Your Most Disturbing Realizations

[Zombie_61]

In the mid-80s my wife worked for a small privately-owned chain of auto part stores. The owner was an arrogant, egotistical, know-it-all, wannabe-alpha-male. My wife decided she'd had enough after one of his rants about "women in the workplace", combined with being stressed-out, overworked, and underpaid, and dutifully gave her two-week notice. During those two weeks, the owner used every opportunity to tell her that he knew she wasn't going anywhere because she didn't have another job lined up. On the first day of the third week she even received a phone call from him asking why she hadn't arrived at work yet. It took her all of three days to find another, better, and higher-paying job. A couple of months later she got a call from one of her former co-workers, who said the owner had to hire three women to handle her workload.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I get on extremely well with my boss, we always see eye to eye especially when I look in a mirror.

 

[GHT]

I get on extremely well with my boss, we always see eye to eye especially when I look in a mirror.

Can't beat being self-employed.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I've worked with some no-foolin' crooks, most of whom have since gone the way of all things, which, truth be told, is something of a relief to me.

I've kept bosses out of jail (I say "I", but I mean the work being done, of which I was part or managing), who were not crooks or sleazebags, but just whose job was on a particular end of a political hot button. For example, if you manage an oil refinery, you likely do so under indictment for various charges, pretty much all the time, not because of anything you've personally done, just because there is a political element out there that despite driving to work every day thinks anyone who makes gasoline ought to be in prison.

 

[Fading Fast]

... For example, if you manage an oil refinery, you likely do so under indictment for various charges, pretty much all the time, not because of anything you've personally done, just because there is a political element out there that despite driving to work every day thinks anyone who makes gasoline ought to be in prison.

I manage and trade money - 99+% of the people I've worked with over three decades treat every single dollar of someone else's money that we manage as a great trust and responsibility. While I have seen some people try to get a higher fee than I think is fair for doing so, I can count on one hand the times that someone seemed to be treating the managing of that money sloppily or with a lack of concern and respect. But because of a lot of reasons - a few very bad apples on Wall Street, a desire on the press and politicians to distort the picture to make all the problems of the economy the fault of "crooked" Wall Street - I am just going to quote you - with changes noted - because it applies to my job, everyday for about a decade now:

"...if you manage [money for others], you likely do so under indictment for various charges, pretty much all the time, not because of anything you've personally done, just because there is a political element out there that despite [using banks and brokerage firms regularly for ease, convenience, guidance and savings, thinks anyone who works on Wall Street] ought to be in prison."

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
But do you get detained and frisked?

 

[2jakes]

If men & women were machines!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Aaah, yes. Now, I comprehend, that I'm 30+!

The girls from supermarket are getting more and more younger than me!!

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^^^^
But do you get detained and frisked?

Just saw this. While - thankfully - I have never, ever been accused of anything personally, I have been subpoena multiple times, been "asked" by the SEC to testify and have been "asked" by several industry oversight agencies to come in and discuss some issue or event. Either these have been about open cases where they are investigating something others have done that have touched me in some way or they are "fishing expeditions" where the regulators think something is going on and they want to ask questions to see if they can find something wrong. In my first 20 years in the industry I was asked one time to talk to a regulator and it was a phone call, in the last ten its been too numerous to remember and almost all have been in person (at their offices in NY, Philly or DC). I think HH explains the change well - the assumption by many in the regulatory community and the entwined political community is that everyone on Wall Street belongs in jail if they could just find a way to put us there.

 

[2jakes]

But do you get detained and frisked?

It happened only once.

I fit the description of an escaped armed convict.
My height & build, both parent’s first names, first six of my social security
numbers were the same as this felon.
Plus I looked familiar to the cops, but they weren’t sure where they had seen
me before.

I was at a driver’s license office renewing some details about my license card.
Two officers came up to the clerk on her side.
I didn’t think much of that.
But then three more approached me.
One on each side & one behind me.
For an instant, I was thinking if there was a speeding
violation or parking ticket I had forgotten.
But I couldn’t recall of one. I was confused &
wondering “wtf" had I done to be in this situation.

The whole place became very quiet.
All eyes wide eyed staring at me.
I was “escorted" to another room.
I was “frisked” & told to sit down & place my hands on the table.
I was about to ask why but was told to keep my mouth shut,
adding that they were not going to tell me again so nicely.
In the first minutes, I felt like they were handling the situation as
to provoke me to resist so that they could apply physical harm.
I avoided that by complying.
I was not finger printed, but finally after what seemed like forever,
the mood changed.
They found out that the convict had been apprehended.

They asked where I worked. I told them at a television news station as a
cameraman. One of my jobs was to cover crime stories & police conferences.

That’s where they had seem me before.
They apologized.
I was not so much angry as I was happy that it was over.
I asked them to give me their card, in case this might happen again.
They asked me if I wanted to leave by another exit to avoid embarrassment.
I told them no, I had no reason for doing that since I hadn’t done
anything embarrassing.

What ever paper work required with my license was done immediately
with no hassle.

Now I know what it takes to expedite things of this nature & avoid
a long waiting in line!

 

[Stearmen]

Not exactly disturbing, more utter amassment. On a show I was watching, they were having trouble with an oil leak on an old F1 Talbot Lago race car. Finally, they put a GoPro camera in the engine compartment to find it, sure enough, it was so obvious when recorded. Less then 20 years ago, it would have taken a special camera with a stabilization mount to film that, and it would not have fit in the engine compartment and cost 10s of thousands of dollars. Amazing!

 

[GHT]

Finally, they put a GoPro camera in the engine compartment to find it, sure enough, it was so obvious when recorded. Less then 20 years ago, it would have taken a special camera with a stabilization mount to film that, and it would not have fit in the engine compartment and cost 10s of thousands of dollars. Amazing!

That I can concur. Before Christmas the MG was running really rough, the garage suspected valve damage due to unleaded fuel. They removed the spark plugs and inserted a diagnostic camera with an attached beam to inspect the valve seats. There was no damage, the camera clearly proved that an upgrade had been done. The problem turned out to be a tiny part in the fuel pump, called a diaphragm. I wonder what the engineers of 1937, when the car was designed, would have thought of that?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't know what the engineers would have said, but the guy down at the filling station would have listened to the engine, shifted his cigar from one side of his mouth to the other, and said "sounds like yer fuel pump."

 

[vitanola]

"Damaged by unleaded fuel"! Indeed! Modern mechanics have no idea of how few cars were designed to run only on leaded gasoline. Basically before 1956 or 1957 only high performance and luxury cars would have required Ethyl to run properly. Now the ignition timing might have had to be set differently, but most all machines could handle unleaded fuel it was only in the very last year's of the Fifties that automotive engineers began assuming universal usage of leaded fuel.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

But you still have to shovel the damn snow, regardless.

That's why snow is evil.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Disturbing:

When I read a comment on youtube, that Mark Knopfler is seemingly a J.J. Cale-spin-off.

 

[Stearmen]

I don't know what the engineers would have said, but the guy down at the filling station would have listened to the engine, shifted his cigar from one side of his mouth to the other, and said "sounds like yer fuel pump."

Part of the problem was those mechanics from the past, that tried to fix the problem and only made it worse. The young guy with the camera, figured out to just add a catch bottle. Sometimes, high tech can lead to low tech salutations!

 

[HudsonHawk]

Part of the problem was those mechanics from the past, that tried to fix the problem and only made it worse. The young guy with the camera, figured out to just add a catch bottle. Sometimes, high tech can lead to low tech salutations!

Old guys can sometimes come up with low tech solutions too. How many remember putting wooden clothespins on your fuel line?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I still do that. Works great for stopping vapor lock on the Plodge.

 

[APP Adrian]

It happened only once.

I fit the description of an escaped armed convict.
My height & build, both parent’s first names, first six of my social security
numbers were the same as this felon.
Plus I looked familiar to the cops, but they weren’t sure where they had seen
me before.

I was at a driver’s license office renewing some details about my license card.
Two officers came up to the clerk on her side.
I didn’t think much of that.
But then three more approached me.
One on each side & one behind me.
For an instant, I was thinking if there was a speeding
violation or parking ticket I had forgotten.
But I couldn’t recall of one. I was confused &
wondering “wtf" had I done to be in this situation.

The whole place became very quiet.
All eyes wide eyed staring at me.
I was “escorted" to another room.
I was “frisked” & told to sit down & place my hands on the table.
I was about to ask why but was told to keep my mouth shut,
adding that they were not going to tell me again so nicely.
In the first minutes, I felt like they were handling the situation as
to provoke me to resist so that they could apply physical harm.
I avoided that by complying.
I was not finger printed, but finally after what seemed like forever,
the mood changed.
They found out that the convict had been apprehended.

They asked where I worked. I told them at a television news station as a
cameraman. One of my jobs was to cover crime stories & police conferences.

That’s where they had seem me before.
They apologized.
I was not so much angry as I was happy that it was over.
I asked them to give me their card, in case this might happen again.
They asked me if I wanted to leave by another exit to avoid embarrassment.
I told them no, I had no reason for doing that since I hadn’t done
anything embarrassing.

What ever paper work required with my license was done immediately
with no hassle.

Now I know what it takes to expedite things of this nature & avoid
a long waiting in line!

Can we see a picture of you?

I want to see if you actually look like a crook =P.