Thursday 8th December 2005
And today's PTPMO award goes to....... Andy Harrington. That's right an actual real, living, breathing person! Although the award is really aimed at his organisation for what happened to me this evening. Here's the background...
There's an organisation that promises to "Create The Life You Deserve". Now I've experienced plenty of organisations, people, coaches, 'experts', NLP'ers, etc, read the books , journals and websites, listened to the tapes, etc. about this sort of thing. Part of what I enjoy in life is to learn more and more about life, living, etc. So, as you'd imagine, when I came across this group's website and saw that they were running an intro seminar I thought I'd go along, listen and learn.
I tried to book on a seminar online but my registration appeared to bounce off the site with some sort of garbled error message. Tried a few times and figured that the way to "Create The Life You Deserve" was to not faff around with a poorly designed web registration process. So I gave up.
A few days later I received an emal confirming my place on the seminar (and to give them credit it was for the right date, place and time and that's better than some companies I've dealt with). The email emphasised how important it was that I turned up as places were strictly limited. Fair enough thinks I. Then I receive a couple of phone calls, re-iterating the same points - important to turn up, it'll be life changing, let us know if you're not coming along. THEN I received an SMS restating the message yet again. FINALLY, there was a letter in the post confirming date, time, venue and the importance of turning up. All credit to the organisation for using all aspects of technology I guess.
So, I went along and guess what....before I could go in I had to fill in a registration form. Hang on, you have my details already - you've phoned me, emailed me, SMS'd me and written to me - so why do you need my details yet again ? The answer appeared in the contractual details included in the registration form. The smallprint waived the organnisers of ANY responsibility for harm or injury arising from the event. It mentioned that there would be physical activities and that the presenters could be abusive (or something like that).
Now hang on just a cotten picking minute! If you're going to spend the time telling me how important it is to show up, why don't you forewarn me that it could involve dangerous activities from which you expect me to absolve you of any blame ? Sorry, but if you're doing a presentation I do not expect to be exposed to any physical, emotional or psychological risk UNLESS you have taken adequate precautions.
It really p*ssed me off that I made the effort to travel to the hotel and, more importantly, that I'd freed up my evening to attend and only at the point of arrival you suddenly expect me to sign a waiver absolving
you of any risks. If I attend a Microsoft course I don't have to sign a waiver absolving them of negligence causing physical injury, so don't expect me to for this kind of stuff! Arrggghhh!
The icing on the cake was when left the hotel and arrived at Paddington to catch the 18:22 home. The board said 'ON TIME'. It kept saying that right until 18:23 when the status changed to 'CANCELLED'. Apparently there was a mechanical problem with the train at the depot. Incredible though isn't it that the failure occurred at precisely the instant that the train was scheduled to depart ? i.e., for those who don't understand sarcasm, innuendo or basic analysis.....How the f*ck did First Great Western expect a train that hadn't even left its depot by 18:22 to leave on time from the station ?
Monday 21st November 2005 - Delayed 07:27 from Maidenhead to Paddington
Was there once a hit with "I don't like Monday's" ? It seems that First Great Western' equipment doesn't like Monday's either. That would explain why the 07:27 was delayed again!
So, who was it that P*ssed Me Off today ? The award goes to.......the Driver! This one is a mite unfair you might think. I don't blame him for the delay OR for the fact that there weren't enough seats on the train (in grot class at least). Why the award? Because on Platform 2 at Maidenhead some well intentioned FGW bright spark has marked the platform out showing where each door will be when the train stops. This is a great idea (it really is!) as it means that those of us who arrive early enough can stake our claim on the bit of the platform nearest to where the door should be. When the service recently started this idea worked well. Unfortunately the driver now overshoots the markers by several feet. This results in those of us who have waited longest ending up furthest away from the carriage doors! B*stard!
Friday 11th November 2005 - Delayed 07:27 from Maidenhead to Paddington
It seems that every day that I use a First Great Wester Train that it is delayed in some way. (Note to self - must start a "Companies That P*** Me Off blog).
This morning there was a woman on the train who deserved today's PTPMO award for sheer bloodymindedness. Why ? She was so busy reviewing her powerpoint slides on her laptop that she took an age to move out of her seat so that another passenger could get to the vacant seat next to her. Until then the aisle was blocked by the poor standing passenger wanting to get to the empty seat. Fortunately the dozey woman woke up and actually moved to that seat herself (at last some semblance of common sense). The cosequence was that everybody else waiting to get on the train was stacked up back to the doorway and beyond onto the platform. WHY do people on trains insist on sitting in the aisle seat thereby blocking access to the vacant seats when they KNOW that the whole train is going to be full. Inconsiderate or what!
Oh, finally a clue about who the woman was....The powerpoint presentation was about Visa doing a deal with Abbey if anybody is interested. Hey it can't be a secret because the laptop was on full display (it didn't even have a viewing filter fitted).
So, what is PTPMO ?
It's a feeling thing, an attitiude thing, a reflection on society kinda thing!
Yeah, yeah, OK, but what do the letters stand for ?
It stands for
People
That
Piss
Me
Off!
Wow, erm, isn't that a bit sort of, well you know....attitudanal ?
Yep, absolutely. However, this isn't the bog standard "I hate Americans because....blah, blah, blah!". It's actually a foundation behind a growing belief that I uphold that specific individuals really hack people off becasue of their indifferent or uncaring attitude to people around them.
So, is this about pandering and re-enforcing typical sterotypes then ?
Absolutely not. Pigeon holeing is unfair against individuals. If a BMW driver is obnoxious and drives aggresively then it does not justify categorising them all as being the same. This site is about naming and shaming individuals.
So, it's not about whinging about people who drive slowly, meander on the pavement, or just generally irritate then ?
Nope. This is about pointing out real
People
That
Piss
Me
Off. For example, the teenager on the delayed 07:10 Reading to Paddington train on Wednesday 12th November.
Which one ?
The one who went yack, yack, yack, yack at a high volume about her inferior school friends in High Wycombe, her inadequate boyfriend, her father who's wants to take her on the annual christmas tip to Florida so that he can play golf. Does that narrow it down ?
But isn't that cruel, putting in the public domain something that's private ?
Hey, if she's going to blab it out in a loud voice, she clearly 'aint concerned about privacy.
But why are you doing this ?
Because, this blog is going to grow, grow, grow...It's going to become mainstream, it's going to gain publicity, it's going to be read by many people. Finally, people are going to shut up and be a bit more discrete about how they talk in public. This'll be a bonus to those of us WHO DON'T WANT TO LISTEN!
