Annoying modern trends...

[Bushman]

For the ladies, tights as trousers.

I was just thinking this the other day. Funny, I read an article a few years back about how spandex pants are bad for the skin because they don't allow the skin the breath, causing breakouts.

Black, matte colored and plastic guns.

Worse thing ever invented in weaponry. It looks so silly, like it's made to appeal to the video gamer teenagers who go around talking like weapon specialists when they've never fired a real firearm in their lives. I also hate it on knives. It's ugly. No, not every pocket knife needs to have a tactical stealth look to it. I still like my knives with cold, bare steel.

Zombie culture.

Never liked them in the first place, save for a few of the old Romero movies.

Selfies

I don't mind the concept so much as I mind the word. We all have taken a self portrait image at least once in our lives. It's simply human nature. However I find words like "seflie" and "emoji" to be sickeningly cute.

Too many people.

Whenever I am stuck in traffic in my at one time small town, I find myself grumbling that people need to move back from where they came from.

People who use Twitter as a substitute for thoughtful engagement.
People who expect to find thoughtful engagement on Twitter.

I honestly believe that social media is killing meaningful conversation. The internet forum was the first way humanity could ever engage in a conversation with a person in Germany, a person in England, a person in the US, and a person in Japan all at the same time. It's truly a wonder of mankind that we've invented such technology, and have the ability to have meaningful discussion with people of different cultures, languages and points of view. And what do we do with the technology? Build ourselves bubbles and play Farmville. I firmly believe that the internet forum is a vastly superior form of communication over social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Why? Because you're forced to come out of your bubble and converse with people that have a different view. There's no echo chamber that reinforces preconceived ideologies. I really do find it a shame that the internet forum is a dying format.

People who would buy a gilded dog turd if Amazon sold it.

Well, Nordstrom did manage to sell out of $85 leather bagged rocks last Christmas.

People who go from their heated house to their heated garage to their heated car without putting a coat on, and then whine like babies when they get to their destination and have to walk twenty feet in the cold before going inside.

I really do hate humanity.

The converse, and equally annoying modern trend, is those people who dismiss any critique of society by anyone other than their own socioracial group as "PC whining."

I find that, for the most part, people that complain about "PC Police" and "special snowflakes" are the same people who just want an excuse to be cruel sociopaths without social repercussions.

Twitter, the Devil's Island for those too dumb to cut it on Reddit, but who are afraid they might get beat up on 4Chan.

I use Twitter only for journalistic purposes, but I avoid 4Chan like the plague as I do Reddit, which I consider the "poor man's 4Chan".

And now for a couple of my own:

- I cannot stand (nor understand) the usage of baby talk when referring to one's pets on the internet. It's not a fekking "Doggo". It's a dog.
-The incessant need for people to be on their phones, especially at inappropriate times such as when they're at a movie or when they're hiking. Do you really need your phone so badly that you cannot go without it for 2 hours? And God help you should you point out how rude it is for somebody to be on their phone during a movie.
-Children with cellphones, or on the internet in general. Children do not belong on the internet, unless they're doing homework, and certainly shouldn't be on social media. Can't tell you how many times I've seen petulant immaturity on Facebook only to realize I'm trying to have a discussion with an 8 year old. Personally, I think all social media should enforce an NC-13 rule, perhaps even an NC-17 rule as was common on Facebook in the early days. Just to keep the immaturity down. When i Was 8, my friends and I still climbed trees, floated down the creek on old wooden doors, and scraped our knees. Oh no, that can't happen NOW! What if Junior got salmonella or fell out of the tree?
-The selfie stick. This is an abomination that MUST be outlawed in most public places. It's hard enough dodging crowds in a museum, let alone crowds carrying 3ft long aluminum sticks.
-Parents who let their children run around without repercussion. They're not cute when they're running around and screaming. Get off your phone and parent!
-Apathy. Apathy has affected everyone from politicians to school teachers, and it's horrifying. People need to start caring about one another. Learn some compassion.

 

[AmateisGal]

I use Twitter only for journalistic purposes, but I avoid 4Chan like the plague as I do Reddit, which I consider the "poor man's 4Chan".

I actually like Twitter a lot, but I use it to connect with other WW2 historians, writers, and book lovers. I used to get involved in political stuff there, but I soon grew tired of it and don't engage anymore. It's pointless.

Twitter is also great for breaking news as you can follow things as they actually happen. Conversely, it's horrible for breaking news because stuff gets reported without being checked for accuracy.

I think social media is a very useful tool, but you have to decide what you want to do with it. I really enjoy the Lounge because I can converse in a longer format with people who share my interests. I only use FB for contact with family and friends. And Twitter is where I go for my history/writing stuff. I started blogging over 15 years ago and that's how I met a lot of my writing friends, but blogging has kind of fallen by the wayside, eclipsed by Twitter and FB. Like you said, Bushman, the longer format isn't as prevalent anymore, and I think that's a shame. I used to thoroughly enjoy reading various blogs every morning, taking my time to read people's posts and really get to know them as a person. You can't do that as well with Twitter and FB.

 

[LizzieMaine]

-The selfie stick. This is an abomination that MUST be outlawed in most public places. It's hard enough dodging crowds in a museum, let alone crowds carrying 3ft long aluminum sticks.

I have never seen a selfie stick in person, only in comedy sketches and in comic strips. Someone must use them, but they haven't shown up here yet. The only people carrying three foot long aluminum sticks in Maine are ninety years old, and have osteoperosis.

-Parents who let their children run around without repercussion. They're not cute when they're running around and screaming. Get off your phone and parent!

And don't shoot me the stink eye when I have to warn your wombfruit not to run on the lobby stairs, not to swing from the railings, and not to rock back and forth in the seats.

-Apathy. Apathy has affected everyone from politicians to school teachers, and it's horrifying. People need to start caring about one another. Learn some compassion.

We unfortunately live in a society -- especially in the United States -- where "compassion" is increasingly viewed as a sign of weakness. Suggest that something needs to be done and you deal with a barrage of "Won't somebody think of the children!" Simpsons imitations from people who see nothing beyond the shallow rot of their own festering souls.

 

[sheeplady]

Skinny men's suits. I always look at a man in a suit, and was at the gas station the other day saw a fella get out of his car and go into the station.

My line of thinking:
Hey! GUY IN A SUIT! On late Sunday! Score!
Wait, from behind that's a woman''s fitted suit, must be a woman with short hair. (He turns around.)
Wait... he turned around...that's a dude.
Eww... that suit is cheap and ugly. Why did he buy that thing?
This was so not worth gawking at.


Please tell me they still sell decent modern suits and not just those.

 

[Bushman]

I have never seen a selfie stick in person, only in comedy sketches and in comic strips. Someone must use them, but they haven't shown up here yet. The only people carrying three foot long aluminum sticks in Maine are ninety years old, and have osteoperosis.

In Chicago, they're very popular with the tourists. Since I go to school near Michigan Ave. I see them being carried around down the street, but usually extended at places like the Bean, the Sears Tower observation deck, and in and around museums and parks. Since I'm a museum and parks kinda guy, I'm playing Indiana Jones with swinging selfie sticks.

Like you said, Bushman, the longer format isn't as prevalent anymore, and I think that's a shame. I used to thoroughly enjoy reading various blogs every morning, taking my time to read people's posts and really get to know them as a person. You can't do that as well with Twitter and FB.

It's truly unfortunate. You can write several paragraphs of very well thought out information on a forum, and most people will read it, maybe even applaud it. Do the same on Facebook, and you get people complaining about too much text. How they'd never read that much ever.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Snowflake," very specifically, originated about ten years ago as a buzzword among the -- ah, I'll put this gently -- internet white nationalist/neo-fascist crowd, to describe young African-American, GLBTQ, or female persons who expressed public views opposite to their own xenophobic racism, sexism, and homophobia. Although they got the inspiration for the word from its use in "Fight Club," they gave it an edge and a meaning not present in that original usage. When Tyler Durden spoke the line in the movie, he was speaking to frustrated, disaffected white men who felt their social privilege wasn't being respected -- not to any generation of "whiny millenials." In effect, the people who use the word today were the very ones being *condemned* by it in its original source material, but they're evidently too thick to recognize that.

Either the people using it don't know where it came from and don't know precisely what it means to those who originated it or they do know where it came from and are using it in exactly the sense intended as a signal to those of similar mind. Either way, when it comes out of someone's mouth I tend to adjust my view of them accordingly downward. I'm not "offended" by it, I think it's either the mark of a fool whose ideas are as shallow as his language, or a stinking Nazi. I'm not going to waste any further time on them trying to figure out which.

I think the word - since I hear it used almost every day by very liberal New Yorkers who would rather die than offend - has, like many words, different meanings in different contexts and amongst different groups. I avoid the word not because of what you wrote - as I knew none of that before I read your post - but because the word tends to set people off one way or another as noted in my above post.

Snowball has a very graphic sexual meaning in some subcultures and context but it also still has a simple mainstream meaning. Some words will survive stupid hate groups attempts to coop them.

 

[Fading Fast]

I have never seen a selfie stick in person, only in comedy sketches and in comic strips. Someone must use them, but they haven't shown up here yet. The only people carrying three foot long aluminum sticks in Maine are ninety years old, and have osteoporosis.....

I'm amazed with all the tourists you get up there that you haven't seen them yet. That's mainly who I see using them in NYC.

 

[sheeplady]

I've heard the term snowflake refer to people who think they deserve special treatment AND to people who are seeking equality. It only took me hearing it once (in a public meeting) to refer to a child with special needs who's mother was seeking accommodations so her kid could be mainstreamed for me to never use it.

No, the kid wasn't a special snowflake, the mother was doing her best to get her child educated so they could contribute to society.

 

[AmateisGal]

In Chicago, they're very popular with the tourists. Since I go to school near Michigan Ave. I see them being carried around down the street, but usually extended at places like the Bean, the Sears Tower observation deck, and in and around museums and parks. Since I'm a museum and parks kinda guy, I'm playing Indiana Jones with swinging selfie sticks.

When I was in London in 2015, I saw a TON of selfie sticks used by tourists near Parliament, Westminster Abbey, etc.

My brother actually got a selfie stick for Christmas from his in-laws. You better believe I ribbed him incessantly for that.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm amazed with all the tourists you get up there that you haven't seen them yet. That's mainly who I see using them in NYC.

The "Dick Tracy" comic strip a few months back featured an extended sequence about a criminal minion named "Selfie Narcisse," whose schtick was an addiction to selfies. He carried a selfie stick, and at the end of the sequence was gored to death by a water buffalo while trying to use it. Pure wish fulfillment for the cartoonist, I suspect.

 

[GHT]

I've heard the term snowflake refer to people who think they deserve special treatment AND to people who are seeking equality. It only took me hearing it once (in a public meeting) to refer to a child with special needs who's mother was seeking accommodations so her kid could be mainstreamed for me to never use it.

No, the kid wasn't a special snowflake, the mother was doing her best to get her child educated so they could contribute to society.

I was under the impression that snowflake was a term of ridicule, used by those who disapprove of new mothers who cosset their first born baby. Can't remember where I saw it now but the word snowflake had deliberately been mockingly mis-spelt to read snoughphlaque, accompanied with the equally mocking and cruel prefix, pwecious.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

A snowflake is an aggregate of ice crystals that fall from the sky when it's cold.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

and at the end of the sequence was gored to death by a water buffalo while trying to use it. Pure wish fulfillment for the cartoonist, I suspect.

Not necessarily, such things do happen. Selfie deaths & accidents are far from rare. Look what happened to Narcissus, people never learn.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I have never seen a selfie stick in person, only in comedy sketches and in comic strips. Someone must use them, but they haven't shown up here yet. The only people carrying three foot long aluminum sticks in Maine are ninety years old, and have osteoperosis.

To me, the selfie-stick is the final peak of freakshow.
And in the beginning of 2016, I was so tensed to see the first ones in public space!

But, really the only time I saw people using one, was on my visit at the bookfair in Leipzig, on March 2016. A little group of teenage girls used one.

 

[Edward]

I've never owned a selfie stick, but I can certainly understand the attraction - you're somewhere new, you don'tg know anyone, you're on your own (or you want a shot of your whole group) - who can you trust not to run off with your camera? I remember being places on my own (a combination of being single for the guts of a decade and often trsvelling for work, so tacking on the few holidays I took to work trips) and having to think about which person lookedl ike they had a better camera than mine, so were less likely to run off with it.... I'd have appreciated a selfie stick then. That said, as with mobile phones, Twitter, or whatever else, there'll always be soem ass who abuses them. The problem is not so much any of these things in and of themselves, but the rise of entitlement culture among people with no manners.

The thing that winds me up the most in public places these days are people who let their kids run loose. Art gallery? No, little Tarquin muast be allowed to run, jump, shout and push, because he's interacting with the art. Wedding? How dare they ask me to take my baby outside - noone needs to hear the vows being taken, do they? AND ON, and on....

I blame people who, ultimately, just don't want to be parents. Oh, sure, they want to breed (and expect to be celebrated for it, it never occurring to them that even flies breed), but they have no interest in curtailing their lives in any way and so drag their kids along to all sorts of places that may or may not be appropriate, and then make no effort whatever to discipline them. It's got to the point now where I cringe if I see kids getting on a flight I'm on, and then felel ike congratulating the parents like they're super-beings if the kids actually behave like they should. I know I'm an old man now (well.... 42. To the kids in their early-twenties that I teach, I'm practically dead), but there's a standard of behaviour for kids now that seems the norm which just would never have been tolerated when I was that age. While there are exceptions (I know at least one child who is simply a repulsive bully at the age of around ten, and will never be a nice person - the parents by comparison are a joy, but even then....), I blame the parents. Kids get their sense of entitlement from somewhere. Far too many parents these days seem to want to be pals with their kids, and simply aren't prepared to discipline them and make them behave. I pity their teachers.

Ah, that's proof of the old adage: "Those that can, do. Those that can't teach.

Let's file that particular nonsensical saying under the 'simple things we hate' phrase. It's surprising how often I hear it nowadays, though perhaps it shouldn't be with the rising populist tide of anti-intellectualism the UK has been suffering for the last decade.

Bachelorette parties. A weird one, I know, but bear with me. My friend's daughter is getting married and the trend now is to do the bachelorette party in Las Vegas or New Orleans or some other big city. Gone are the days of the girls going out for a few drinks at the local bar.

Wedding culture in general is crazy. The saddest thing I hear are people who want ot be married but think they can't afford it, because they have been duped by society into thinking that a wedding is a marriage, that in order to be properly married they have to spend the equivalent of a mortgage deposit or more to have a bigger party than anyone else, and buy dinner for two hundred people they don't like. And then add on an overpriced weekend break before that as well. My borther had a stag night; I was hids best man, but I didn't organise anything - he did it himself as we both have very different circles of friends (by that point I'd also been in London for three years, so.). We had dinner then we went to the pub for a bit. That was it. Civilised, though I won't bother with one for me at all. Never saw the pointg in the traditional idea - I've never enjoyed being drunk, I don't want to go to some sordid club and disrespect women, and the whole idea of "celebrating your last night of freedom" - well, if that's how you view getting married, why the hell do it at all? At this point, it largely seems to be a "tradition" for people who want an excuse to behave badly. Hen nights are even worse, because they seem hellbent on making other people get involved. I was once on an early-morning flight to Belfast where a hen party drank and sang loudly and attempted to be the focus of everyone's attention for the entire flight. It was pathetic.

I honestly believe that social media is killing meaningful conversation. The internet forum was the first way humanity could ever engage in a conversation with a person in Germany, a person in England, a person in the US, and a person in Japan all at the same time. It's truly a wonder of mankind that we've invented such technology, and have the ability to have meaningful discussion with people of different cultures, languages and points of view. And what do we do with the technology? Build ourselves bubbles and play Farmville. I firmly believe that the internet forum is a vastly superior form of communication over social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Why? Because you're forced to come out of your bubble and converse with people that have a different view. There's no echo chamber that reinforces preconceived ideologies. I really do find it a shame that the internet forum is a dying format.

Social media is just a tool; like everything else, the issue is how it's used. I find that the benefits outweigh the negatives. One thing I really like about it, though, is that we've seen the death of forums where people just come on to chatter because they like the (virtual) sound of their own voice. It frees up interest forums to remain more for people who have an interst in a specific subject and can converse on it. I certainly agree that forums are better for that, and yes, you do draw a wider range of opinion. That siad, some of the very worst instances of online bullying I've ever seen have been on forums rather than social media, so.... Both useful tools for different things, both open to abuse.

Skinny men's suits. I always look at a man in a suit, and was at the gas station the other day saw a fella get out of his car and go into the station.

My line of thinking:
Hey! GUY IN A SUIT! On late Sunday! Score!
Wait, from behind that's a woman''s fitted suit, must be a woman with short hair. (He turns around.)
Wait... he turned around...that's a dude.
Eww... that suit is cheap and ugly. Why did he buy that thing?
This was so not worth gawking at.


Please tell me they still sell decent modern suits and not just those.

Unless going specifically to a vintage repop or a tailor and knowing exactly what you want, it's hard these days to find anything - epsecially on the high street - where the waistband actually reaches the waist, it's not crazy-skinny, and such. The low-waist, skinny fit thing feels like it has been around forever - probably about a decade. I keep thinking it will change but so far no dice. Even in places like RRL you see it: I almost bought a suit in there, but while the top hald was beautiful, the bottom half, the waist was low enough that it looked comically wrong. But that's fashion.... and a lot of people simply have no idea what works, or what looks better, or what ismore comfortable - they just blindly wear what is in fashion, and so the industry predominantly panders to that. A big part of the problem really is ignorance. For example, last night I was perusing the amazon reviews of Dickies 874 work pants. A design that has been around soince 1967, and looks at least a decade older - nice, wide-ish legs, waistband on the actual waist. Lods of reviews calling them "old man style" and people complaining that the waistband is "inches" or "way above" the waist.....because they clearly don't know where their waist is anymore. Ignorance, born of fashion, born of the industry realising it was cheaper to make trouserws with lower waists because they don't have to tailor to the one, real curve in the male body... (small of the back)...

 

[Fading Fast]

People like to have pictures of themselves or themselves with their significant others on vacation and always have - which is why I've been asked by total strangers - as a NYC resident - for the last several decades, "would you mind taking our picture." While we are not big picture people ourselves - there are years and years where we have no pictures of ourselves - I understand that some people like to have a photo history of themselves - seems reasonable to me.

Hence, the selfie stick also makes sense to me - you can have your pictures and not bother others. I'd never get one because (1), as noted, I just don't care much about having picture of myself / myself with others and, (2), I hate carrying things. And to be sure, as with everything in life, the selfie stick can and is sometimes used in an obnoxious fashion - but the concept of it, makes sense to me.

 

[Feraud]

The thing that winds me up the most in public places these days are people who let their kids run loose. Art gallery? No, little Tarquin muast be allowed to run, jump, shout and push, because he's interacting with the art. Wedding? How dare they ask me to take my baby outside - noone needs to hear the vows being taken, do they? AND ON, and on....

I blame people who, ultimately, just don't want to be parents. Oh, sure, they want to breed (and expect to be celebrated for it, it never occurring to them that even flies breed), but they have no interest in curtailing their lives in any way and so drag their kids along to all sorts of places that may or may not be appropriate, and then make no effort whatever to discipline them. It's got to the point now where I cringe if I see kids getting on a flight I'm on, and then felel ike congratulating the parents like they're super-beings if the kids actually behave like they should. I know I'm an old man now (well.... 42. To the kids in their early-twenties that I teach, I'm practically dead), but there's a standard of behaviour for kids now that seems the norm which just would never have been tolerated when I was that age. While there are exceptions (I know at least one child who is simply a repulsive bully at the age of around ten, and will never be a nice person - the parents by comparison are a joy, but even then....), I blame the parents. Kids get their sense of entitlement from somewhere. Far too many parents these days seem to want to be pals with their kids, and simply aren't prepared to discipline them and make them behave. I pity their teachers.

I absolutely agree with this sentiment. As a parent who taught their child to behave I can say it irks me to no end when adults act as if they cannot control this tiny creature with little to know physical strength and a barely developed brain! You bred it, control it! I know all about children being off schedule, or hungry, or sitting with a full diaper, or having a bad day just like the rest of us. I don't blame the child. I blame the parents who sit there doing nothing about it. I know a lot about being an exhausted parent. My wife and I both worked full time jobs while raising a child with little support from extended family. If exhaustion is your excuse do not take your child to a restaurant, movie theater or on vacation. Stay the hell home and get some rest.

My comments applies equally to dog owners.

 

[Trenchfriend]

And when someone likes to complain for understandable reasons, these "parents" come with the knockout-argument "hostility to children". That's Germany. This society is over.

Classic:
Standing at the counter in any diner at summer-time, waiting for your dish and a younger father with his little son comes in and the kid fools around, next to you, from the first second on. Then disappears, until you realize, the kid runs and fools around in the back seating-area, the whole time, like "abroach".

 

[Edward]

People like to have pictures of themselves or themselves with their significant others on vacation and always have - which is why I've been asked by total strangers - as a NYC resident - for the last several decades, "would you mind taking our picture." While we are not big picture people ourselves - there are years and years where we have no pictures of ourselves - I understand that some people like to have a photo history of themselves - seems reasonable to me.

Hence, the selfie stick also makes sense to me - you can have your pictures and not bother others. I'd never get one because (1), as noted, I just don't care much about having picture of myself / myself with others and, (2), I hate carrying things. And to be sure, as with everything in life, the selfie stick can and is sometimes used in an obnoxious fashion - but the concept of it, makes sense to me.

A very valid point. For many years, my Dad was the family photographer. From all those family holidays, I think we have just one photo of the four of us all in it, because while we each took photos at some point, there was always one behind the camera. I have a very specific memory of that one photo being taken ,because it was unusual.

 

[2jakes]

My first "selfie".

I blame my grandmother for starting me on this "kick".
She ran out of granny apples....so she gave me this one!