You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Locke

Huh. I've been to France several times, Paris 3 times and I've never had this issue.

Apparently you cut a much more imposing figure than myself (after being to France a couple times, I see where my size comes from), sir, as it happened to me more than once, and I saw it in general lots of times. Granted I was on the metro several times a day, that volume probably helped with increased shenanigans. My cousin lives there, he said it's pretty normal as "the French don't like following rules".

Now that English experience...sign me up. Actually never been to England, unless your average London pub experience mirrors a 3 hour layover at Gatwick. In which case, yes I've been there.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Apparently you cut a much more imposing figure than myself (after being to France a couple times, I see where my size comes from), sir, as it happened to me more than once, and I saw it in general lots of times. Granted I was on the metro several times a day, that volume probably helped with increased shenanigans. My cousin lives there, he said it's pretty normal as "the French don't like following rules".

Now that English experience...sign me up. Actually never been to England, unless your average London pub experience mirrors a 3 hour layover at Gatwick. In which case, yes I've been there.

My favourite Parisian Public Transit experience, I'll tell it again, I know I've told it on the board before, I forget where though.

I'm on the train in Paris and this elderly woman in a gigantic coat is beside me. She looks frail and she's gotta be touching 80, like very elderly woman.

We're both standing because there are no seats available.

Anyways, she leans against the rail and reaches into her coat and pulls out a bottle of Red Wine.

Fishes in her coat some more and lo and behold, finds her corkscrew.

She then proceeds to open the bottle...I. Am. Astonished.

We're on a moving train and this woman uncorked this thing more professionally than a waiter in a restaurant. It was insane.

Anyways, she kindly asks me to hold the bottle for her. She puts the corkscrew back in her coat and pockets the cork.

I'm thinking to myself..."is this lady just going to bottle-chug this Red Wine on the train? Like...what happens now?"

What happens now? She goes fishing around in her goddamned giant coat which I think might been the Tardis and procures, seemingly out of thin air...a wine glass.

She then proceeds to...again, on a rocking, moving train...pour herself a glass of wine.

Didn't spill a drop. She re-corks the bottle, it disappears into the Magical Dreamcoat and we're getting to my stop.

I was speechless. One of the most surreal things I have ever witnessed on Public Transit. But...credit to that woman...she knows what she's about. She did that like a Pro.

Then it was approaching my stop. She even offered to share and I have no doubt she had another wine glass in that mystical coat of hers but it was my stop and I had to go.

I love Paris. One of my favourite cities in the world. What a town.

[Sainters7]

That's...incredible. I think you may have met the French Bacchus or something, you could be a demigod right now had you taken a sip. Yeah I love that city too, just have minor PTSD from it's metro. Already planning on going again next year, gotta take advantage while I still have free accommodations haha.

Most stereotypical French experience I had on the metro was seeing a college-aged woman with a baguette sticking out the top of her zipped up jacket that she was eating hands-free, like Frank Reynolds eating sausages from his shirt front pocket.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Locke

My favourite Parisian Public Transit experience, I'll tell it again, I know I've told it on the board before, I forget where though.

I'm on the train in Paris and this elderly woman in a gigantic coat is beside me. She looks frail and she's gotta be touching 80, like very elderly woman.

We're both standing because there are no seats available.

Anyways, she leans against the rail and reaches into her coat and pulls out a bottle of Red Wine.

Fishes in her coat some more and lo and behold, finds her corkscrew.

She then proceeds to open the bottle...I. Am. Astonished.

We're on a moving train and this woman uncorked this thing more professionally than a waiter in a restaurant. It was insane.

Anyways, she kindly asks me to hold the bottle for her. She puts the corkscrew back in her coat and pockets the cork.

I'm thinking to myself..."is this lady just going to bottle-chug this Red Wine on the train? Like...what happens now?"

What happens now? She goes fishing around in her goddamned giant coat which I think might been the Tardis and procures, seemingly out of thin air...a wine glass.

She then proceeds to...again, on a rocking, moving train...pour herself a glass of wine.

Didn't spill a drop. She re-corks the bottle, it disappears into the Magical Dreamcoat and we're getting to my stop.

I was speechless. One of the most surreal things I have ever witnessed on Public Transit. But...credit to that woman...she knows what she's about. She did that like a Pro.

Then it was approaching my stop. She even offered to share and I have no doubt she had another wine glass in that mystical coat of hers but it was my stop and I had to go.

I love Paris. One of my favourite cities in the world. What a town.

Lol. Should have asked her if she had a white.

[Slava]

That sounds suspect. The Locke I know would've had a glass of wine and just stayed on the train longer to enjoy it!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Slava

That sounds suspect. The Locke I know would've had a glass of wine and just stayed on the train longer to enjoy it!

I should have but I was meeting some friends at The Louvre.

But that lady? She was an absolute champion.

Just...it was surreal, can you imagine pouring a glass of wine on a moving Metro train? She didnt even wait for it to stop at the station.

She knows what she's about and ain't nobody got time to wait for the train to stop!

All the questions swirling through my mind...like..."how far are you going on the train that you cant even wait to get home?"

And this is FRANCE! She is an elderly woman, there was no way she just got off work or anything.

But nope. She has her bottle of wine and she wants it and she wants it NOW! Lord only knows how many more bottles she had in her Tardis coat.

That lady was the Ultimate Pre-Gamer? Didn't want to share with whoever was at home? I dont know.

And on top of it? I was astonished. Everyone else on the train? Not one of them even batted an eye.

"La Madame wants her wine, c'est d'accord avec mois!"

Oh Paris...

So when I was seeing the pictures and tweets about people sitting outside at Bistros having a sandwich and glass of wine amidst a full blown riot and there are fires everywhere? Surprises me not at all.

C'est simplement Les Francais!

Thats how its done. Yes, you may have your riot, but I have this lovely glass of wine to finish. Good day!

[Wormius]

We were travelling in Italy for the last few weeks and on more than one occasion a psycho cow would be crazily trying to hold seats for their friends or acquaintances.

I was sitting on a bench along the side in the Sistine Chapel, enjoying Michelangelo’s work when a few seats beside me became available. My son was still standing and I gestured for him to sit down to the left of me because spaces were free and we could talk. Then along came this lady who started ushering in like a dozen of her friends or whoever they were, and they were taking up all of the spaces to sit down. Every time someone would leave, she would demand that everyone slide around to accommodate her friends so they could all sit next to each other.

This started to get annoying, and my son is kind of meek in these situations so he just stood there. When the person next to me left, she attempted to get her next friend to sit down there, so I slid over as she approached and opened up a spot to my right so my son could finally sit down too. This lady ended up uttering loud enough for us to hear, “these men are ungentlemanly”.

They were just as lazy and as young as us, so the hypocrisy and entitlement kind of irked me and I wanted to say something, but I guess showing couth in that situation was a more dignified response.

Also sitting along the edge of a fountain someone else tried holding a seat with a bottle of water. She kept pushing it back and forth in my direction and pointing at some guy further away. In retrospect, I probably could have had fun with that situation and assumed the water was a gift and taken it.

I know UCB loves the heat, I think summer in Italy changed my mind a bit. 38 in the day, 32 at night, inadequate AC at the hotel. It was horrible.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Wormius

We were travelling in Italy for the last few weeks and on more than one occasion a psycho cow would be crazily trying to hold seats for their friends or acquaintances.

I was sitting on a bench along the side in the Sistine Chapel, enjoying Michelangelo’s work when a few seats beside me became available. My son was still standing and I gestured for him to sit down to the left of me because spaces were free and we could talk. Then along came this lady who started ushering in like a dozen of her friends or whoever they were, and they were taking up all of the spaces to sit down. Every time someone would leave, she would demand that everyone slide around to accommodate her friends so they could all sit next to each other.

This started to get annoying, and my son is kind of meek in these situations so he just stood there. When the person next to me left, she attempted to get her next friend to sit down there, so I slid over as she approached and opened up a spot to my right so my son could finally sit down too. This lady ended up uttering loud enough for us to hear, “these men are ungentlemanly”.

They were just as lazy and as young as us, so the hypocrisy and entitlement kind of irked me and I wanted to say something, but I guess showing couth in that situation was a more dignified response.

Also sitting along the edge of a fountain someone else tried holding a seat with a bottle of water. She kept pushing it back and forth in my direction and pointing at some guy further away. In retrospect, I probably could have had fun with that situation and assumed the water was a gift and taken it.

I know UCB loves the heat, I think summer in Italy changed my mind a bit. 38 in the day, 32 at night, inadequate AC at the hotel. It was horrible.

Ah the Sistine Chapel.

"SILENZIO!!!"

Look here son, in a second I'm going to shove that frock so far up your ass even God won't be able to save it.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I know UCB loves the heat, I think summer in Italy changed my mind a bit. 38 in the day, 32 at night, inadequate AC at the hotel. It was horrible.

We also just returned from Italy. Our AirBNB in Rome was 110 steps up to the apartment, but advertised as having "brand new ice cold AC" with reviews confirming it. The steps were worth it because after walking around in high-30s heat real AC is a need not a want.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

We also just returned from Italy. Our AirBNB in Rome was 110 steps up to the apartment, but advertised as having "brand new ice cold AC" with reviews confirming it. The steps were worth it because after walking around in high-30s heat real AC is a need not a want.

Our Rome AirBnB was great. Little apartment by the Spanish Steps, and it cooled quickly and nicely. Our Naples one was the worst. The beds were in a loft and the A/C only got the whole place down to 29. Basically we were all naked, lying on top of the beds with our arms and legs spread out trying to catch any bit of breeze out of the A/C unit.

I was drinking at least 5 litres of water, and pretty sure that was all coming out at sweat, because I peed very little. Those first days before we got better acclimated to it, I was thinking, “I made a terrible mistake, we should fly home now”.

It started to cool down a bit recently in our last days in Venice, and the rainstorm in Florence and Pisa was so nice. I slipped on some wet marble and almost broke my ass though.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Locke

Ah the Sistine Chapel.



"SILENZIO!!!"



Look here son, in a second I'm going to shove that frock so far up your ass even God won't be able to save it.

Lol, never been to Italy, but I had similar experiences in Greece, especially in the Meteora monasteries. I watched an elderly lady get hauled away for taking a picture, like she tried to steal a painting or something. You can tell the workers there just hate tourists, it's amusing.

Italians seem to love Greek history (the distance probably helps too) as there's Italian tour groups everywhere at sites in Greece. I still remember this very confrontational Italian group at Delphi yelling at all of us "RESPECTO!! RESPECTO!!" as they walked by, as they I guess felt we weren't off to the side enough when our Greek guide was talking to us. They then stood there and angrily talked over our guide. It was 7:45 AM, the site was basically empty, I'm not awake enough for your ####, signore, settle down.

[Cappy]

What France lacks in queuing efficiency, it makes up for in publicly ####ting/shaming/calling out someone for doing something dumb, then just continuing on with their day like nothing happened.

"get out of the way, you Idiot" then keeps on keeping on

[Ped]

I know it's been mentioned before, but how on earth do airlines get away with overbooking flights? Flying back from Vancouver this morning and they are begging 10 people to go on a later flight. Offering compensation, which turns out to be non-monetary.


I did not volunteer.


As an aside though, they were literally begging people in Zones 4 and 5 not to line up until Zone 3 started boarding, and the people actually listened. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Ped

I know it's been mentioned before, but how on earth do airlines get away with overbooking flights? Flying back from Vancouver this morning and they are begging 10 people to go on a later flight. Offering compensation, which turns out to be non-monetary.

These days it's not actually them just accidentally selling too many tickets, it's usually just when there's a cancellation, or when people missed an earlier flight so get put on this one, or when they need to swap the plane out with a different one last minute and the only one available seats less people.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Cappy

What France lacks in queuing efficiency, it makes up for in publicly ####ting/shaming/calling out someone for doing something dumb, then just continuing on with their day like nothing happened.

"get out of the way, you Idiot" then keeps on keeping on

France sounds like my kind of place. Except for the french part.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Ped

I know it's been mentioned before, but how on earth do airlines get away with overbooking flights? Flying back from Vancouver this morning and they are begging 10 people to go on a later flight. Offering compensation, which turns out to be non-monetary.


I did not volunteer.


As an aside though, they were literally begging people in Zones 4 and 5 not to line up until Zone 3 started boarding, and the people actually listened. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

I think the auction model for volunteers for over booking flights is perfectly reasonable. The government should just legislate no involuntary bumping and no cap on compensation. That will correctly price the benefit to the airline and cost to the individual.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GGG

I think the auction model for volunteers for over booking flights is perfectly reasonable. The government should just legislate no involuntary bumping and no cap on compensation. That will correctly price the benefit to the airline and cost to the individual.

They should offer discounts to passengers who agree to fill the duties of the Flight Crew.

"Okay your trip to Mexico is only $100 if you agree to be a Flight attendant and you! YOU! Your flight is free since you agreed to be the Pilot! Do you know how to land a plane? No? Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it! Please dont fly into the bridge!"

[Reggie28]

I’m still waiting for my presale code for “Storytime with Locke”.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Reggie28

I’m still waiting for my presale code for “Storytime with Locke”.

And I havent even gotten to Restaurant work or Canadian Tire yet!

[Brupal]

Regarding getting bumped on an airplane … I once worked with a guy who flew 4 or 5 times a week sometimes. He was Super Platinum or equivalent on every major airline. If he called up late or showed up at the counter in person and wanted on a particular flight he was getting on that flight. The airline would pull some schmuck who was flying on points or hadn’t flown that airline in years to make room for this guy. The airlines fall over themselves to keep their super premium customers happy.