The #1 thing people don't understand about X, is Y

[iAmBaronVonTito]

Another thing that has turned me off to pets is that a lot of people I've been around who own pets hold their animal in higher regard than the people in their lives. I find that disturbing.

Oh, I've had to live with someone like that. Those people aren't pet-lovers, they're lunatics. I certainly prefer the company of my cats over the company of intolerable jerks, but the blanket policy of "my pet > people," is not right.

John Junk: You should add a shocking twist ending where the Guy Who Is Allergic to Peanuts runs over some peanuts with his car.

absolutely, run the peanuts over.


as for pets v. people, i vote for people.  my cat is great company, but i cant talk to him, etc. which gives people the margin over pets.

[Sarah]

most people I know who aren't pet people are private and only need a few companions and prefer to be alone or with a small group of people.

This describes me, and yet I have two cats and two dogs (down from my all-time high of four cats and three dogs).  Is it really your experience that so-called pet people aren't private, need tons of companions, and prefer large groups of people?  That certainly doesn't jibe with the notion that they prefer animals to the people in their lives.

When it comes down to it, I don't care if people don't have cats or dogs, and I don't see why they should care that I do.  I only get annoyed when those indifferent to beasts go out of their way to question or even criticize my fondness for mine.  And, like erika, I don't appreciate vicious antibeast jokes and think that those who feel compelled to make them are jerks.  (I'm not referring to you, JJ, or to anyone else here; I'm thinking of various people I know who are fond of these kinds of cracks.)

[Beth]

as for pets v. people, i vote for people.  my cat is great company, but i cant talk to him, etc. which gives people the margin over pets.

Wait...you don't talk to your cat?  I have long philosophical conversations with mine.

[Andy]

the #1 thing that people who don't like pets don't understand about pets, is that it's fun to write/sing songs about them. ("them" being the pets, not the people who don't understand pets.)

[erika]

I don't think my pets understand why I sing songs about them either. They always look puzzled or annoyed.

[emma]

I don't think my pets understand why I sing songs about them either. They always look puzzled or annoyed.

My cat gets embarrassed and just sort of walks away.

My dog, on the other hand, thinks it's super exciting. Which is nice. It's always good to have an audience.

[Sarah]

My dogs prefer it when I dance.  My cats like it when I whistle.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

When I sing to my cats (recent favorite: The Dirtbombs' "Everlovin' Man"), they just stare at me like they're trying to figure out which of us is predator or prey in this particular scenario.

[yesno]

My dog genuinely likes it when I sing songs about him, but they have to be songs that feature his name, and have simple, nursery-rhyme melodies.

[Denim Gremlin]

the number one thing people don't understand about the FOT forum is that any thread can easy turn into one about cats

[Andy]

the number one thing people don't understand about the FOT forum is that any thread can easy turn into one about cats

never underestimate the power of FOT ADD

[erika]

meow?

[emma]

Speaking of ADD:

(recent favorite: The Dirtbombs' "Everlovin' Man")

I bought this album about three hours ago and oh my goodness it is fantastic.

Getting back on topic:

Um, I have been sitting here trying to think of the thing people don't understand about being a high school student. I think you all pretty much get it.

The number one thing people don't understand about being a "barista" (I am not a fan of this term by any means) is that when you pour half your coffee directly into the garbage to make room for milk instead of asking me to just give you less coffee, the coffee and tea and milk and everything collect in the bottom of the garbage bag and then, later, when I'm taking out the trash and the bag breaks and I get your gross old coffee all over my ridiculous flameproof smock and super-uncomfortable awkward-fitting company t-shirt that I will have to keep wearing for the next four hours and that will probably not dry out completely before I get home, I will curse you and your entire family (past, present and future) in ways that would make even an old-timey sailor blush.

I quit that job, but not so long ago that I am not still filled with bitterness. Clearly.

[yesno]

The number one thing people don't understand about being a "barista" (I am not a fan of this term by any means) is that when you pour half your coffee directly into the garbage to make room for milk instead of ...

I agree with this.  And I was a barista for a while, so I know the dilemma.  If you actually leave enough room, the occasional person will yell at you, like you're trying to rip him off by not giving him the 1/2 inch of extra coffee or whatever.  So coffee shop people do in fact tend to overfill cups, leaving *some* room but so little that when you put milk in it, it's too full.

I think to-go coffee cups should have a little line, where if you want it filled past that you have to ask for it.

This is also why I sometimes like to get a medium coffee, in a large cup.  It also avoids spillage.

[Julie]

The number one thing people don't understand about statistics is that when you get them out of Reader's Digest, they probably don't mean what you most likely think they mean.