Observations from my youngest

[SamSpade]

My kids are - mostly - completely uninterested in politics. They have all, over the past nine years, said bad things about Trump, but in almost all cases, it's because of TV, other kids at school, TEACHERS and so on. My son, who is special needs, used to say "all I know is, he's a racist". He's changed his mind, and voted for him.

But my youngest doesn't give a lick about politics. She came to me after watching some stuff on Kamala and said "it doesn't seem like she says anything, and no one can say why they are voting for her. They can't name any accomplishments". So we had a talk.

I should think that if someone like my youngest kid can see this, it OUGHT to be as vividly obvious as Joe's mental state, which was denied by those on the left but widely lampooned in most of the Western non-U.S. press.

Dear God, I hope we don't elect Kamala. I can think of only a handful of people in politics as idiotic as she is. Sadly, one of them was Joe Biden, who was an idiot even before his mental decline.

EDITED TO ADD -

Most kids I know - high school age or older - do not have any idea who their representative in the House is, can name one Senator, the Governor or anyone other than the President and the Vice President (and only because she is running for President). They can't name one SCOTUS justice, one Cabinet member, and chances are they can't name the head of any other country except Russia, China and North Korea.

I just remembered that in second grade in Pennsylvania, at any time the teacher would ask the class who was President; Vice President; Governor - and - believe it or not - Lieutenant Governor. I remember who the governor was to this day, because she asked it every morning, although I didn't remember the Lt Gov until I looked it up.

I mean - damn - I don't even know off the top of my head who OUR Lt Governor is. Such is the state of our schools.

 

[vraiblonde]

I should think that if someone like my youngest kid can see this, it OUGHT to be as vividly obvious as Joe's mental state, which was denied by those on the left but widely lampooned in most of the Western non-U.S. press.

They don't want to see it. If you go to the CNN or MSNBC website it's all Trump hate and gushing over Kamala. I haven't looked at ABC/NBC/CBS but I'm sure it's more of the same. It's easy to hide in a bubble if you're a Democrat, and then called yourself informed. They all do it. If you suggest they expand their worldview they insist that YOU are the ignorant one.

They are cocooned to the point they accept lies about stuff that's on tape. The "bloodbath" thing and the "executing Liz Cheney" lie. Politicians and media people who damn well know better are reciting these lies like a mantra. I was watching Harris Faulkner yesterday and some Kamala mouthpiece was all, "Oh Trump said he'd execute Liz Cheney!" To Harris' credit she interrupted to correct him but he just kept on going and said it two more times. Some Kamala campaign person did this on Dana Perino's show and she just let him go, didn't say a word to correct him.

Weak minds get wrapped around lies pretty easy, and make themselves part of it.

"I HEARD Trump say he would execute Liz Cheney!"
No, you didn't.

"I have DOZENS of friends who died of covid!"
No, you don't.

It's like that experiment in the doctor's office where a bell rings or whatever and the people who are part of the experiment all stand up. Random lab rat person has no idea why they're doing it, but after a couple of times they start standing up too.

Next time you're at the grocery store note the lines. And note the parking lot. People like to cuddle, even when it's less convenient. They will deliberately choose the longer line. They will deliberately park right next to someone even though there are plenty of spaces available. I park out in the hinterlands because I hate cuddling, and don't you know that nine times out of ten when I get back to my car someone has parked right next to me. 800 other spots available, most of them much closer to the entrance, but no - they want to cuddle me.

I could go on about this all day.... No one is ever as interested in human behavior and cognitive phenomena as I am.

 

[Gilligan]

I park out in the hinterlands because I hate cuddling, and don't you know that nine times out of ten when I get back to my car someone has parked right next to me. 800 other spots available, most of them much closer to the entrance, but no - they want to cuddle me.

I was hoping you wouldn't notice. It was the binoculars that gave me away, wasn't it...

 

[vraiblonde]

I was hoping you wouldn't notice. It was the binoculars that gave me away, wasn't it...

They're like cats - they glom onto the person who is trying to avoid them.

 

[OccamsRazor]

Next time you're at the grocery store note the lines. And note the parking lot. People like to cuddle, even when it's less convenient. They will deliberately choose the longer line. They will deliberately park right next to someone even though there are plenty of spaces available. I park out in the hinterlands because I hate cuddling, and don't you know that nine times out of ten when I get back to my car someone has parked right next to me. 800 other spots available, most of them much closer to the entrance, but no - they want to cuddle me.

I can honestly say that I have never in my life seen this behavior. People are inherently LAZY. If there are a mass of people in a grocery line and another line has 1 person... they are going to the line with 1 person. If they are parking and there are a mass of vehicles in the middle of the lot and there is one open space near the entrance... they are parking in that one spot. EVERY TIME.

 

[vraiblonde]

"I HEARD Trump say to drink bleach!"
No, you didn't.

"Well I HEARD him say to inject it into your veins!"
No, you didn't hear that either.

 

[SamSpade]

Next time you're at the grocery store note the lines. And note the parking lot. People like to cuddle, even when it's less convenient. They will deliberately choose the longer line. They will deliberately park right next to someone even though there are plenty of spaces available. I park out in the hinterlands because I hate cuddling, and don't you know that nine times out of ten when I get back to my car someone has parked right next to me. 800 other spots available, most of them much closer to the entrance, but no - they want to cuddle me.

I agreed with most of what you said - except this. When I pick my kids up from school, the spots CLOSEST to the door are squished tight BUT - because they do not want to be near the back where it is a longer walk. Hell, I thought this was hysterical when I would go to the gym, and people would circle the lot endlessly for that spot near the door - and then they would go inside and walk a few MILES on a treadmill. It's not "cuddling". It's the shortest, shortest WALK - to - and from. Worse, if it's cold or raining. They could care less about being close to one another, they don't want to walk.

I don't know anyone who CHOOSES the longer line in a checkout - in fact, I will notice people hovering back and forth again and again, to pick the SHORTEST line. Me too. I will ask "are you open?" because the LAST damned thing I want to do is hurt my aching back STANDING in a long line. I will take into account the number of items being checked, and the relative speed of the checker - if they're slow, it doesn't matter HOW few items there are.

I *have* noticed similar things, though - everyone looking up at "something" only for one of the people to admit, they never saw anything and they were only doing it, because they saw everyone else doing it. Presumably people will stand in a line because they see other people doing it - but I've never seen this - I've seen people ASK - what are you all waiting in line for? I am guessing it's because they know people are kind of stupid and will wait in line for DUMB things, like a useless item going on sale.

You know where they DO NOT "CUDDLE"? The men's room wall where the urinals are. Men are all like same pole magnets - they will spread out as far as humanly possible.

 

[SamSpade]

"I HEARD Trump say to drink bleach!"
No, you didn't.

"Well I HEARD him say to inject it into your veins!"
No, you didn't hear that either.

My KIDS have said stuff like this - and when they showed "proof" it was ALWAYS SOMEONE SAYING he said it.

 

[vraiblonde]

I can honestly say that I have never in my life seen this behavior. People are inherently LAZY. If there are a mass of people in a grocery line and another line has 1 person... they are going to the line with 1 person. If they are parking and there are a mass of vehicles in the middle of the lot and there is one open space near the entrance... they are parking in that one spot. EVERY TIME.

I have observed it any number of times. I notice because it irks me. Which is not to say that there aren't people who want to park right on top of the store entrance - my mother will drive around a parking lot for an hour waiting for a spot because walking an extra 5 feet isn't something that occurs to her.

I've lost count of how many times I've seen the self-checkout babysitter herd people to open registers because everyone is crowded around a couple of them.

 

[RoseRed]

I have observed it any number of times. I notice because it irks me. Which is not to say that there aren't people who want to park right on top of the store entrance - my mother will drive around a parking lot for an hour waiting for a spot because walking an extra 5 feet isn't something that occurs to her.

I've lost count of how many times I've seen the self-checkout babysitter herd people to open registers because everyone is crowded around a couple of them.

This has been a peeve of yours for YEARS!

 

[vraiblonde]

I agreed with most of what you said - except this. When I pick my kids up from school, the spots CLOSEST to the door are squished tight BUT - because they do not want to be near the back where it is a longer walk. Hell, I thought this was hysterical when I would go to the gym, and people would circle the lot endlessly for that spot near the door - and then they would go inside and walk a few MILES on a treadmill. It's not "cuddling". It's the shortest, shortest WALK - to - and from. Worse, if it's cold or raining. They could care less about being close to one another, they don't want to walk.

There's an experiment where they filled a parking lot with cars, but left the first 10 rows empty. Not a single lab rat human would park in the empty spaces, even though there was no sign that they were reserved or handicapped. When people finally started filling those spaces they always parked next to an existing car, not in the very front space.

Humans are predisposed to herd behavior. If everyone is doing it, they'll do it too. If nobody is doing it, they won't do it either even though there's no reason for them not to.

 

[vraiblonde]

This has been a peeve of yours for YEARS!

I'm doing errands today and it will happen to me at least once, probably more.

 

[Kyle]

I'm doing errands today and it will happen to me at least once, probably more.

It's exceptionally annoying when you have a new car too.

 

[OccamsRazor]

I've lost count of how many times I've seen the self-checkout babysitter herd people to open registers because everyone is crowded around a couple of them.

Self checkout and the habits surrounding it are a different story...
People tend to believe that self checkout is faster compared to a manned checkout station. Everyone believes they can get through it faster (especially if they only have a few items)
Often times people will not even look to see if a manned register is "open." They believe if there is no one in the line, it is closed. Trained thought...

 

[SamSpade]

I have observed it any number of times. I notice because it irks me. Which is not to say that there aren't people who want to park right on top of the store entrance - my mother will drive around a parking lot for an hour waiting for a spot because walking an extra 5 feet isn't something that occurs to her.

I've lost count of how many times I've seen the self-checkout babysitter herd people to open registers because everyone is crowded around a couple of them.

SELF checkout, that I might be able to see, but more likely it's a case of "sunken cost" - you don't want to LEAVE the long line for fear of being BEATEN to it and ending up in a longer line. I am sure I have never seen anyone CHOOSE a longer line - but I have seen them REMAIN in a longer line, because they're sure the moment they leave the line they've been WAITING in for ten minutes, three other people will beat them to it.

I'm sure I have never seen people willfully go to the longest line, but I have seen people go to some lines, because it's not at all clear another line is actually OPEN - the light is off and the checker is giving people the stinkeye as to say, NO I am NOT open. THEN - you've lost your spot. Sucks to be you.

I DO KNOW if I am at an event - say, my kid's chorus concert - and the first three rows are COMPLETELY empty - I will wait before parking my ass there, only to be told they're reserved for another group of people even though there's no sign. AGAIN, LAZINESS because I know if I choose a seat I'm not supposed to be in, I WILL be asked to leave the very moment any OTHER convenient seat is long gone. Better safe, than sorry.

I AM pretty sure if I get that seat in the theater, the NEXT person is NOT sitting next to me, nor do they want to. People will sit near the front of the bus - but they PREFER to sit alone. They will sit in the back if it means it's all theirs.

 

[Gilligan]

They're like cats - they glom onto the person who is trying to avoid them.

 

[RoseRed]

I'm doing errands today and it will happen to me at least once, probably more.

Report back!

 

[vraiblonde]

Self checkout and the habits surrounding it are a different story...
People tend to believe that self checkout is faster compared to a manned checkout station. Everyone believes they can get through it faster (especially if they only have a few items)
Often times people will not even look to see if a manned register is "open." They believe if there is no one in the line, it is closed. Trained thought...

I specifically choose self-checkout because I'm a control freak and purposely avoid situations that will cause me stress. If a human checkout opens I tell the person behind me to go ahead and take it.

Except at Fresh Market. They don't have self-checkout but the checkers are sufficiently trained and smart enough to not do stupid sht when bagging my groceries.

 

[OccamsRazor]

I specifically choose self-checkout because I'm a control freak and purposely avoid situations that will cause me stress. If a human checkout opens I tell the person behind me to go ahead and take it.

Except at Fresh Market. They don't have self-checkout but the checkers are sufficiently trained and smart enough to not do stupid sht when bagging my groceries.

So, isn't it reasonable to believe that there are other like you. And, that is why you see this behavior in the checkout lines?

 

[Hijinx]

I look for empty spaces and what I call drive throughs.
I always get in the shorter line and I always go where there is a cashier.
I hate the self serve spots.