healthy choice for you, it's the healthy choice for our department, our institution, and most importantly our students. Good riddance.

[Myword]

   What about retorts to reviewers of manuscripts?

  1. This paragraph or quoted author is not relevant to topic.   Yes it is. The fact that you don't see that shows you don't understand or you disagree with it or dislike the quoted author.

   2. It makes no new contribution.   Oh, like your writing does? You did not read this carefully, or missed it. Or perhaps you have no interest in this anyway and this is merely a courtesy review.

    3. This has been done too much already.   You have not read the literature on this recently or you are not interested in it.  So what? Most journal articles in this field are redundant. So are you.

[mamselle]

   What about retorts to reviewers of manuscripts?

  1. This paragraph or quoted author is not relevant to topic.   Yes it is. The fact that you don't see that shows you don't understand or you disagree with it or dislike the quoted author.

   2. It makes no new contribution.   Oh, like your writing does? You did not read this carefully, or missed it. Or perhaps you have no interest in this anyway and this is merely a courtesy review.

    3. This has been done too much already.   You have not read the literature on this recently or you are not interested in it.  So what? Most journal articles in this field are redundant. So are you.

We could maybe start a thread on this...

I can think of a few as well...

M.

[statsgeek]

This would be a great thread! 

My first contribution: 
Uh...yeah....the average can still be that low even if some scores are higher. 

[ergative]

This would be a great thread! 

My first contribution: 
Uh...yeah....the average can still be that low even if some scores are higher.

oh no

[kiana]

This would be a great thread! 

My first contribution: 
Uh...yeah....the average can still be that low even if some scores are higher.

Sounds like my exam grades when Canvas includes the people who skipped the exam as 0 :/

[mamselle]

What about retorts to reviewers of manuscripts

This would be a great thread!

Done:

   https://thefora.org/index.php?topic=2797.0

Come on over, the acoustic tiles are in place!

M.
   

[Harlow2]

Dear HOA landscapers who came after the snow yesterday:Dumping a gallon bucket of rock salt equivalent on my 8-foot long front walk and throwing more at the front door [why?] isn't good for my cat, my floor, either of my door mats, or the environment. On the other hand (maybe this really should be a vinhale) you came and plowed quickly.

[namazu]

I preferred your original nose.

[Harlow2]

I preferred your original nose.

Another "Oh, no!"

[sinenomine]

Dear faculty member: You were asked at least ten times to send a report to the Registrar. You persisted in trying shortcuts that didn't generate what was needed. Read the #&*$ing directions and follow them; as a dean, I shouldn't have to drop everything to email you a list of your students and ask you yet again to send in the info that was due a week ago!

[smallcleanrat]

Dad, I don't know why you keep doing this, but please stop.

I try to stick to conversation topics that won't trigger a politically-based rant, but as time goes on, that pool of topics is getting smaller and smaller.

I thought Harry Belafonte was a safe topic. You always seemed to like his songs as part of that era "back when music was good."

1) It's really rude that you couldn't even wait for me to finish my first sentence before starting your rant. I only got as far as, "I saw an interview with Harry Belafonte--" before you broke in with, "Oh, that guy is CRAZY! Absolutely insane!" [referring to his political activism and opinions related to racism]

2) I'm really sick of hearing you call people whose politics you disagree with "crazy" when you know good and well if someone called your politics "crazy" you would call them hateful.

3) Regardless of whatever "crazy" statements he may have made, your argument is just...so...stupid.

"How can he complain that black people have been treated badly by white people? White people bought his records and made him very successful, but somehow they were also racist? How ungrateful can you be?"

Firstly, "white people" are not some kind of hive mind with a single set of opinions and values. What demographic is?

Secondly, "I can't be racist, I bought a black man's records" sounds even flimsier than "I can't be racist, I have a black friend." It is possible for someone who buys an artist's records to still have bigoted opinions against them (or to consider the individual a special exception). Kind of like the way you encouraged me to pursue my interest in science, because I "think critically, unlike the average female."

Thirdly, Belafonte's recording career started in the early 1950's. Can you think of anything going on in 1950's America that black people might have had legitimate reasons to be upset about? Anything going on at the same time white people were buying his records? You're always banging on about how its only liberals who don't know history. As you are not a liberal, I'm sure you can come up with something.



I know there's no point saying any of this to you, because you'll just sneer and say "Well, you just don't like it because it's not PC." which would do absolutely nothing to address a single point I actually made.

As you have repeatedly reminded me, you are older, wiser, and more experienced with the ways of the world. Therefore, you shouldn't need my input to answer your own question: "Why do you always shut down when I try to have a conversation with you?"

[mamselle]

This is why my sibs and I never discuss anything of consequence.

A 45-min. Zoom check in about who's doing what is just about what we can manage.

And, no, I don't plan on visiting anytime soon, for the same reasons.

It just gets boring after awhile.

All good thoughts.

M.

[ergative]

I don't think you have any idea how badly that email reflects on you, and it baffles me that someone complaining about the childishness of his fellow classmates could be so clueless. Oh, yes, we'll have a talk about the Incident tomorrow, but I'm not sure it's going to go how you think it will go.