Welcome to ‘Vinnies blog where we want you to get it off your chest!

Bad manners, Cars, Collections, Coworkers, the Environment and the Government are some of the topics tou want to have a moan at. We also have sections on Habits, Help, Public Places, Social manners and the last but not least..our friendly Travel Agent.

Intrigues are not only found in books. They are not just figment of the author’s imagination but rather a reflection of what goes on in real life. It is present almost everywhere even in the the workplace.

Where we work is a hotbed of intrigues from  gossiping to backstabbing. It cannot be avoid unless maybe if all of our coworkers are deaf, mute and blind. It would be so easy to give in and offer our own comments, bad or (more…)

Are you one of those guys who still have to save enough courage just to ask a girl for a date? And who are also unlucky to not have a chance for a second or a third date? You must be wondering why most of your men friends have found steady girlfriends and you still haven’t when you’re also an eligible bachelor yourself.

Here are 5 dating tips to help bachelors secure a steady date:

1. Watch out where your eyes land on every time you look at your date. The low V-neck of her evening dress is not an excuse or a ready license for your eyes to always dive into her deep cleavage. Cast an admiring glance once in a while. Staring on other parts of her anatomy, rather than into her eyes, is considered as ogling and leering. According to mothers, staring is rude. Your date will surely think that, too, so she may punish your rudeness by stomping her foot on your toes or,  worse, by slapping you on your face. Even a no-brainer will realize at once that your first date will also be your last. To be always on the safe side, talk to her eyes throughout the evening.

2. Don’t forget to bring your manners to the restaurant table. Use the correct utensils for eating. Cut the food into bite-size with the dining knife. Use the fork or spoon to transport food into your mouth. Chew your food like you’re savoring the taste. Swallow what you’re eating first before you talk. These are basic table manners that you’ve been taught as a child.

3. Be meticulous on your appearance not on the food you order and eat. Have you trimmed everything that should be trimmed like the nose hair peeking from your nostrils, your finger nails, your moustache, and also your toe nails. Toe nails on a first date? Yeah. Some girls judge a guy’s neatness through clean toe nails. You don’t have to have a pedicure with nail polish. Just cutting and brushing them with an old toothbrush are enough to perk up a neat girl’s interest. Do not forget to brush your teeth, of course, and a good scrub all over. Smelling fresh and looking clean can get you a rate of 10 and secure a second date, or a third, or a fourth…

4. Punctuality is next to sincerity. You turn up to a job interview on time because you want to give a good impression. Consider the first date with a girl as an interview; and you’re also showing her that you really like her. When a guy is punctual, a girl will think him as a reliable, stable, and organized individual–a perfect boyfriend material, indeed.

5. Leave your freshness at home. Fresh appearance is fine, but not the fresh behavior. Do not expect to get invited inside a girl’s home for a cup of coffee on your first or second date. This also goes for a goodnight kiss. You can show your ardent interest by sending flowers the next day or a simple ‘thank you’ e-card by email.

Last week in Blue Ash, Ohio, an 89-year old woman had been arrested because she refused to return the football of the neighbor’s kid that landed in her yard. The kid’s father called the police. The police asked the grandmother to return the ball but the latter refused. Because she also refused to sign a citation, the police charged her of petty theft.

Ever since this news had been out, people have been taking sides. Who’s on the wrong? Was it the old grandma who just wanted some privacy in her own place? Were they the kids who just wanted to play and enjoy their youth? Was it the police who just did their job? Or were they the parents who were busy working to support the needs of the family?

According to the kid’s parents, the ball was bought with the $15 that their son had earned from working.

According to the old woman’s attorney, the neighbor’s kids were always throwing balls in her property despite her confiscating previously thrown balls. She is old and gets easily tired so she needed frequent rest but couldn’t do it because of the frequent intrusions by playing kids.

VIDEO – 89-Year Old Woman Arrested Over a Football

Right or wrong, the old woman is the real victim here. Even when treated with some consideration due to her advanced age, getting arrested and booked at the police station was still a terrible ordeal. This particular senior is suffering from diabetes and hypertension. The stress of having to fend off the attention from the media is bad for her poor health.

She took a $15-football that must have been landing in her yard many times. Can you imagine her running out of the house to grab the ball? No. So she must have waited for the ball to land right in front of her door where she could just pick it up. She did this to express her wish to be left alone in her own property so that she could take her much-needed rest. And also to teach a lesson to kids that are too thick-headed to understand an old woman’s feelings.

By trying to teach a lesson to the youth, grandma is facing petty theft charges with 6 months imprisonment and a fine of $1000. How fair is that? And who should teach respect to the youth? Parents should be responsible for their kids’ actions. If only they taught their young ones the right ways, incidents such as disrespect to the elderly would never have happened.

Whoever invented computer viruses should be shot! If you have ever had a virus on your pc, you will know how frustrating it can be. With pop ups occurring every second, file names being changed, slowness of the computer and everything else that it involves; it just adds up to being a complete and utter nightmare! (more…)

Why is it that humans can be so cruel to animals without a second thought? So many of us seem to think that we are the superior race, and that we simply have the right to use other animals and inflict pain on them as a sport! Did any of you hear about the man who beat up a poor innocent kangaroo in Australia for the sport of it? Or the person who shot and killed a newly introduced Red Kite in the UK? (more…)

Have you ever house shared with anyone who has no regard at all to common courtesy? Living in a house where you have to share the kitchen should not be a problem, if everyone just kept to themselves and had a little bit of respect for one another. (more…)

Why does the media always make things so terrible for people? Every day you read the headlines of the papers and it is full of gossip and vindictive news about individuals? Do they get no privacy at all? (more…)

Colds are such a common disease and we all get them a couple of times throughout the year. They are hard to avoid at the best of times, but why is it that some people seem determined to help spread their colds by sneezing and wheezing all over the place? (more…)

Why does it seem like so many youngsters today appear to have no manners or respect for anything? Is it just me, or do you get a lot of teenagers who swagger around as if they own the world and everything in it? Some older women are frightened of the groups of youths that hang around on the street corners, especially later on at night. Do they not have homes to go to? Many of the kids that are out late at night seem to be in their younger teenage years and should not be skulking around late at night in the first place! (more…)

Living in an apartment means many things. One of them is learning how to step quietly. I don’t mind when people have kids over that run across the floor occasionally, but an adult making much more noise than they need to irks my soul!

Every evening around 10:30pm our up stairs neighbor gets ready for bed. If you are in the bedroom you can hear him get out of the shower, walk across the room and get in the bed.

Now if you have ever lived in an apartment you know that places where there is no carpet is susceptible to making noise for the people below you. We always make sure to step lightly because, well, who wants mad neighbors. You never know when you are going to need them.

How do you feel about this? Does neighbor noise drive you batty?

I certainly do hate traffic jams. I simply cannot understand them. Why do they ever exist? Most of the time you spend hours stuck in a traffic jam but at the end you find there was hardly any reason for one anyway.

One can understand traffic congestion caused by accidents or road maintenance, though perhaps not when one is behind thousand or so cars. Given some down time one can understand such a situation, especially after a good tirade against the drivers or the road maintenance authorities responsible, but most traffic jams are caused not by accidents or sudden damages to road.

In fact nobody knows why they are caused. Some say they are due to small traffic incidents slowing down traffic and then accumulating through a chain reaction. Others believe that they are caused due to temporary bottlenecks snowballing, yet others put the blame on bad weather, poor signaling, etc. etc.

Why can’t all the scientists and researchers find out for certain? After all they are costing economy and everyone involved, meaning you and I, lot of money for gods’ sake!

What I can gather from all the causes counted above is that they are due to people reacting stupidly and acting like a herd. This is in line with what I have seen of other drivers’ behavior from inside traffic logjams.

When you drive a car you cannot act like a herded animal doing what other people are doing. Be independent! Think! If everyone does that, these traffic jams will unresolve themselves in no time. That is my opinion anyway.

Now that we are well on the way to getting things off our chest, I am going to mouth off on some annoying habits of my coworkers. I am sure lot of you would have encountered similar habits.

First up are people who are always not prepared. People who cannot come prepared to a long arranged business meeting should not be there, or in any workplace, in my opinion.

Another group of coworkers who should not work in a modern office are people who cannot work in a team. What can be more annoying than people who only care about their particular limited area, when everyone else is working their hearts off for the team?

Then there are people who expect others to fix, complete, and help out, with the work, not once, mind you, but every time.

A person who cannot give a firm handshake always sends wrong signals. If a person cannot look one in the eye and has a hand that feels like a fish, that makes the whole atmosphere unpleasant

We also cannot help getting annoyed at people with, shall we say, less than perfect hygiene. Smell, body generated or through smoking or alcohol consumption, really turns me off for sure. People, who use too much fragrance, as a habit or to cover-up other smells, also annoy me. Office is not a place for strong smells. Period

Bad phone etiquette especially mobile phone etiquette is a big no-no. This is a so common an annoyance that I hardly need to explain it.

Is there anything more annoying than mobile phones ringing on season and off? They certainly annoy me! That is why I am mouthing off here.

Yes I know they are essential to modern lifestyle. And I know that we should make considerable allowances for everyone’s desire to be in touch in this ultra connected world. However there must be limits somewhere

So where are the limits?

That is a work in progress. As with all new technology new limits and new rules of etiquette will have to evolve. For instance, nowadays it is bad form to write emails in ALL CAPS because that is considered shouting. Unfortunately mobile phone etiquette seems to change from place to place. For example some restaurants ban mobiles altogether, while others are full of patrons talking on the phone while their lunch companions are kicking their heels.

To me basic rule should be simple; respect the other person. In most social contexts person right in front of you should deserve the priority. After all we do not cut in on normal conversation but await our turn, but we think nothing about cutting in through a phone.

Going by that simple rule we should not answer phones while focusing on anything on a social context whether it is a person or a play. We must have a way to shut off the phone when we enter in to such situation automatically. Unfortunately mobile manufacturers so quick to cater to our every need have not been prompt with this.

I know all this is perhaps too much, but then those damn phones are so annoying.

Talking of things that irritates me, top of the line are people who do not take the trouble to spell words correctly. Don’t take me wrong, I can stand and excuse people new to the language or children, who make mistakes while spelling. They are after all just learning.

What I cannot stand are people who should know better.

Forget about others, number of college educated native English speakers who cannot write one sentence without making at least one mistake is simply mind bogglingly high. I know that from personal experience. For the life of me I cannot make out why they should be making mistakes. They have seen and read those words all their life.

When I see such writing I just want to scream my head off sometimes. I mean, even if they cannot spell, can’t they use spell checkers that are standard issue for word processors these days? Why do they not take the trouble of making few more clicks?

In fact such mistakes indicate that these people simply do not care how they treat others and how they themselves want to be treated. It is simply bad manners. They simply do not care and are sloppy, in the same way that people who litter or wipe their hands on upholstery, do not care about all the unpleasantness they are creating.

To an extent we are all responsible for this devil may care attitude in that we do not remind and caution people about their sloppiness when we observe it.