MetaFilter

On skilled vs unskilled labour: I think the difficulty here is that some of us insist on attaching the word "skilled" to a job description rather than to a worker who has earned it.

This is a foul and dehumanizing abuse of language to push a corporate workers-as-interchangeable-parts propaganda agenda, one in which I refuse to participate.

It's just another splash of lube on the slippery slope into hell that got started when personnel... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by flabdablet at 10:06 AM on November 19, 2023

Several years ago, even before the pandemic, our local Walmart made an excuse to stop being 24-hour, which I found a huge loss of convenience (I was one of those people who'd go there after 2 AM and jokes about those kinds of folk who would go there super late have always fallen flat with me [stares steadily]).

Now I don't live in a super large city, but the pandemic put paid to any 24 hour groceries and pharmacies here in town. And when people... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Kitteh at 7:05 AM on November 19, 2023

Note that the recent "shoplifting epidemic" has proven to be nearly entirely a bunch of lies by big corporations to justify shitty service, store closure, etc. They're just gouging us as we get more vulnerable - raise prices for no reason and blame supply chains, cut stores to cut costs and blame shoplifting. Unless you're stealing from Mom and Pop's Local One-Location Emporium, the real issue with costs is the greed of the very top people at the corporation.
posted to MetaFilter by Frowner at 6:37 AM on November 19, 2023

If the interface for the registers was intelligible and infallible, it would be one thing -- but the software is total trash.

My local physical therapist has an iPad on a post in front of the reception desk where I have to check in my daughter every time. The GUI is soooo bad, and it makes me frustrated. The receptionist just sits and watches me stew; I have more than once asked her why the least-qualified person in the room is operating the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by wenestvedt at 6:25 AM on November 19, 2023

gelfin "I’m standing there with my shoes off, my laptop and liquids out, just waiting to grab a bin and go, while people desperately try to chug a whole liter of Fiji water in one go, begin unbuttoning their winter coats and unlacing their eighteen-hole Docs, then realize they didn’t wear socks and the floor is gross, pick that moment to start getting philosophical about what does or does not count as a liquid, suddenly remember they have small children that need all the same... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by signal at 5:20 AM on November 19, 2023

Self checkout can be pretty good. It's the staffing cuts that make these places awful.

Fine - but you realise that it's the one that leads to the other, right?

I hope that in a functional society*, every checkout operator would far rather, and could, be doing something else.

Tell that to the people sacked from check-out jobs today who are left with no option but cleaning other... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Paul Slade at 5:10 AM on November 19, 2023

It almost no training

That the people who do a job exceedingly well have got to that point by relying more on practice than on training doesn't make the attention that they've paid to their practice any less worthwhile, or the work that they perform any less skilled, or the skills that they demonstrate any less appreciated, or that appreciation any less worthy of being expressed. Not by this particular customer at any rate.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by flabdablet at 5:05 AM on November 19, 2023

the rent-a-cop with a gun standing by the entrance/exit NOT EVEN GREETING PEOPLE!

I would stop going to any shop that started having someone greet people at the door.
posted to MetaFilter by Dysk at 4:40 AM on November 19, 2023

I was just thinking about this story the other day. A Seattle bus driver politely called out some cops for failing to do their job, so the cops lied to try to get the bus driver fired.

And they colluded! They both claimed the bus driver said exactly "You got three fucking deputies out here that don't do nothing", when the video showed that he actually said "I'm not yelling at you, sergeant. ... I'm expressing how frustrated I am at... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Blue Jello Elf at 8:25 AM on November 17, 2023

How many people should be considered disabled but are utterly blocked from meaningful help by deliberately designed policies of cruelty?
posted to MetaFilter by Jacen at 12:08 PM on November 17, 2023

To me, having looked at both the article and the linked study, one of the major problems is that the WG-SS doesn't include a question about running errands or similar. This is where chronic illness/chronic pain really makes itself known, in my experience--I myself can function and even work, but holding down a job is all I'm capable of. Doing any extra tasks like errands are nearly impossible because I just don't have the energy. COVID has been a blessing in a way because drive-up has... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by epj at 11:34 AM on November 17, 2023

It made me think: what if the safety standard for a street was that toddlers weren't subject to the death penalty?

Alternatively: what if you just lost your license for good if you killed somebody.
posted to MetaFilter by mhoye at 12:55 PM on November 16, 2023

We could just .. enforce the laws sometimes.

Just some anecdata, but here in Toronto something like 85% of police don't actually live in Toronto, and they stopped enforcing any laws that might add ten minutes to their commutes years ago.
posted to MetaFilter by mhoye at 10:29 AM on November 16, 2023

Previously: Living as an Accidental Killer

Previously: The Driver Who Hit Me Got Two Years in Prison. But I Got a Life Sentence

Previously: it's the cars, stupid!

Previously: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit.

Previously: "If you want to kill someone, do it with a car.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by AlSweigart at 9:31 AM on November 16, 2023

The problem with using technology to reduce speeding in cars is the mass surveillance issues.

But the real problem with using technology to reduce speeding in cars is that we still have cars in a car-centric world we intentionally built.

Over 12,000 deaths a year due to speed (not including drunk driving, texting while driving, negligent driving, road rage driving, and just plain driving) and we just shrug and say that's how life is.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by AlSweigart at 9:27 AM on November 16, 2023

Hannah Waddingham has never looked more beautiful than she does in that restaurant scene, and that is really saying something.
posted to FanFare by merriment at 6:10 PM on March 30, 2023

I think the only hope for the future of the MCU is to go full Dada. CGI crocodiles are just the beginning?
posted to FanFare by orrnyereg at 1:32 PM on November 15, 2023

In the 2002 French presidential election, there was a slogan: Votez escroc, pas facho -- vote for the crook, not the fascist. The crook, Jaques Chirac, won in a landslide.
In the 2024 US presidential election the choice is between a competent politician who is not a crook and a fascist who is a crook. It should be an easy choice, regardless of who the not-crook is. I know it's not that simple in the US, but it is worth thinking about.
posted to MetaFilter by mumimor at 11:37 PM on November 15, 2023

I liked the parallel between how Nate reacted to what he described as Ted making him feel like the center of the world and then suddenly abandoning him, and how Sam reacted to Akufo actually making him feel like the world revolved around him and then suddenly turning on him.
posted to FanFare by Pwoink at 7:06 PM on October 16, 2021

This was a really satisfying episode. Nate's arc is working for me, and I think it's great that they took a well-worn trope of the shy underdog finding their skill and gave it a more realistic turn. I've met a lot of guys like Nate, and yeah, a lot of them are messed up in a way that can't be fixed with a bit of a confidence boost. They need real therapy and are unlikely to get it. Rupert will use him up and throw him away, and it'll be on Nate to either re-evaluate his choices or continue... [more]
posted to FanFare by harriet vane at 9:16 PM on October 9, 2021

Apropos of nothing else, I have to say that Nick Mohammed impressed the heck out of me. My only experience with him before was as Mr Swallow on Catsdown's Dictionary Corner, and I can't say I enjoyed that brand of comedy. But wow, he's turned out to be a versatile performer.
posted to FanFare by synecdoche at 1:31 PM on October 9, 2021

I haven't been monitoring these threads closely, but one thing that has seemed, to me, to be in the writing for Nate all along is that he does not have any sort of emotionally healthy core self. It's shown and implied that a lot of that has to do with the nurturing and lack of nurturing that he received from his parents, but then his lack of self has led him to being the picked-on and obsequious kit boy at Richmond when we meet him. He gets along by being as small and nice as possible to all of... [more]
posted to FanFare by gauche at 8:20 AM on October 4, 2021

Also - interesting that the baby's name is Diane, after we had Rebecca and Sam. Sudeikis really loves his uncle, doesn't he :)
posted to FanFare by tzikeh at 7:48 PM on September 24, 2021

The next priority will be the Department of Homeland Security and the border, with plans to erect sprawling detention camps, "scour the country for unauthorized immigrants," and "deport people by the millions per year," The New York Times reports. We're told Trump's top criterion for immigration officials will be whoever promises to be most aggressive. Trump has told allies he's confident the Supreme Court will back his most draconian moves.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 11:13 AM on November 15, 2023

Hey all! Creator here. Thanks a lot for posting it!! Questions / comments - please share. I’ll do my best to not threadsit :) but will 10000% read everything.

Thanks again!!
posted to MetaFilter by vert canard at 7:28 AM on November 15, 2023

Just put Toronto in the queue. Excellent work, vert canard!
posted to MetaFilter by the one second advantage at 7:57 AM on November 15, 2023

I loved this episode.
On the Football is Life podcast, Jason Snell has talked occasionally about how it seems Beard is in his own wacky, surreal show that we only see glimpses of that intersects with Ted Lasso. This was an episode of that show.
posted to FanFare by cuscutis at 9:53 AM on September 19, 2021

I can understand why it would be polarizing, but honestly, for me it was close to a perfect episode of television.
posted to FanFare by Jeanne at 8:06 PM on September 17, 2021

I loved this episode. It was the Ted Lasso take on (IMO) the best Scorsese movie, After Hours. The whole genre of "lost in the city on a surreal all-night odyssey and you just can't make it home" is very dear to my heart; I've lived it more than a few times. Of course in the Ted Lasso version almost every character winds up happier by the end, but the journey was still fun, and the episode was spicier than Ted... [more]
posted to FanFare by ejs at 5:37 PM on September 17, 2021

I loved how unashamedly girly/female gaze it was.

The way Kamala Khan was fangeeking all over her heroes
The women were never sexualized, even while Brie Larson was walking around in a white tank-top
The whole musical planet, including the pretty-boy prince and Carol's dress
Learning to sync powers through double-dutch jumprope
Mrs. Khan jumping into the fray when her husband was attacked, and just generally being a mother... [more]
posted to FanFare by cheshyre at 7:09 AM on November 13, 2023

Two of my fandoms intersect:

My cast list for any new Lord Of The Rings is also the cast list of Ted Lasso, a thread. Let's start with an easy one: Aragorn. No fucking second breakfasts for any fucking hobbits or any other fucking muppets with this Aragorn.

https://twitter.com/JuliusGoat/status/1431973031648313344
posted to FanFare by gemmy at 12:11 PM on August 31, 2021

I don't think filler exists in character driven shows. We just got to spend some bonus time with these people.

I'm very glad they turned up the cheese to full "special Christmas episode" levels. I was honestly expecting something amazing from Dani Rojas (Dani Rojas!), but the song at the end was more than acceptable.
posted to FanFare by Acari at 1:58 PM on August 16, 2021

"Pass the tape, bruv."

SOLIDARITY IS ALWAYS GOING TO GET ME CHOKED UP.
posted to FanFare by brainwane at 10:49 PM on August 7, 2021

From the LA Times article linked above:

“Writing for ‘Ted Lasso’ means writing conflict without one-dimensional villains who show up to do horrible things because they’re evil and want to rule the world or whatever,” said Kelly. “The only ‘villain’ in this episode is depression, which really is a powerful villain in real life. The idea that Rebecca swoops in and helps defeat that for Ted for a moment is so sweet...... [more]
posted to FanFare by rogerroger at 3:19 PM on August 16, 2021

No Champions? No Traveller? No DragonQuest?

Oh. Those RPGs, not real RPGs.

/ grognard
posted to MetaFilter by mephron at 8:20 AM on November 11, 2023

You know, stuff like this hits differently these days. In a world where the arts are under intense attack by the forces of capital and tech, where corporations and techbros seem to be trying to replace writers and actors and visual artists with blackbox algorithms and "AI." Where humanities programs are being gutted or just killed at universities. Where massive corporate monopolies routinely make changes to tech platforms that may destroy beloved magazines.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by overglow at 6:24 AM on November 11, 2023

Ah, sentiment analysis, what a grand tool! Take this sentence: "Happy? How can I be happy? How will anyone ever be happy again, after what happened?" See? Three happies means a very positive sentence!
posted to MetaFilter by mittens at 5:43 AM on November 11, 2023

I am still salty that computer games stole the term RPG and that real ones now need to be called TTRPGs.
posted to MetaFilter by ursus_comiter at 11:44 PM on November 10, 2023

Oh jebus I hope this is the end of Jonathan Majors’ Kang.

I minded him less in this episode than in the previous ones, possibly because he was so extraneous. Everything that happened was essentially just one character, Loki, figuring shit out, and figuring his shit out. That’s good storytelling and it was easy not to think about other things.

The World Tree reveal was beautiful, and my heart swelled. I also liked how Mobius went back and Don was... [more]
posted to FanFare by Kattullus at 2:15 PM on November 10, 2023

SYLVIE. Her name is Sylvie.
posted to FanFare by kitten kaboodle at 11:24 AM on November 10, 2023

Thanksgiving day 1963 ... came back to my New Jersey suburban home from my freshman year at Yale for the occasion. As I was the first of my family to go to college, the relatives were curious -- what did I learn at school? Well, the most astonishing thing I learned was from Anthropology class. We were shown scientifically that there are no separate races of mankind, and that race is only a cultural construct.

My whole extended family was outraged. What are they... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Droll Lord at 11:49 AM on November 10, 2023

given that my family is Jewish, we don't do anything for Xmas (except maybe get together to go see a movie and get some takeout, if I'm in town)

Senator Lindsey Graham: Now, as we move forward and deal with law of war issues, Christmas day bomber. Where are you at on Christmas Day?
[Then-Nominee, Now Totally Badass Justice] Elena Kagan: Senator Graham, that is an undecided legal issue. Well, I suppose I should ask exactly what you mean by... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The Bellman at 8:00 AM on November 10, 2023

It's amazing how much more satisfying the ending can be when your protagonist resolves the conflict by making a decision with personal consequences rather than just having a big punch-out action scene.
posted to FanFare by Uncle Ira at 7:31 AM on November 10, 2023

Wait until they hear about the Finnish name for Finland.

If I get it wrong, Suomi.
posted to MetaFilter by k3ninho at 6:28 AM on November 9, 2023

the sad scrapping of what used to be the world's largest hovercraft

My hovercraft is full of feels.
posted to MetaFilter by zamboni at 11:00 AM on November 8, 2023

Just say to Susan, "I really enjoy playing Scrabble with you and [other friend], but after thinking it over, I'd like to just keep it to a semi-regular game with just the three of us, because with everything I have going on, I just don't have the bandwidth to play more games with more people. So, just us three. Hope you understand."

No need to tell Susan your opinion of the other folks. This is just about you, your time, your bandwidth, your preferences for... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by beagle at 1:08 PM on November 5, 2023

It must be where you live. I’m in San Francisco, and I and my friend’s eight year old, went together to Kaiser and got both flu and Covid shots just by walking in and baring our arms,--njohnson23

It is hit and miss. I live down the peninsula from San Francisco, and went to Kaiser only to be met by a sign saying they ran out of Covid shots. Tried again, and it happened again--this time they put up the sign at the end of the line of people just as I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by eye of newt at 1:00 PM on November 4, 2023

If there’s one thing human beings are good at, it’s convincing ourselves that ______ is probably fine until we start to see the longer-term consequences of ______.
posted to MetaFilter by The Card Cheat at 11:29 AM on November 4, 2023

"We have always been at cola war with Eastasia"
posted to MetaFilter by KingEdRa at 4:07 PM on November 4, 2023

"In the context of the order, it could mean something as innocuous as 'name' or 'identify,' or something much more violent,"

In the context of a guy at the head of a cult of personality who has a bunch of armed followers and loves to dabble in stochastic terrorism, those things aren't innocuous
posted to MetaFilter by jason_steakums at 5:08 PM on October 25, 2023