Self as Benchmark
I am great at grammar, and it irritates me when people get it wrong

Let’s face it, English is a complex thing. Yes, a certain level of competence might reasonably be expected. However I guarantee that a great number of those who throw rocks at people who confuse such things as their/there would have their own written work torn to shreds by genuine experts in the field. Write something lengthy and then engage an expert and see how you fare.


Those people are overweight. That makes me really angry.

(I accept that overweight is not the same as obese but this is a rant thread) so cut me some slack.

Um, why? If you find them unattractive, fair enough. If it’s uncomfortable to be in close proximity to them sometimes (e.g. on a plane), fair enough. If you consider them to be an additional burden on the health system, fair enough. But let’s face it, the above conditions could be met by any number of people and circumstances, be they overweight or not. If you really have an issue with overweight people, for whatever reason, I challenge you to check your own BMI. Consider asking the staff at the local gym to help you calculate the figure. See what it is like to be judged by someone else’s standards and then let’s see what you do about it. I think many of you will get a shock, but if you aren’t in the obese, and hence visibly identifiable category, then why worry hey.


I hate bad drivers. I see them everywhere. They are dangerous.

Driving is a potentially lethal activity and it’s fair to be annoyed by people who drive unsafely. They can cause you and yours great harm, and controlling X ton/tonne of metal is a serious issue. People doing the obviously stupid things, like speeding or talking on the phone, are clearly in the wrong. But how do people see you as a driver? How do we assess our own driving skills? By lack of accidents? By lack of incidents? By lack of beeps? Or do we get our driving skills checked by professional driver trainers? No, we don’t (most of us). Most of us probably haven’t even taken any additional driving training at all. Why not? Is it ok to be annoyed by other drivers doing the wrong thing yet not bother to ensure we are the best possible drivers we can be?

There are lots of holes in what I have written, but the key point is that there is an intrinsic conceitedness in using ourselves as benchmarks - particularly in condemning anyone who doesn’t meet our standards.
( enoughblueskyforsailorstrousers, Thu 8 May 2008, 10:32, 6 replies)

BMI
22. Yay for me!
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Thu 8 May 2008, 10:33, closed)

eee
Your first point couldnt be truer. Its amazing how many times people compain about apostrophe misuse and go on to say "your" instead of "you're".
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Thu 8 May 2008, 10:57, closed)

ooooo
Its amazing how many times people compain about apostrophe misuse and go on to say "your" instead of "you're".

^^^

Isn't there some kind of Law of Teh Intarwebs that made it inevitable that you would do something that?
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Thu 8 May 2008, 11:04, closed)

Agree with 2....
..but the driving thing is still an issue for me.

My simple definition of good/bad drivers goes like this.

Good Drivers:
Rarely noticed, and only draw attention when doing something particularly smart or curteous _(sp?) ... for example: slowing down to a steady continuous crawl instead of the start-stop activity of all the cars infront...

Bad drivers
Mostly draw attention to themselves by doing something dangerous or inconsiderate. Cutting people up in traffic, erratic manouvres, tailgating or causing unsafe situations etc. all the worse if They don't understand why someone might find it to be annoying.

I gauge myself by the reactions of other drivers... only problem with that is that I need to be alert, paying attention to mirrors and generally being entirely aware of the situation around me... well, someone has to...
( Humpty Dumpty was Pushed Is unaware of having any limits., Thu 8 May 2008, 11:37, closed)

@ Cockbrush
My grammar is normally half-decent but the posters first point just gave me such a liberated buzz!!! I threw all grammar out the window!!!

My point anyway is that if people preach about it they inevitably make a mistake SOMEWHERE. But I wasn't preaching ;)
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Thu 8 May 2008, 11:40, closed)