little. yellow. different. A weblog by Ernie Hsiung

vent, part 2

Dear lady who had a 20 minute conversation on the phone in my cubicle,

Look, I know that my cubicle faces one of the largest conference rooms in the building. And I know you’re probably from some other country over the ocean, so you probably don’t have your precious cellphone so you can’t talk directly outside my cubicle while yapping away over whether England beat Portugal or whatever.

But if you ask to use my telephone “for just a second,” and then spend 5 minutes trying to dial out, then another 15 minutes calling a series of hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions while I’m trying to answer my morning e-mail for the day, then it’s not “just a second” anymore and you FIND AN EMPTY CUBICLE AND USE IT.

And hello?! We’re in America. No one says “queue up” when you wait in line; that is why the nice person at the Alcatraz tours office had you repeat the phrase “queueing up” like, 150 times. In America, to say that we’re waiting in line, we say the phrase, I don’t know, “WAITING IN LINE.”

And a thank you would have sufficed when you finished the phone call.

OK, I’m over it. Back to work.

People in Britain know what Americans mean by words such as “sidewalk” mean. People working at a company who probably deal with foreigners fairly regularly ought to know the word “queue”. It’s been around for the best part of 200 years, after all.

haha. Tell her that I said ’ssshhhh’. -Please

Yes. Well add to all this that they ask for a piece of paper and pen and forget to give you it back. Haha indeed. Got that a few times too.

Yes. Well add to all this that they ask for a piece of paper and pen and forget to give you it back. Haha indeed. Got that a few times too.

Don’t go all grandpa grumpypants on us.

LMAO!!! Thanks Ernie, you brightened up my day!!

Empty cubicles at Yahoo? And here I thought the economy was rebounding…

Empty cubicles at yahoo! It means that there available positions to work next to Ernie! Stalkers of the World, unite!

You could have taken pictures of her and posted those on your blog. She would have flown away from your cube in seconds!
Either that, or send her the head of her favourite horse (Notice my brilliant British spelling).

In the UK people usually say “wait in line/ waiting in line” too. She’s a weird one that’s for sure haha.

As a bona-fide Brit with multiple degrees in Britdom, I’d like to point out that nobody “queues up” over here. We just form a queue, or line up.

Maybe said lady just fancies you

just tell her to bugger off next time

And just to be a more obnoxious prick, I’ve been using “queue” as a replacement for line for about a year.

I can’t bring myself to say “telly” or “lorry” though.

Just to let you know: there *are* civilized people on this side of the ocean.

Hey! England v Portugal WAS HUGELY important!

A lot more important than your emails fer sure.

i’m really sad for you meester.

i too sit outside a conference room.

empty cubes in my company are not “jacked-in” meaning no pc or phone until a human moves in.

feh.

Baby, you shoulda did the American Hip-Hop thing on her, go Ludacris on her “Move bitch get out the way, get out the way bitch get out of the way” Sub way with Cubicle. Hope your day gets better.

In New York we wait ON line. I heard it once on a “Will & Grace” episode so you know it’s true.

Wheres the queue start to use your phone and annoy you for “just a miniute

During a pause between calls, you should have asked to use your phone for “just one quick thing”. Then you should have disconnected the headset and stuck it in your pants.

That might have given her the hint.

probably canadian. can’t trust those people at all.

This may sound a bit rough but here it goes.
Next time just hand the person a quarter and tell them where the nearest pay phone is. It may cost you 25 cents but it will save you from a shrink in the long run.

Earlier this week I went to Yahoo for a user research study, because I am so very very poor.

I had a secret wish that I would see you and be all “Dude, I totally read your website.”

Then I couldn’t remember if you wanted your co-workers to know or not, in which case I could just give you a wink and a nod as if to say “I am totally in your secret club and will never tell even if they torture me.”

But I didn’t see you. And I cried.

I actually felt myself get angry too as I read your entry because I know exactly what you went through! My office is across from a conference room too, so I’ve actually had people come in, ask to use my computer, use my phone *without asking*, sit down on the extra chair I have and start reading, working on their pda, etc. as if my office were a waiting room. And whenever I tell them it’s a private office they leave all huffy like it’s my problem and sometimes take with my chair with them - forcing me to go after them! I think I need a “no trespassing” sign.

Don’t vent offline - it will stress you out. Tell her to her face it will shut her up immediately (especially if she is a Brit)and you will get an instant power rush as a bonus.

probably canadian. can’t trust those people at all.

Well, regardless of whether or not we can be trusted, we don’t say “queue up” either. For example, we say things like “man, there was a long line up at the beer store”, or “Geez, I can’t believe how long I had to stand in line at the hockey game”. You know, stuff like that.

i am quite sure, that the lady in question is from malaysia, or singapore. football mad, and we say “queue up”. vestiges of colonialism u see.

remember “to go” is “for leave”…. I learned that trying for 20 mins to get a coffee to go in England…

I think what it all comes down to is that there are stupid/rude/lameass people everywhere: The U.S., Canada, England, Singapore… Unfortunately, I’ve never found a good way to get rid of them. Let me know if you come up with anything.

I sense a softening.

A change of post?

Who WAS she, anyway…

RF

Two words: cubicle farting. It’s nature’s rude lady repellent.

All hail the Alpha Country where honest, hard workers wait in line, and we have acceptable dentistry practices.

http://www.thegoodflame.com for good ol’ fashioned FREE AMERICAN MUSIC. YEEEEEE HAAAA!

John - “To go” is “for leave”?! I think somebody must’ve been pulling your leg there, or you just read it from some dodgy guide for American tourists in England. Within the UK, when obtaining hot beverages for consumption off-premises, the general use of language is “to go”, or “to take-away”. Unless I’ve got the wrong end of the stick and you mean that Americans say “for leave”, in which case, you’re all very weird. Also, Portugal vs England was immensely important, like, I dunno, the equivalent of your Superbowl + 1000% due to national pride being involved, and if it’s any consolation Ernie, we lost on penalties.