It seems like it's very difficult for some people to pay attention. Or maybe they just don't want to pay attention? Then again, maybe they're just ”too damn precious” to mind anything other than the ideas inside their own heads. Or maybe they have Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) — yes, it's a thing; look it up!
I had and run retail stores for about 16 years all told; my wife and I are also both creatives/artists and we go set up booths as vendors at a variety of arts and craft shows and other events. Meanwhile, I've been a seller on eBay for more than 20 years. We’re also just human beings, doing our best to interact with the world around us.
When I had my stores it always amazed me how many people would pick something off the shelf from right next to a sign that read in large letters ”Last one! 50% off!” bring it to the sales counter and ask: ”Do you have three of these?”
Similar things happen with my eBay listings. I've been doing that long enough that I'm pretty good at creating informative listings that always include all the pertinent information about the item I'm selling. This includes things like accurate measurements, weights, age of item, condition, and so forth.
Even so, I receive a constant stream of email requesting specific information about an item that is already IN the description. For example:
An item is listed with multiple photographs, one of which shows the item being held in somebody's hand, another showing it next to an item for scale reference — like a quarter coin — while the descriptive text itself contains the exact dimensions of the item.
Lo and behold, in comes a message from somebody asking ”what are the dimensions of the thing there you're selling?”
WTF, over?
Are you just completely blind or just plain careless?
Or is it just that you have a pervasive need to hear the sound of your own voice (or keyboard)?
Or can you just not undertake anything at all without starting a conversation with somebody even if that conversation is utterly irrelevant?
Maybe I've just grown intolerant and snippy with age, but I've learned to send very polite replies that I always start with the words ”as it says in the description:” followed by the copied text and a screenshot.
Meanwhile, here in our local town we have a couple of streets that run at 45-degree angles to the rest of our street layout. This creates several situations where making right turns would require a 135-degree turn, basically causing a driver to have to partially double back.
There are clearly posted "NO RIGHT TURN!" signs at these intersections... and yet I see people try to make these illegal turns all the time, usually causing havoc to oncoming traffic because the turn radius puts them outside the appropriate lane.
Hence the "NO RIGHT TURNS!" signs.
I'll admit that it's entirely possible that I'm just not a nice person. After all, we live in an age where most communication takes place in the form of 140 character tweets common so perhaps reading a paragraph long description of something has become too taxing for most brains. If that is the case though, I fear for the future of humanity!
Thanks for reading and have a great remainder of your weekend!
How about YOU? Do you read signs? Or do you generally not pay attention to such things? Do you consider yourself an observant person? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20210619 23:52 PDT
0279/1522