Minor things that bother you

[Scott5114]

Tongue in cheek: We have all these "First National" banks, why not a "Last National" bank?

And why do you never see one called "Twenty-eighth National"?

So the story here is that a National Bank is a bank that has its charter through the federal government, rather than the state government. National Banks were a big deal before the Federal Reserve System was established, because they served basically the same purpose FRBs do now, just split across thousands of banks. (This ended up not working well, which is why we got the Federal Reserve System.) The first bank in a town to get a national charter would often go by the name "First National Bank of Quindaro" (or whatever town), I guess because being the first one in town was impressive or something. Being the second or third was less impressive, so they'd usually get named something else. Not always, but usually.

Now, you might be asking, okay, but what was the first first national bank? As it turns out, the federal charters had serial numbers, and Charter No. 1 was issued to...the First National Bank of Philadelphia. (Maybe they chose their name because they were truly the first national bank, and everyone else copied their name?) The First National Bank of Philadelphia, through a series of mergers and acquisitions, is now known as Wells Fargo, which still carries Federal Charter No. 1 to this day.

[formulanone]

Quite topically, the fact people think an airline would put an unqualified pilot in the captain seat in the name of DEI. Essentially risking its entire existence should there be a crash. No chance.

Literally one of the few jobs where you have to prove yourself to other professionals with simulator training at a minimum of every 6-12 months, and with multiple simulation failures equalling complete dismissal and pretty much lifetime disqualification.

But nope, people with nothing to lose with truth and more to gain with lies just get to keep plugging away with valueless opinions.

[Rothman]

I've had a couple of these this winter, and one of them was from Indiana. I sent a reply and told them I've never been there before, let alone been on your toll roads.

By sending a reply, you've informed the scammer that your information is valid.

Never reply to a scammer.

*shrug*

I've replied to text scams with little consequence.  Have no idea who actually takes them up on their loan terms.  Always double the amount and halve the rate.  They go find someone else.

[wanderer2575]

There is a 5th 3rd bank

Which resulted from the merger of 5th bank with 3rd bank; maybe 5th was larger so got the first billing. Another legend is that it happened in Prohibition, and 3rd 5th Bank might give the indication of three 5ths of liquor.

The Fifth National Bank indeed was the larger when it merged with the Third National Bank in 1906.  One pundit has suggested they could have averaged it out instead and called themselves the Fourth Bank.  However, said pundit also held by the legend that the late Clem Buenger, former chairman of Fifth Third, used to say the name had been chosen because management didn't want to raise the wrath of the anti-alcohol crowd if the bank were named Third Fifth.

[hotdogPi]

Star ratings meaning different things.

Let's take 4.8 out of 5, for example, which is the rating of the Airbnb I'm looking at for a trip next month.

I believe this is above average, although not overwhelmingly so.

For Google Reviews, 4.8 would be absolutely excellent.

For Uber, 4.8 would be on the slightly low side for a passenger and very low for a driver.

[DTComposer]

Star ratings meaning different things.

Let's take 4.8 out of 5, for example, which is the rating of the Airbnb I'm looking at for a trip next month.

I believe this is above average, although not overwhelmingly so.

For Google Reviews, 4.8 would be absolutely excellent.

For Uber, 4.8 would be on the slightly low side for a passenger and very low for a driver.

In many people's minds, "average" has become "bad" when it should be "neutral." Did my driver arrive on schedule, were they pleasant in demeanor, did they get me to my destination efficiently and without incident? That should be the "average" Uber trip, and should get three stars. If I stepped out of my Uber and said, "wow, that was AWESOME!" - that should be five stars.

Even in the NBA's dunk contest last weekend, the ratings went from 40 to 50. One player missed all of his attempts on one round, and got a 40. Why wouldn't that be a 0?

[Big John]

Star ratings meaning different things.

Let's take 4.8 out of 5, for example, which is the rating of the Airbnb I'm looking at for a trip next month.

I believe this is above average, although not overwhelmingly so.

For Google Reviews, 4.8 would be absolutely excellent.

For Uber, 4.8 would be on the slightly low side for a passenger and very low for a driver.

In many people's minds, "average" has become "bad" when it should be "neutral." Did my driver arrive on schedule, were they pleasant in demeanor, did they get me to my destination efficiently and without incident? That should be the "average" Uber trip, and should get three stars. If I stepped out of my Uber and said, "wow, that was AWESOME!" - that should be five stars.

Even in the NBA's dunk contest last weekend, the ratings went from 40 to 50. One player missed all of his attempts on one round, and got a 40. Why wouldn't that be a 0?

Then you have companies asking for reviews of how they did either on a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. Then the individual store will tell you than any rating lower than the top possible score will be considered a "failure" by corporate and sanctions could result.

[Max Rockatansky]

Star ratings meaning different things.

Let's take 4.8 out of 5, for example, which is the rating of the Airbnb I'm looking at for a trip next month.

I believe this is above average, although not overwhelmingly so.

For Google Reviews, 4.8 would be absolutely excellent.

For Uber, 4.8 would be on the slightly low side for a passenger and very low for a driver.

In many people's minds, "average" has become "bad" when it should be "neutral." Did my driver arrive on schedule, were they pleasant in demeanor, did they get me to my destination efficiently and without incident? That should be the "average" Uber trip, and should get three stars. If I stepped out of my Uber and said, "wow, that was AWESOME!" - that should be five stars.

Even in the NBA's dunk contest last weekend, the ratings went from 40 to 50. One player missed all of his attempts on one round, and got a 40. Why wouldn't that be a 0?

Then you have companies asking for reviews of how they did either on a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. Then the individual store will tell you than any rating lower than the top possible score will be considered a "failure" by corporate and sanctions could result.

That's how it works with automotive service departments.  Most service advisors nowadays try to spell it out clearly that anything but a 10 is a failure. 

Then again, I stopped caring about filling out customer reviews a long time ago.  That is more my wife's thing.

[SEWIGuy]

Did my driver arrive on schedule, were they pleasant in demeanor, did they get me to my destination efficiently and without incident? That should be the "average" Uber trip, and should get three stars.

Nah, I'm giving them 5 stars for that. And a nice tip.

[kurumi]

Did my driver arrive on schedule, were they pleasant in demeanor, did they get me to my destination efficiently and without incident? That should be the "average" Uber trip, and should get three stars.

Nah, I'm giving them 5 stars for that. And a nice tip.

Agreed. That's all I'm asking for. Fully satisfied. I'm not going to effectively penalize the driver for that.

[Scott5114]

The problem is that if "arrived on schedule, pleasant demeanor, got me to destination efficiently and without incident" is 5/5 stars, then that would be in the same category as "I had a heart attack in the car and the driver pulled over, gave me CPR, then drove me to the hospital, using the sidewalk as an additional lane as needed, then picked my wife up from work and brought her there too, and didn't charge for any of it". That seems...not right.

Of course people can't correct the system because corporate will beat people with whips if they get 3 stars, so we're stuck with it, but...

[SEWIGuy]

The problem is that if "arrived on schedule, pleasant demeanor, got me to destination efficiently and without incident" is 5/5 stars, then that would be in the same category as "I had a heart attack in the car and the driver pulled over, gave me CPR, then drove me to the hospital, using the sidewalk as an additional lane as needed, then picked my wife up from work and brought her there too, and didn't charge for any of it". That seems...not right.

Of course people can't correct the system because corporate will beat people with whips if they get 3 stars, so we're stuck with it, but...

I judge them completely on the standard service I expect.

[GaryV]

The problem is that if "arrived on schedule, pleasant demeanor, got me to destination efficiently and without incident" is 5/5 stars, then that would be in the same category as "I had a heart attack in the car and the driver pulled over, gave me CPR, then drove me to the hospital, using the sidewalk as an additional lane as needed, then picked my wife up from work and brought her there too, and didn't charge for any of it". That seems...not right.

Of course people can't correct the system because corporate will beat people with whips if they get 3 stars, so we're stuck with it, but...

I saw a meme that said, "Dr X saved my life!" with a rating of 4 stars. Dr X said,
"I wonder what I need to do to get that 5th star?"

[kkt]

Star ratings meaning different things.

Let's take 4.8 out of 5, for example, which is the rating of the Airbnb I'm looking at for a trip next month.

I believe this is above average, although not overwhelmingly so.

For Google Reviews, 4.8 would be absolutely excellent.

For Uber, 4.8 would be on the slightly low side for a passenger and very low for a driver.

In many people's minds, "average" has become "bad" when it should be "neutral." Did my driver arrive on schedule, were they pleasant in demeanor, did they get me to my destination efficiently and without incident? That should be the "average" Uber trip, and should get three stars. If I stepped out of my Uber and said, "wow, that was AWESOME!" - that should be five stars.

Even in the NBA's dunk contest last weekend, the ratings went from 40 to 50. One player missed all of his attempts on one round, and got a 40. Why wouldn't that be a 0?

Reviews from Lake Wobegone, where every single Uber trip is above average.

[Scott5114]

The problem is that if "arrived on schedule, pleasant demeanor, got me to destination efficiently and without incident" is 5/5 stars, then that would be in the same category as "I had a heart attack in the car and the driver pulled over, gave me CPR, then drove me to the hospital, using the sidewalk as an additional lane as needed, then picked my wife up from work and brought her there too, and didn't charge for any of it". That seems...not right.

Of course people can't correct the system because corporate will beat people with whips if they get 3 stars, so we're stuck with it, but...

I judge them completely on the standard service I expect.

Then there's no incentive to do anything above standard...

[SEWIGuy]

The problem is that if "arrived on schedule, pleasant demeanor, got me to destination efficiently and without incident" is 5/5 stars, then that would be in the same category as "I had a heart attack in the car and the driver pulled over, gave me CPR, then drove me to the hospital, using the sidewalk as an additional lane as needed, then picked my wife up from work and brought her there too, and didn't charge for any of it". That seems...not right.

Of course people can't correct the system because corporate will beat people with whips if they get 3 stars, so we're stuck with it, but...

I judge them completely on the standard service I expect.

Then there's no incentive to do anything above standard...

Which is fine. I don't need them to.

[kphoger]

In many people's minds, "average" has become "bad" when it should be "neutral." Did my driver arrive on schedule, were they pleasant in demeanor, did they get me to my destination efficiently and without incident? That should be the "average" Uber trip, and should get three stars.

I have serious doubts that the average experience ticks all of the boxes.  Unless 100% of Uber drivers arrive on time, an on-time arrival is not average.  Unless 100% of Uber drivers have a pleasant demeanor, a pleasant demeanor is not average.  Unless 100% of trips go without incident, ... you get the idea.

[kphoger]

Maybe I mentioned this at some point, but the site's search feature is garbage now, so...

When I print something at work, after it's done printing, three little plastic fingers clamp down on the sheet I just printed for a couple of seconds, as if to tell me "Uh-uh, not yet, patience is a virtue".  Like, no, thank you, I'll take my document now.

[mgk920]

IMHO, Drake was much better before he went 'hard core'.

Mike

[Rothman]

IMHO, Drake was much better before he went 'hard core'.

Mike

Drake always sucked.

[Max Rockatansky]

[Big John]

You like their rival Northern Iowa?

[webny99]

Star ratings meaning different things.

Let's take 4.8 out of 5, for example, which is the rating of the Airbnb I'm looking at for a trip next month.

I believe this is above average, although not overwhelmingly so.

For Google Reviews, 4.8 would be absolutely excellent.

But to your point, 4.8 means different things even within Google reviews. 4.8 may be excellent for a restaurant. But for a park (for example), 4.8 is usually pretty solid - worth a visit, but not necessarily excellent. It also depends on the number of reviews, as small sample size can skew ratings significantly.

[ZLoth]

Here is what bothers me... I thought I had lost my Tozo Noise Cancelling earbuds after a trip last Sunday. So, I ended up ordering some better Soundcore Noise Cancelling earbuds where are somewhat better after I searched everywhere for them. A day after I receive the new earbuds, I find my old ones hiding behind some brown furniture on a brown-colored floor.

[kphoger]

By sending a reply, you've informed the scammer that your information is valid.

Never reply to a scammer.

Businesses hate people like you.

Businesses hate people who don't reply to scammers?