Aimeyir

Joy Nash is my new hero.


If you haven't heard of this wonderful, funny lady, go to youtube and
look up the video entitled "A Fat Rant". Joy is a large lady (all 224
lbs. of her) and one of the few large women comfortable in her big
skin. She makes a lot of valid points and breaks the stereotype that
so many people have about fat people, that we eat way too much, that
we are lazy and that we don't care about the way we look.
I'm here to tell you, folks. I eat normal sized portions. I eat lots
of vegetables and fruits, as well as lean meats, wheat breads, and
whole grains. I may not do any type of structured exercise, but I
work 40 hrs. a week on my feet, running around and lifting things.
And, I'm fat. I refuse to hide my body under tent dresses and big
shirts. I wear form-fitting but tasteful clothes that I find pretty
and that reflect my own unique style. Too many times do I find that
clothing stores have clothes that I like but don't go past a size 14
(I wear a size 18-20). My response? I don't shop there. My money
speaks volumes. The average sized woman in America today is a size
12. Doesn't that make me above average? (hehe). Just because I'm fat
doesn't mean I'm not healthy, either. Just like being skinny doesn't
guarantee health as well.

Fat people of the world, stand up and shout, "I'm fat! I weigh
(insert weight here, mine's 195 lbs. at 5'2", just so you know), and
I'm proud! I can go and have a slice of cheesecake or an ice cream
sundae if I want! I refuse to be made miserable by my weight!

End of story, please see the video. I hope it will change your mind
about us.

when I see a skinny person, I see them as being unhealthy. I agree
that not being your ideal weight doesn't mean you're not healthy. I
also think that people who are too skinny get sick more often. As
long as your doctor says your in good health, that should be all that
really matters.

We miss ya!

Recently, there has been a certain letter that has been bashed to
death, but for some sick, twisted reason, the author of said letter
along with the efforts of an anonymous poster whom I assume is the
author's alter ego seem to refuse to let this letter go the way of the
dodo.

Why is there such need for such blatant ego self-gratification? The
term "beating a dead horse" seems to apply here, but like Baron
Frankenstein, even though his monstrous, bloated, horrific creation
needs to die in a fire while trapped at the top of a tower, he feels
the need to keep it alive and breathing in a disgusting mockery of
life. Since by addressing the letter specifically would myself be
adding fuel to the fire, so it has been pointed out to me by the
aforementioned anonymous person, I'm posting it here, in my blog,
where the only one that benefits from the posts is me. Ha.
For any of you who have made an alter ego identity just because nobody
else was affirming your idiotic claims, so you felt justified to make
a xerox copy of yourself hiding under the banner of anonymity, for
shame! You have now confirmed to yourself and everyone else that you
have no life, no friends stupid enough to support your lame-brained
actions, and no shame. I know that being on the Internet affords one
either anonymity, or the ability to re-invent oneself into an ideal
person. Fake is still fake, no matter how you slice it, call it,
paint it, or hide it.
BTW, if you have an issue with what I'm saying, call me out. I stand
behind what I say unless you can prove me wrong, which I guarantee you
will be difficult, as this is %100 opinion. I leave my replies open,
go ahead. Knock yourself out. At least if you're wasting time trying
to engage me in a verbal battle, the zombie letter will be slowly
sliding off the list into it's well deserved grave.

R.I.P., Zombie Letter.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to "Business Letters 101". Today we will
be discussing the ways to draft a letter suitable for posting on PFB,
since so many of you seem to have lost that point completely. I hope
this will be useful for frequent posters and new visitors alike.
Dora, Virginia, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I'm
pretty sure that neither one of you would get the point of this class
and I'm certain that you don't want to waste your time and mine.

OK, now that that's done, let's begin, shall we?

The majority of the letters posted on PFB, if you have noticed, are
complaints. This is a sad state of being, when more people are wont
to complain about something bad rather than compliment something good.
Well, you have an issue you wish to bring to a company's attention.
What's the first thing you want to do, class?
That's right! Take a few minutes before starting to compose yourself
and calm down. Try to remember all the facts and details before you
begin. Names, dates, times, places, things that were said, all will
be very useful. If it helps, make notes of these things before you
begin writing.
Now that we've done that, class, what's next? Yes, writing the
letter. I recommend using a word processor program to draft the
letter, then copy and paste. This method helps to eliminate spelling
and grammatical errors, and makes your letter look more professional.
Now, keep in mind, we are NOT writing the Great American Novel here.
The people reading your letter want clear, concise, and to the point,
not an entertaining article. They can buy a copy of People for that.
Allow me to demonstrate.

"Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my displeasure with the ABC restaurant's
management staff. I went there on MM/DD at around X:XX p.m. with my
significant other to have dinner. We ordered blahblahblah and
yadayadayada. Our food arrived 45 minutes after we ordered and it was
cold, and I did not get the side order of yaketyyak I asked for, even
though it was on the bill that we received. I asked the server, Jane
Doe, about the delay and requested that they re-heat our food, but she
was rather rude and didn't say anything. We spoke to the manager,
John Doe, but he was very unapologetic and did not stay to speak with
us, much less offer any recompense.
Please reimburse me the $XX.XX that we paid for the meal.

Thank You,
Robert Roe."

See? Short, clear, concise, and full of detail. No race/status
cards, no excessive demands. This is a good idea of how a business
letter shoud read. Most likely this person will get what they are
asking for, and if this is indeed a good business, a bit more for
their trouble, even though all they asked for was a refund of their
meal. Personal expressions, like "pain and suffering", and "I have
never been treated so horribly! It was torture!" do not have it's
place in a business letter of this type. If a phrase can be repeated
with your hand on your forehead while swooning, and it makes sense,
it's probably too dramatic to include. This is business letter class,
not drama class. Drama does not get you more stuff, it gets you
ignored. Leave out personal descriptions of yourself or your status.
This can look like using the race/status card. Companies don't care
if you are a Hispanic veteran of Vietnam, or if you are a CEO with a
doctorate in business. You're still people, just like everyone else.
Excessive demands are also a no-no. It is insensitive to demand
someone be fired over this, or to ask for a lifetime of free product.
Ask for what you lost, no more, no less. Also, leave out the bad
words and the pseudo bad words. These do not look professional at
all. "Freaking", and "treating people like crap" have no place in a
business letter. Refrain from personal attacks. Those cause people
to become defensive and once again, they will ignore you. Just like I
have said before, clear, concise, to the point. Like Jack Webb from
"Dragnet" is quoted as saying, "Just the facts."

All right, class, I want you all to draft a business letter in the
manner that I have discussed here. They will be due tomorrow. Thank
you, and everyone have a nice day.

Throughout history, the development of technology and advances in
engineering have all served one purpose; to make our lives easier.
However, this age of instant gratifications and ease of labor has a
cost. The cost is the backbone of society. Look at the differences
30 years ago and now. Parents were able to spank children (even in
public, oh no!) when they misbehaved. Now, if that were to occur, the
parents would be thrown in jail and child protective services would
place the children in foster homes. Result? The kids run wild as
there are now no real consequences to their behavior. Now, parents
have to find other ways of controlling their children's behavior
without resorting to corporal punishment. What did they use in it's
place? Bribery. What does that install in a child's mind? "If I
want something, all I have to do is misbehave and they'll give me
something to shut me up." See something familiar? No more do people
believe that in order to get what you want, all you have to do is work
hard for it. Now, it's act like an ass for it.
Here's another casualty of this sort of attitude: personal
responsibility. People used to be taught that anyone else's property
(including public property) is to be respected. Nowadays, people have
absolutely no respect for anything that isn't theirs. That also goes
with things like frivolous lawsuits. People can't accept personal
responsibility, especially when there is money involved. If something
happens, it's someone else's fault. I've often referred to stupid
lawsuits as "the new national lottery". As long as there are greedy
lawyers to handle these asinine cases, they will be around.

From the wcbstv.com website:

"(CBS/AP) CHERRY HILL, N.J. Six men described by federal prosecutors
as "Islamic militants" have been arrested on charges they plotted to
attack the Fort Dix Army post and "kill as many soldiers as possible,"
federal authorities said Tuesday.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Tuesday there is "no direct
evidence" that the men have ties to international terrorism.

"They are not charged with being members of an international terrorism
organization," Snow said. "At least at this point, there is no
evidence that they received direction from international terror
organizations."

Asked if those arrested had any links to al-Qaida, Snow referred
questions to the FBI and the U.S. attorney, but said those officials
"seem to indicate that there is no direct evidence of a foreign
terrorist tie."

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said the men viewed Islamic
training and weapons videos on the Internet.

"What concerns us is, obviously, they began conducting surveillance
and weapons training in the woods and were discussing killing large
numbers of soldiers," Boyd said.

The six were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Camden
later Tuesday to face charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. servicemen,
said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in
New Jersey. An afternoon news conference was also scheduled with
federal authorities.

Officials said four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one
in Jordan and one in Turkey. All had lived in the United States for
years. Three were in the United States illegally; two had work permits
and the sixth is a U.S. citizen.

The men were identified in court papers as Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer,
Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, Shain Duka, Serdar Tatar and Agron
Abdullahu. Checks with Immigration and Customs Enforcement show that
Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka and Shain Duka are illegally living in the
United States, according to FBI complaints unsealed with their
arrests.

Five of the men lived in Cherry Hill, a Philadelphia suburb located
about 20 miles from Fort Dix.

"They were planning an attack on Fort Dix in which they would kill as
many soldiers as possible," Drewniak said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because
documents in the case remain sealed, said the attack was stopped in
the planning stages.

The men also allegedly conducted surveillance at other area military
institutions, including Fort Monmouth, a U.S. Army installation, the
official said.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith said U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie told
him one of the suspects had a job delivering pizzas to the base and
used that opportunity to scout out the possible attack.

"He delivered pizzas to the base and that gave him the ability to map
out the who, what, where, when and why of their activities," Smith
said.

Smith said the men had been under surveillance for 16 months and
practiced their attacks in the Pocono Mountains in northeastern
Pennsylvania. He said they also watched Osama bin Laden videos.

Smith said they videotaped their practice sessions, and got caught
when they brought it to a retail store to get copied onto a DVD. A
store employee saw the tape and contacted the FBI, Smith said.

The men were arrested Monday trying to buy automatic weapons. The sale
was a set-up by law enforcement authorities who had been investigating
the men.

Fort Dix is used to train soldiers, particularly reservists. It also
housed refugees from Kosovo in 1999.

At the main gate of the sprawling Army base, military police officers
ordered reporters to leave the area immediately.

U.S. Rep. James Saxton, who represents Fort Dix, said the base, along
with adjacent McGuire Air Force Base, has been on its highest security
alert level.

"This serves as a stark reminder that the threat of jihadists around
the world and even here at home is very, very real," Saxton said. "It
is not a threat that exists only in Iraq and the rest of the Middle
East."

Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Saxton, said Fort Dix typically has
15,000 people, including 3,000 soldiers, while McGuire, which is
adjacent to Fort Dix, has about 11,500 people.

Soldiers at Fort Dix have been training for warfare in Iraq and
Afghanistan, Sagnip said.

"Everything is a replica of what they would face in the field," he
said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the once-open Fort Dix has
been closed to the public. There are heavily armed guards at
entrances, along with X-ray machines

Yet the main road through neighboring Cookstown cuts through the base
and is accessible to the public. A half-dozen locations on the base,
including at least two where soldiers were conducting maneuvers
Tuesday morning, were only a few hundred yards off the main road and
accessible to anyone.

James Logston, a retired military employee from Mount Holly who worked
at a military base in California, said determined terrorists probably
could succeed in attacking a U.S. military base.

"It could happen, sure," he said at a convenience store just outside
the base's main gate. "After a while, people start getting slack and
something could happen. This day and age, nothing surprises you."

Debbie Vesper, who works at a school just outside the main gate, also
was not surprised Fort Dix was targeted.

"It seems these days they want to be a threat to something a large as
possible, an entire institution rather than just a small threat," she
said.

The description of the suspects as "Islamic militants" was causing
renewed worry among New Jersey's Muslim community. Hundreds of Muslim
men from New Jersey were rounded up and detained by authorities in the
months following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but none were connected
to that plot.

"If these people did something, then they deserve to be punished to
the fullest extent of the law," said Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who
represented scores of detainees after the 2001 attacks. "But when the
government says 'Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public
that Islam and militancy are synonymous.

"Don't equate actions with religion," he said."

I saw this this morning as my boyfriend was getting ready to go off to
work at Fort Dix, where he works as a medical hold transport
dispatcher. If these lunatics hadn't been caught, I could have been
making funeral arrangements today. Why do people think that doing
things like this is justified in any way? Hurting innocent people?
Why? I just...I can't write anymore, I'm just in shock.

OK, so besides the fact that I made a screw-up in my previous blog
post's title (hence part of the idea for this blog post's title), I'd
like to address the topic of mistakes. Everyone who's human makes
them, yet why is it we seem to be so intolerant of others' mistakes?
It's like the fart thing; we all fart, yet it's a point of ridicule if
others do. Is it that we try to re-direct any possible negative
feelings towards ourselves by shoving them onto others? It's like
nobody's entitled to have a bad day or an attitude but yourself. What
happened to empathy and sympathy? In this world of "gimme, gimme,
gimme, now!", we have lost sight of what is truly important; working
together as part of a whole, and not the self-centric people we are
becoming. People make mistakes. It happens. Too often that is
forgotten. You'd be surprised, a little sympathy goes a long way.
Next time someone you are dealing with makes a mistake, instead of
pointing and yelling, "Hey! You screwed up! Shame on you for being a
flawed human!", maybe we should just smile and say, "Hey, that's OK,
it happens." I would be willing to bet there would be a change
immediately.

(Thanks to Harleycat who inspired the title)


Why is it people are so afraid to talk to managers when they have a
complaint? Is it truly the ease of taking "abuse" from an inadequate
employee (whether it be actual or perceived) then waiting until you
are home to voice your discontent to a faceless, judgeless computer
monitor? Why the heck should you be unwilling to actually speak to a
human being? Have we gotten to the point that it is easier to
interact with machines? Or, is it the case that people nowadays think
that they are so important to the company that they won't waste their
time on a lowly location manager, but rather take their complaints to
the huge company itself? I don't get it. Really. Just talk to the
freaking manager. What's the worst that can happen, they pull out a
gun and shoot you? If you truly have a legitimate complaint, the
manager at the location there has the most clout and pull to be able
to actually do something at that very moment. They can also fix the
possible situation so that hopefully it won't happen again. A manager
cannot fix a problem unless they are aware of it. They can talk to
the disgruntled customer, ask relevant questions, find out the info
they need to know and dispense recompense (sp?) immediately. They can
discipline the errant employee or dispatch someone to fix the broken
thing, whatever the problem may be. Hearing complaints second-hand
lessens the power the manager has over that situation. They don't
know for certain what happened, as very few customers include all the
necessary details and information the manager may need. They aren't
given the option or ability to observe the problem first-hand and take
the correct course of action. What's the corporation going to do?
Send you a coupon or a gift certificate and move on. Whoopdedoo.
Guess what, the location manager can do that and so much more.
Ideally, by skipping the location manager completely, the customer is
actually losing out on things they could have gotten, and maybe
deserved. Face it, who doesn't like to have their butts kissed now and
then? (heh).


Please, people, I beg of you, take but 5-10 minutes out of your busy
lives and bring your complaints to the manager on duty. This is your
way of improving customer service in stores.

Thank you.

OK. After reading some of the most recent postings, I have come to
the conclusion that PFB needs a "shenanigans" button. Something we
can push if we think the complaint is not a legitimate one. Maybe a
type of vote, how many PFB users think it's legit or shenanigans. I
must admit, some of our OP's have understood the error of their ways
after it having been pointed out to them, and to them, I give kudos.
It takes a special person to be that receptive to be able to say,
"Hey, they're right." and admit they made a mistake. Congratulations
to you, you have become a better and richer human being for that, and
I applaud you. Now, then there is the troglodyte category, of which
is populated by the entitlement "folks" (out of politeness, I'll not
use the "wh*re" word), the "I'm always right no matter what you say"
people, and the "dumber than a box of rocks" people. Some of the OP's
fall into one or more of these categories, and to them, I beg, please,
for the love of humanity, do not have children and spread your idiocy.
Or, if you must, immediately adopt them out to a more intelligent
household. Reinstate empathy. We need it.

One of the things that makes me FUME is people who whine and rant
about stupid crap to a company then have the audacity to gloat when
the company sends them a letter of apology. This letter, which I
refer to as the "Bedbug Letter", is reported as an urban legend, but I
see it seems to be alive and well and being read and gloated over by
OP's.

The following is an exerpt from snopes.com's reference to the "bedbug
letter":

http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/bedbug.asp

"Apology letter sent to a wronged customer is marred by attached
instructions to send the recipient the standard grovel.

I once asked a LAME in Cairns if the tropical climate caused any
peculiar aircraft maintenance problems.

He thought for a moment and said, "Yes, cockroaches, because they
thrive in all the hidden recesses despite blazing heat on the ground
and chilly temperatures in flight, and can really make a mess."

Then he told me a story about a businessman who woke up some years ago
on an international flight only to find a giant cockroach crawling
down his cheek. He was so revolted by this that he filled in a
complaint form
about the incident and sent it off.

Some weeks later a letter from the airline's Public Relations Manager
landed on his desk. It was an outstanding example of the
practitioner's art and convincingly explained the airline's strict
precautions against such pests before admitting that, in very rare
circumstances, bugs did get on board their airliners, but when they
did so, it was always somebody else's fault; the unhygienic dumps they
had to land at, or when they had to rely on contractors for servicing,
or when carried aboard in passenger's hand luggage.

Then to show how repentant the airline was, the PR manager invited the
business man to present his letter at check-in when next he flew, when
he would be automatically upgraded to first class.

After carefully filing the letter, the business man crumpled up the
envelope and pitched it into the waste paper basket. As it landed he
noticed something inside it. So he retrieved the envelope and withdrew
one of the ubiquitous Post-it notes used nowadays to write messages in
every office around the globe and apparently enclosed in error by the
PR Manager's secretary.

It was his instruction to her to, "Just send this jerk the standard
cockroach letter."


A wealthy gentleman was badly bitten by bugs while riding on a certain
railway line. Arriving at his destination, he wrote the company an
indignant letter and received a prompt reply. It was, said the letter,
the first complaint the company had ever had of this nature. Inquiry
had failed to reveal any explanation for this unprecedented
occurrence. Nevertheless, a number of new precautions were being taken
to make absolutely certain such an unfortunate incident never happened
again. The letter was signed by a high official of the railway.

The gentleman was well satisfied with this reply and was returning it
to the envelope when a slip of paper fell out onto the floor. The
hastily scribbled note on it read: "Send this guy the bug letter."

Here are some variations:
Both the method of transport (airplane, train) and the type of pest
encountered (bedbug, flea, cockroach) vary from telling to telling.
Some versions situate the bedbugging in a snooty big-city hotel.
The bedbug letter has been part of contemporary lore since the 1920s,
as this example from 1927 shows:

Recurrent is the story, or perhaps it is the incident itself, of the
gentleman who moved into a new apartment, to discover the presence of
water bugs. He immediately dispatched a wrathful letter to the renting
agent. In reply he received a lengthy communication in which the agent
expressed his deepest grief, his intention of taking up the matter
with the owner at once and his assurance that nothing remedial would
be left undone. A careless secretary, however, had enclosed a note
which read: "Miss Fraser, send this guy the bug letter."

Its age notwithstanding, it continues to update itself, with overnight
travel by Pullman car replaced by long distance journeys by airplane,
and paperclipped instructions upgraded to Post-It notes.

Did a real event spark off this legend? Possibly. Brunvand reports on
a 1992 letter from the corresponding
secretary of the George Mortimer Pullman Encomium Society in which it
was claimed the bed bugging took
place on 4 March 1889 to a Mr. Phineas P. Jenkins, a salesman of
pig-iron products. After spending a night in the company of far too
many bedbugs (which in my book would number "one"), Jenkins penned a
note of complaint to George M. Pullman, President of the Pullman
Palace Car Company. In return, Jenkins received a wonderfully detailed
and heartfelt apology from Pullman. Its effect was undermined,
however, by the enclosure of his original letter, across which Pullman
had handwritten "Sarah Send this S! O! B! the 'bedbug letter.'"

An interesting incident was recorded as a news story in November 2000,
and there's little reason to doubt it. Ian Payne wrote the BBC to
request a season of Jean Simmons films and the autograph of Lorraine
Heggessey. He received back a short letter saying it could not
consider a Simmons season at this time. Attached to it was a Post-It
note reading: "Nutter, polite fob off &; no autograph."

The BBC has since gone on record as saying, "We have apologised
unreservedly to Mr. Payne. We have tried to find out who wrote the
post it note and we have compared the handwriting from the officers
and we cannot find anybody's handwriting who matches it. We are
mystified at this."

Though this is not quite the bedbug story (a recurrent condition was
not being passed off as a one-time occurrence), the element of a
customer's written communication being responded to with a polite
letter marred by the inclusion of a "send this guy a fob off note,"
thus revealing the real sentiments behind the response, is close.

Barbara "apology excepted" Mikkelson"




I'll say it again: YOU ARE NOT THAT SPECIAL; GET OVER YOURSELF!

Re: Aimeyir, or Stuff You Didn't Care If You Knew About Me Or Not.

Hello, everyone. This is my first blog on this site, so I thought I'd
start it off with a bit of backstory. I am currently 36 years of age
as of this posting. I have worked on and off in various foodservice
and retail service positions since 1990, from employee/asst. manager
at a BK to owning my own deli, customer service representative at a
Wal-mart to my current (but temporary) occupation at another
deli/convenience store. I was raised with the traditional German work
ethics: You work for what you get; take only what you need; give out
politeness and kindness so you can get some back, etc. I have spent
many a day in tears and exhaustion trying to deal with the
unreasonable customer, and frustration in trying to understand just
why they are justified in treating their fellow man in such a horrible
manner. There's an old saying I recently came across that rings true
to all of this. It said something to the effect of, "The kindness of
a person is judged not by how they treat their equals, but by how they
treat those they percieve to be below them." Because of my
experiences in their shoes, I go the extra mile in situations where I
am dealing with those "assisting" me. I smile, say please and thank
you, and do what I can to help. I've been known to carry dirty dishes
to the counter instead of leaving them on the tables. I clean my
messes. I don't yell, scream, shout, make unreasonable demands, or
take things personally. Why, you might ask? I am one person among
many. If I cannot get along with my fellow man, then I am doomed to
be alone in my misery. Yes, I might nitpick at one point while
overlooking the general issue. I err as well; I am human. But, my
ultimate goal is to alleviate my frustration and that of my fellow
worker by trying to show you our world, to make you understand why you
might be making your fellow man suffer needlessly over your petty
demands.

/two cents.