My Turn: 'What gets your goat?'
This sweet, though slightly annoyed goat, is waiting to be fed att the Long Island Pet Expo. (March 2011) Credit: Erin Geismar
We asked readers, "What gets your goat?" Here are two replies.
Mobile phone? Mind your manners
The things that bug me the most are voice-mail messages, cellphones and etiquette.
I work at a college, and part of my job is answering phone calls from students asking about programs. Many times, students need to leave me a message. I am diligent in returning phone calls the same day received -- but at times, it may take me until later in the day to return a phone call. Don't call me three times in a couple of hours -- chances are I've gotten your first message and haven't had the time to return the call . . . yet!
Some messages are long-winded and others quick to the point. It always seems that the phone numbers left at the end of the long-winded messages are the ones that are spoken 10 times faster than the content of the message, resulting in me having to relisten to the whole message to try to catch the phone number again. People should know to leave the number two times or at least speak slowly enough to allow someone on the other end to write the number down without having to memorize it in two seconds!
After listening to their messages when I return the phone call, I'm sometimes forced to leave them a message (phone tag -- we've all been there). What irks me the most is, after I've left them a message and hang up the phone, my phone often rings right away. When I pick it up, it is the person I've just called saying, "I see you just called me." Did they listen to the information on the message I've left them? No -- so now I have repeat it all over for them. My question is, why do I have to listen to your message, and you don't have to listen to mine?
Don't get me wrong, I love my job (most days) and love helping students further themselves through education, but it seems to me that phone etiquette should prevail. Shut off phones when coming into an office for a meeting. Respect my time as I respect yours, and if someone leaves you a voice mail -- listen to it! Chances are you'll get the information you asked for, and if you then have other questions -- call back. Hopefully, we'll be able to speak "in person"!
--Dianne Guarino, Centerport
A run-in with adult bullies
What gets my goat? Getting no respect from older generation BULLIES!
One doesn't usually think of bullying gangs being men in their 70s and 80s, but I recently encountered one such gang. These people are old enough to know better than to turn into rude, obscenity-laden individuals when hanging out together.
I teach pastel painting, and on Sept. 1, two of my women artist students and I went to the Kings Park waterfront to paint the beautiful scenery. It was a few days after tropical storm Irene hit Long Island, and it was a magnificent day. We found a spot at the end of the boardwalk under a tree. No one was there that day checking parking stickers due to the storm.
The lower area of the small park is Smithtown resident parking, and the upper parking lot is open to New York State residents. We usually park in the upper area and lug our easels and other equipment down the hill. But that day, there was a very light turnout of visitors, so we kept our cars in the lower area and were prepared to move them if the authorities asked.
Shortly after we set up, covering no more than 15 square feet of space, a group of about six to eight elderly men arrived, stood behind us and began speaking in loud voices using the F-word over and over, obviously annoyed at something. We didn't realize at first it was us they were directing their expletives at.
They didn't like that three middle-aged women had come to "their" park. Somehow, our presence had inconvenienced them. They made fun of us painting and came over and asked how much one of the paintings was and then made fun of that. They continued to harass us for most of the three hours we were there.
It is difficult enough painting in public but to have to put up with obnoxious behavior of adult males made for quite an unpleasant experience. Individually, these men may be decent people, but ganged together, they became a threatening force.
It's plain to see how schoolyard bullying becomes so easy when you outnumber your prey. I plan on going back to the park to paint again, and will check in with the police before I return.
-- Jane McGraw-Teubner, East Northport
