Speaking of dogs, I use to make custom coats for my boss's dogs in Beverly Hills because they would not wear off-the-rack coats.

😆😂

You can't make this stuff up.

no you can't. I've often said that many are educated beyond the capacity of their brain cells. In more recent years I've added to that - it's also a heart condition.

I've worked in 3 courts with judges and lawyers, 2 colleges with dept heads, and a city tax dept with auditors. They managed to retain a very good sense of humanity and reality, with few exceptions.

Lars, I love reading your stories about your life!

I do too!

Dallasannie, I feel the exact same way about being in a store alone! And when I've been to the farmer's market, I don't go up to a booth unless there are others there--the vendors look so very hopeful and the chances of my wanting to buy something are almost nil.

The virus isn't "silly" when you get sick with it. Are you an anti-masker??

I wear masks to protect vulnerable people out there, not for myself or because I live in fear. Just like I had to for months after my husband had a bone marrow transplant. We learned to smile in other ways. And I’m so thankful our friends and family didn’t throw bizarrely partisan, self-centered hissy fits about having to wear masks around us, and claim our doctors and his condition were fake news.

(ETA: I don’t see the post I was responding to now. Board glitch or it was deleted, I don’t know.)

I really was not expecting that either. This was never meant to be a controversial thread - I meant it merely to be amusing, but then I started it very late at night, which was probably a mistake.

It is always difficult for me to predict how others will interpret what I write. If I try to be amusing, people take me seriously, but if I try to be serious, people think I am being funny. Not all, of course, but some. For this reason, I do not often make an effort to be funny. Some people get my humor and some people don't. I'll admit that I do not have a very highly developed sense of humor, and it may be abstruse.

Oh, no, Lars, I think your post was perfectly amusing, some of your anecdotes even more so. There is no predicting where people go with things these days. I appreciated your post very much.

You were fine Lars! The post was fine. It was and is very enjoyable. Troll #1 and troll #2 were out of line.

Unfortunately, trolls are an internet fact of life. I do try to get beyond them but once in a while one will really push my buttons, like the farrier statement, and I just have to say something. Lars, I am sorry your fun post got hijacked and I hope you continue to post things like that. Truly, I do enjoy reading them.

I wish that Houzz would have an option like Nextdoor. You can just select to mute a specific poster and you never see them again on any post. They are not removed for anyone else, just you. It makes the whole thing so much better.

I think we all need to remember something from early years of internet forums

DON’T FEED THE TROLLS!

Sherry

I wish that Houzz would have an option like Nextdoor. You can just select to mute a specific poster and you never see them again on any post. They are not removed for anyone else, just you. It makes the whole thing so much better.~~~~~

Agree 100%

You should listen to opinions you don't agree with rather than think you can plug your ears and ignore them.

By not hearing/looking at what other say and post you are simply ignoring something that while you may disagree eventually you may find it useful. That is what has gotten this country into the mess that it currently is in.

Not when it is troll #1 that argues with everyone just to be a bu**. If someone said the sky is blue he argues. If they say it is gray when it rains, he argues. He ruins EVERY thread he posts on. He has NO comments worth reading, EVER! His original post is gone. Either he deleted it or it was flagged, not by me. His posts have NO value to the thread at all.

He is a drag on society.

maifleur, He called a farrier a "dumb farmhand". This is someone I should read at all? I don't think so.

Never mind that a farmhand is worthy of respect and does a job that he cannot do,

I didn't use the word "dumb".

Connecting with someone during a business interaction is a human way of giving grace, of recognizing them as a person who is more than just the instrument to make sure you pay for your orange juice.

I suppose one could certainly view successful shopping as a sterile exercise in obtaining the necessities of life while avoiding expending more than the minimum effort to share a moment of connection with another person...but I wouldn't want to live my life that way.

In fact the NYT just printed a lovely essay on this topic. I think it would be nice if we kept a sense of community and contacts and those little exchanges, fleeting and simple as they may be, are one way to do that.

Again, it's really just creating a moment of grace that costs nothing and makes life a little brighter.

I always have a little exchange with the checkers and other workers at my grocery stores, they are so nice. It does, indeed, brighten the day.

runninginplace, thanks for that link - that is a very nice and timely article, and it expresses a lot of what I feel.

I do talk with random strangers a lot, but they usually initiate the conversations. I think I must come across as very approachable and certainly as non-threatening - I could not be threatening even if I wanted to. If I try to give someone a dirty look, it usually makes them laugh.

Most of the time, I am amusing myself with my thoughts, and so I unconsciously smile a lot, which I guess makes people think that I am friendly and approachable. Some people say that it's the way I dress, which I guess may be a bit unconventional at times.

Anyway, I am glad that people do approach me and talk with me, whether the conversation is nonsensical or not. I do have time for nonsense. It might have meaning for me anyway.

Lars, you come across as a very friendly and approachable soul and I would love to share a chat, masked or otherwise🙂

I love the idea of being able to mute someone that only posts to belittle others! Until then I just skip right over them.

Good essay you linked, @runninginplace! DH talks to everyone, grocery checkers, the guy working the counter at the dry cleaners, the woman at the front desk at his doctor’s office, etc. Our letter carrier and our trash men love him. He “sees” them. He can work a room like nobody else, although he doesn’t set out to “work” the room. It is just his nature. I tend to be more reticent, but I strive to be polite and kind to the “consequential strangers” I encounter.

If someone has already mentioned this I apologize but the fellow in the video clip reminds me of Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

As for casual chatting with others - I do it frequently - usually it's just a friendly comment or short exchange depending on the circumstances. I had a part-time job as a cashier while I was in college and most customers seemed to appreciate a friendly smile or a hello.

DH and I stopped at our local nursery to pick up fertilizer and potting soil and I mentioned to the woman in line behind me that her rose bush had beautiful flowers on it. We chatted briefly and as we left DH asked if I knew her and I said no. He's much less social than I am.

DH teases me that I make connections with random strangers all the time. Sometimes they approach me, sometimes the other way around, and it usually ends with finding out they went to school with my brother, or some-such (Brother went to a lot of schools, then taught at a lot of schools.)

26 years ago I starting chatting with another young mom, we were both shopping with our babies. We kidded that in 20 years we’d set our kids up on a date. Well, we kept running into each other at that shopping center all day. Funny thing, though, we never introduced ourselves! Over the next year, we ran into each other in such a wide range of places and occasions, and finally at a holiday event we started finding connections. Two years later I was half a continent away, idly thumbing through a magazine, and saw a picture of the baby. Just weird things like that. Then, 10 years later, it turned out that we had both moved to the same town and our kids were in a play together. I came up to her at the cast party, we had the best hug and laugh. So you just never know!

I am an introvert and a somewhat shy person. I would never initiate a conversation with the person next to me on line in a store. If someone talks to me, I usually will just smile or answer with a word or two. It's just my personality. However, I always say hello to the checker, ask how they are doing and wish them a good day when I am finished checking out. Even the teenagers who don't look like they are interested in talking. It is just being polite. I have had checkers ask me about products I am buying. It doesn't slow down the line.

I have always considered myself an introvert, to the point of having a bit of a social phobia at certain stages of my life. Now that I'm nearing 60, while I still consider myself introverted by nature, I have surprised myself by having developed a naturally gregarious streak. I can strike up a conversation with anyone about anything, and often take the initiative to do so. Usually the exchange is quite pleasant and reciprocal, but on rare occasion when it's clear that someone doesn't care to engage, it's fine. I get it. But I've also been rewarded with some very meaningful human interaction in short spans of time and space, which seem somehow destined to have happened. I think that many of us simply find ways to expand as we age, as we realize how very limited our time here is. There is never anything wrong with attempting to make a human connection, no matter how seemingly insignificant. A smile, a genuine compliment, a kind word could have quite far-reaching effects.

Lars, from your posts, I think you are a very talented, kindhearted, sincere and personable person. And I did get a laugh out of your original post here. Do you suppose the checker's comment about sour cream was another rather poor attempt at a joke?

My hearing is pretty bad, so yes, the masks (and shields) do make any conversation difficult. I always try to be friendly with checkers. At the very least I greet them when I get to the register, and I thank them when I leave. That is just basic good manners. But because of my hearing problems, I rarely initiate a conversation with them any more. If a they initiate a conversation, I do my best to respond in kind. A few friendly comments are not gong to cause any hold up in the line. And a bit of human connection, especially in these times of isolation, can be a very good thing!

Rusty

Oh, and please don't let the resident KT troll discourage you from posting here. The rest of us enjoy your posts!

I have a DIL who is extroverted and loves to interact with clerks, wait staff, etc. We were having a large family gathering in a five star restaurant. My DIL discovered that our waiter was from the Middle East, so she had a brief conversation with him in Arabic. Later, she went to the rest room and was a long time coming back. It turns out that the waiter gave her a tour of the kitchen, a very special treat, and the staff gave her a huge bag of chocolate truffles. We all benefited from her conversation with our waiter.

"Oh, and for you and others, hold the insults."

Elmer, you wrote this yesterday on the Face Masks thread:

"Yeah, lindsey? What, your showing off because your edumacated and can think big thoughts?. You prolly belief fake news too, not what we know is really trueth."

Might work for you to hold the insults too. That comment was uncalled for. I was surprised because it was not necessary to call out Lindsey. Sometimes your comments are personal, rather than focused on the content.

Disagreeing with something that someone writes is one thing, but personally attacking someone is childish and tacky.

Well, I guess that fooled me. Your comment doesn't sound much like a commendation. Lindsey replied to you with "Hi, elmer! I see that you drank your vinegar today. Good boy!" She missed it too. But honestly, I doubt your explanation. You've called her out before. I think this was just another dig at her. That's what happens when people personally attack others. They end up not being believed.

I do generally like your input, but not the personal attacks on others. When you ask others to not do that to you, I have a "shake my head" moment.

Of all the threads, this is the one my “Click to switch off notifications ...” button decided to not work on today.

(With apologies to my friend Jinx for pinging again. 😉)

Well, in typical Houzz funky, glitchy website fashion, I didn’t get notifications for the last two posts (yours, Ida, and Sherry’s). But later, Houzz will make up for it, and I’ll get a notification explosion. 😆

Also, the posts go out of order and I can’t tell who’s insulting who!

As much as I despise him, I now have Ted Nugent in my head wailing, "It's a free for all!"

Jinx, I turned off the email notifications permanently, so I don't get them for anything. It is easy to ignore the little bell at the top right if I want.

Change your address bar to gardenweb instead of houzz and they will go back in order.

Sherry, I so wish I could. For years I used the Gardenweb url, much prefer it, but got signed out one day. When I signed back in, no more GW .... now I’m stuck in the Houzz url world. 😬

Jinx, this is my shortcut to the KT:

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/kitchentable

Can you use it for your bookmark? I've saved it, so I can get directly to the KT.

Can you left click on the address bar at the "z", backspace to to eliminate houzz, then type gardenweb? It should change the page.

ETA: You may have to clear the Houzz cookies to get rid of it. You don't have to clear all cookies, just houzz, and don't use the bell.

That’s what’s so odd, sephia — when I click on your GW link, it signs me out. If I try to sign in again, it won’t accept. But I stay signed into Houzz. Thank you for trying, though! Maybe one of these days, some glitch will fix it back. :)

ETA: Ok, I’ll try that, Sherry (sorry, didn’t see your post before).

Thank you, ladies! :)

I have more trouble on my Ipad, than the desktop. I wish they would quit messing up everything.

Did you try the link I provided? What happens when you click it?

This comment is to the original post by Lars. I see things digressed a bit...

Maybe I just got used to it at work, but we could understand each other's conversations just fine wearing masks.

Maybe the talkative checker lives alone. I do, as well. I welcome any conversation when I can get it, and he may have felt the same way. (Well as long as both of us are wearing masks properly.)

This pandemic has a social toll as well as all the other things.

Sherry, yes! I use my iPad here.

sephia, it’s up above ... when I click on the GW link, I get signed out and it won’t accept my sign-in info. So frustrating!

artemis_ma, Sorry. The-powers-that-be, have messed up messaging, so we can't use that. It's there, but doesn't work.

I too, haven't had a problem understanding anyone unless it is very noisy OR they talk as fast as my grandkids. Then I get one word in five. because all five sound like one word, lol.

Sorry, One last time, Jinx are you using the Houzz app? If so, delete it and just bookmark to favorites. I had more trouble with the app for mobile.

Thanks, Sherry! No, no app. Just Safari browser.

I'm not sure what's happening here any more, but I am not getting any notifications from Houzz, except for ones that I signed up for.

I would like to add, however, that I have known a few people who take casual conversations with strangers a bit too far, and this includes my father and maternal grandmother, who were very much alike and therefore hated each other. Both of them would talk way too much with (or to) people that they did not know and share way more information than the innocent victim wanted to hear. I do not feel that I am like either of them, and I like to keep conversations mutual. I am as interested in hearing what the other person wants to say as I am in sharing information with that person. For me, sharing is a two-way street, and I am not interested in creating traffic jams.

OTOH, I have also been the victim of people who want to share too much information, especially when stuck next to someone on a plane. Sometimes this can be excruciating but other times it can be entertaining. I've heard some very funny stories from people on planes, as well as some very boring ones.