How come you're such as ass?

[Zeke]

People who meet me at drives, etc. seem to think I'm a pretty nice guy. Usually I am. But I don't much care for people. So, brief encounters always work for the best.

Now, why would I even bring this up? Well, if you've ever bought much on fleabay (I only have 16 feedbacks for 100%) or done much business on the Pelican 4sale sites, then you know what dickheads you face every day. I'd say about half of the sellers anywhere are either liars, cheats, or so damned ignorant that they must have to tie a string from their wrist to the toilet paper roll to remind themselves.

I should be happy, actually, because 2/3rd of my deals on Pelican (never bought on Rennlist unless you count Marcus Sucro [goodguy]) have turned out sweet. The other 3rd has been from so-so to an out and out screw jobs. Yeah, I've been f****d by the regulars like Uncle Zak and some others I won't mention, and a couple of flash-in-the-pan types that have like 30 posts and then start selling. Then, there's the plain and simple misrepresentation. Chalk the balance up to ignorance, as I said.

I don't like to think that the world has turned out to be a crappy as it is, but that's the reality of things. And, I still can't get used to it.

The situation I find myself in now is unbelievable. A bounced check for big money on a large group of parts sold (oh, I'm sure it will work out, but what kind of people can't keep track of a check book?). There is the case of some parts I flipped for no profit since they don't pertain to what I own now and they turned out to be bad (yeah, that seller will make good too, sooner or later, but for nothing I get to do a hell of a lot of work fixing things).

Given the way things work, I have the right to be an ass*** any time I feel like it. No subliminal messages, no tongue in cheek with a stupid smiley, just rock on and tell it like it is.

People suck. I believe that and that's why I sound like I do at the keyboard. I'll never get used to it (the disappointment as trusting sort, which often times overrides my natural tendency to be the ultimate skeptic).

I'd put the silly [/rant] here, but I'm not done. And it's my problem, not yours. I just wanted to start my venting here. Now, I've got a place to go and lay down what's goin' down. My own piss thread. I'll weigh in occasionally with my latest observations. Feel free to do the same.


(edit): There, I fixed the title.

[ChrisBennet]

Milt I agree that the world is full of crappy people. The trick is hang out with so many truly nice people that you forget what the real world is like.
-Chris

[Shuie]

Milt, you're an optimist.

And FWIW, I cant believe you fat fingered the title of this thread

[89911]

Originally posted by ChrisBennet
Milt I agree that the world is full of crappy people. The trick is hang out with so many truly nice people that you forget what the real world is like.
-Chris

Sound like you need to get out of CA!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Agreed, people suck, for the most part. Find yourself some that don't, then ***** about the rest of the world with them. Or climb a clocktower and start shooting.

I've never been screwed on Pelican, or any other forum, but I've always been very careful with whom I've dealt with. Probably passed up some good deals, but I don't have the spare cash to take a chance. I have had a car mis-represented to me on some accounts multiple times, but I've accepted the fact that most people aren't as particular about cars as I am. "Clean", "Like New", "Never Wrecked", obviously mean different things to different people.

[Jandrews]

I agree, Milt, and I think it goes way beyond buying and selling car parts. I see it everywhere. Today we went to a community breakfast where the kids would see Santa Claus. The wife and kids and I got there early, and set our stuff down on one of the tables (each table had 10 or so chairs). As we were taking our coats off, some leather-bag, over-tanned, track-suit wearing, Escalade driving, no-job having, Ann Taylor shopping, rich b*tch comes up and sets her stuff down at the table we were settling in on and says "oh, we need this whole table...we have a bunch of people coming with us later". We were there first, but picked up our stuff and moved to the back. It just isn't worth arguing with a selfish, mis-guided person like that. This is what you get at a Santa Claus breakfast.

Bottom line, I like to deal with people as little as possible. I like ChrisBennet's attitude. Surround yourself with only those that you enjoy/tolerate, and don't expect much from the others. I think I am a lot like you...I trust by default. Most of the time, that sets me up for a lot of disappointment. I am 42, and I am amazed every day how fundamentally inconsiderate most people are. That said, I have friends that have stuck together since 1st grade. We are like brothers, and can finish each others sentences. That, and my family, is pretty much all I need.

Interested to see where this thread goes.


JA

[competentone]

Originally posted by milt
....A bounced check for big money on a large group of parts sold (oh, I'm sure it will work out, but what kind of people can't keep track of a check book?)

Doctors, lawyers, real estate agents, business owners -- the list goes on and on. The banking industry actually makes very good money on all the returned check fees!

[450knotOffice]

Milt, you've been an absolute class act every time we've met.

[TerryH]

I read a blurb the other day that said 1 in 30 Americans are in prison, on probation, or on parole. That seemed incredible. That's a lot of a-holes.

[pwd72s]

Milt...I hope you get out of the funk. Yes, people often disappoint.
But then, there are good folks to balance it out. I hope my friend & I aren't part of your rant.

[HardDrive]

I'm glad I am not the only misanthrope on the board.

[motion]

Milt, don't turn into a cranky a**hole on us. Things are what you make them.

[onlycafe]

milt, have faith, after just over a year and a half of waiting and finally giving up on uncle zak ever sending me my opening vent window, what do you know? a fed ex truck pulls up last week and believe it or not, there is a rather large and unexpected package. an opening vent window, of course it was for the wrong side,but at least it was an effort.
i hope this helps to restore your faith in humans.

[Jandrews]

Motion,

I completely agree that things are what you make them, and I have an extremely positive attitude...sometimes too positive. I don't think this is really about being cranky. I think it is about general loathing for the fundamental quality of your fellow man. Call me naive, old-fashioned, unrealistic, whatever, but no matter how nice you try to be to people, all too often they will take advantage of you, see what's in it for them, or generally just focus on the self-centered and self-serving priorities that they are consumed by. In my opinion, that's where the disappointment (and I guess sometimes, crankiness) comes from.


JA

[speeder]

Milt, I think that you are one of the better people around this board, and there are a lot of fine people here. I am a little concerned that you have become more of a *glass half empty* kind of guy in your writings lately, hopefully just a slump that will pass.

I agree that there is a lot of depressing and negative schit, (and people), in the world, but there are also a lot of uplifting and wonderful people and things. I believe that I have a choice which aspect of life to focus on. I have been shown almost unbelievable generosity by people on this BBS community, and of course I have had negative experiences buying and selling stuff in life.

I recently watched a DVD of a self-help type deal that was based on the "law of attraction", meaning that we attract whatever we are focusing on into our lives, good or bad. While I agreed w/ some of the theory, I thought that it was overly simplistic and a little hokey. Having said that, however, it seems like it is what is happening in your life at the moment. Whether it is work or the economy stressing you lately, (or something else), you seem angry and I know from my experience of being an angry guy that it can shut out a lot of positive stuff, leaving of course the opposite in its place.

You are a good person and you have real friends here that care about you, including me, so I hope that you do not let life get the best of you right now. You're a tough person, fight the negativity with all you've got. You will kick its ass.

[livi]

Originally posted by HardDrive
I'm glad I am not the only misanthrope on the board.

Count me in. Might as well start a club. However, I ran out of energy irritating myself at other people a long time ago. I recognize myself as the smallest common denominator and have accepted the fact that I am probably the one that is screwed up.

Not much to do about it, but finding the company (not many) that suit my personality.

Then again, maybe I am off topic on this thread.

Anyway, you never struck me as anything but a gentleman Milt.

[oldE]

Milt,

We've always been in the presence of @ssholes and good people. For me, the difference seems to be the size and type of community, ie:real or virtual.

Back in the day, you contacted or were contacted by someone to do some business. If you knew them, depending upon the size of the community, you probably knew a LOT about them and either did your business or told them,"Thanks, but no thanks."
If you didn't know them, chances were you knew their family, or had a mutual aquaintance. Information changed hands. We knew our neighbors.

Our virtual world is a bit different. Here we are interacting in a cyber community, where the common denominator is a professed appreciation for P-cars. Where these people have been on their journey through life is unknown to us. So are they, unknowns.

You've found out some of the new social safeguards the hard way.: Learn to look at history and feedback, (and learn how to interpret it). We are learning our way in the electronic age, my friend. The problem is, we are longer learning our cyber-smarts than is sometimes good for us.

Hang in there.
Les

[Mike Feinstein]

Milt,

Life's short. If you want to spend yours complaining about others, its your prerogative. Be careful with whom you do business, especially over the web. You should know that. Sometimes we bring on our own headaches. There's two sides to every story.

Cheer up dude.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Milt,

+1,000 to everything you said.

I think George Carlin put it succinctly when he said, "think of how stupid the average person is - then think: half of them are even stupider than THAT!!!"

Scary. On a very serious note, I worry immensely for the future of our society, our nation and our people - if not the future of our entire species simply because of how brain-dead most of the idiots out there are.

[Oh Haha]

I agree, Milt. I;m not a big fan of people, either. ( My job is in customer satisfaction so I need to work on that.)
Either way, I have a short EBAY story to share:

My wife bought me a Blackberry device for Christmas. She was gone went it arrived. I opened the package and was surprised to see a device but it didn't say "Blackberry". I just thought Blackberry was a term to describe any PDA thesedays.
The seller sent us an email a week later asking if we recieved the BB. As it turns out, he sent the BB to another customer and we receieved theirs. The one received was worth much more $$$$$. Uh oh, what to do?
I suggested we send it back and call it good. Before we could respond back, he told us to just keep it because we already the service changed over and to have a Merry Christmas. After much debate with my IS guy, it was determined that the PDA isn't compatible with the company system. It must be a Blackberry.
We contacted the seller and explained the situation and he sent us the BB next day air, on good faith even. We then changed the service again and it is working great. It just shows that there are good people out there.