Daily Gripe

Hello, my name is Stu. Today my gripe is with men who sport 'mutant eyebrow hairs'. There should be a law against men (usually past 40) being seen in public with this disgusting display. The hairs curl and spiral upward toward the receding hairline like a coiled rattlesnake. Do these offenders ever look in the mirror and notice this abnormal affliction? Do these men not have a loved one to pluck out these rampant wayward aberrations?

At least they could be gelled or slicked down. That leads to other disturbing hair trends like the grandaddy bikers who braid their long scraggly grey beards. A fashion faux for sure. Don't even get a close look at those ear lobes.

After a certain age every man should go to a hair removal expert and get a weekly check-up on the mutant eyebrow hairs. I've recently seen a few old men who have Don King eyebrows. If men choose to shave their heads can they take it a step further and shave their eyebrows? It puts the rest of us in a bad light.


Respectfully,

Mr. Pid

Daily Gripe

Hello, my name is Stu. Today my gripe is with LOW baggers. Usually this only happens at the grocery store but occasionally it does happen at other stores. Baggers in general are a very friendly, talkative group of individuals. Perhaps that is the problem - they are so busy trying to make us happy (so we ignore the prices) that they forget their main mission. Bag the groceries effectively.

We certainly do not want to cross contaminate our red meat with our raw chicken and a box of macaroni and cheese. So they put each item in its very own bag. Then, we have 15 bags to carry to the car, carry in the house and then dispose of them.

Sometimes I catch them and ask to put more items in one bag and I get the LOOK. All big items I try to place in the cart (after they have been rung up) but I get in trouble because they do not have the PAID sticker attached.

I have decided that low baggers are making my life too stressful so I have purchased environmentally safe and reusable bags. No more will the bagger have to carry on their 'happy' conversation. I will just give them my earth friendly bags - tell them to 'fill-em-up' and be on my way. I do need to keep my earth friendly/reusable bags in the car.

Daily Gripe

Hello, my name is Stu. Today my gripe is with cell-phone customer service. I saw charges for text-messaging on my cell bill. Do I EVER text-message? NO. Do I have teenagers in the house? YES.

I try to go online and find a way to communicate but that seems impossible. So I call customer service. They put you through the phase - press 1 for English, etc. Then you listen to a mechanical alien who tells you to speak the question. Ms. Alien comes back with -"I don't understand that question?"

After many more button pushes I hear a ring tone - and then music. "You have called at peak time. Your hold time will be less than 20 minutes."
When is off peak time? Finally !!!! a human comes on the line.
"We're sorry but the system is down please call back in 15 minutes." Maybe it wasn't human.

Call number 2 - Same scenario - button pushing. Then music - bad elevator music. Then dead silence. I've been disconnected.

Call number 3 - Same scenario - button pushing. Then a person comes on with an accent from hell. Do I understand anything she says? NO. I hang up and call again.

Call number 4 - Same scenario - button pushing with my lack of patience transparent. A person comes on and I believe she has just visited the dentist and the Novocaine has not worn off. Her words are questionable. I constantly ask her to repeat what she is asking.

I tell her I want the text-messaging on my phone blocked. Seems odd I never asked for it to begin with but apparently I have it and someone is using it. To remove certain services you have to call and asked for those services to be blocked even though you didn't know they were there.

I wonder what charges will be on my bill next month.

Daily Gripe

Hello, my name is Stu. Today my gripe is with people who smoke and toss their cigarette butts on the ground. Not only is this disgusting it's also littering. The other day I was at a local park attending a children's birthday party. The area was right next to a great play space. The kids could play but were within a few feet of watchful eyes.

There was this young lady at the park (not attending the party) and she had two small children. She was smoking away like a chimney. Right there in a children's play area with two of her own children. That in itself was bad enough. At one point I saw her toss the cigarette but right on the lawn near the picnic tables where the festivities were taking place. Was she annoyed because she was not invited to the party?

First and formost, one of the children could have stepped on the still burning butt. Second it was rude and it's littering. Why do smokers feel they have the right to toss their trash on the earth? If you choose to smoke that's fine but clean up after yourself and be responsible.

My mission for you - walk down any street or in front of your house (I constantly find butts tossed on my driveway) and count how many discarded cigarette butts you can find. Our watch the number of drivers who toss their cigarette butts out the window. It's amazing and disturbing. How will we ever save the earth with attitudes like this?

Concerned,

Mr. Pid

Daily Gripe

Hello, my name is Stu. Today my gripe is with those who feel that the rules DO NOT apply to them. The dog leash rule - states you must have your pet on a leash and be in control of that pet. A leash could be a rope, a real leash or a shoelace. It helps you keep your animal or dog away from harm and keeps your animal away from other animals that may harm your pet. It also keeps your dog from running at me while I am on my bike causing me to fall and and break a bone. That's another gripe.

A few days ago in the paper a women is shown weeping over the loss of her dog. She is devastated and I understand the pain involved with the loss of a pet. This woman from Tampa lets her little dog run wild and unleashed. Is this a responsible pet owner? NO! Once again the dog could be harmed and so could other animals or people. How many times have I slammed on my brakes when a dog runs in front of my vehicle? How many dead animals have you seen along a highway? Were any of them under complete control of their owner? No. Animals and dogs will be animals and dogs and do stuff they shouldn't.

While this woman is letting her little dog run free and wild in a park near a pond (were in Florida here) you can imagine what happened. Ponds in Florida are filled with gators. Normally they do not bother anyone. Let me tell you if I'm a gator and this tasty little bite comes dashing into my territory - I'm going for it. And that is just what the gator did. Unfortunately for the unsupervised little dog he lost his life. Was it the gator's fault? NO!! Let's put the blame in the correct place. The pet owner did not take responsibility for her dog.

Now, the gator has been captured and most likely will be destroyed. His meat will be sent to some eatery for gator bites and his skin will be made into cowboy boots. All of this because that woman does not follow the rules. I am sorry you lost your dog but take responsibility for the action. Alligators are wild animals - they hunt to eat and are territorial.

We have leash laws for a reason. Obey the rules and stop blaming others.

with deep regrets,

Mr. Pid

Daily Gripe

Hello, my name is Stu. Today my gripe is with those that can't read good and drive. Here's a huge hint even if you can't read good. That big red sign with the letters STOP on it - that means slam you foot on the brake pedal. First you must remove your foot from the gas pedal. Then, after the car comes to a semi stop look around for other cars. If you see a big red sign with the word STOP-4 ways - it is important to really slam your foot on the brake pedal and let a few cars go before you speed through.

So in a nutshell that is what that big red sign with the letters STOP painted on it means. It's not graffito, a post to dance on or a meeting place for potentail customers. It's specifically placed in that location for vehicles to come to a complete lack of movement. I know it looks like a place for target practice but that's just a myth or an optical illusion.

So a few pointers for yaall. Big, red, metal sometimes containing bullet holes with the words STOP painted on it - means STOP the vehicle. If you've ever read 'Hop on Pop' this word rhymes with them. STOP.

Truly amazed,

Mr. Pid

Daily Gripe

Hello, my name is Stu. Today my gripe is with Florida justice or lack thereof. I am sickened every time I watch the video of the disabled man being DUMPED from his wheelchair -FACE FIRST onto the hard floor. This act was from one of our trusted law enforcement officers. How incredible we allow people like this to serve us or in this case abuse us.

This man is a quadraplegic and she demanded that he stand so she could search him? When he said he could not stand she DUMPED him out. This is one of the most disgusting vile acts I have seen lately. We had the young boy at boot camp that was beaten to death, once again caught on video. We tasered the student who spoke out at a rally. We lose foster children and let many of them succumb to horrific deaths.

Does Florida care so little about humanity that they let the keepers abuse and kill us? Where are we safe? How do these people get hired in the first place? And WHY do their supervisor stand by them and laugh at the situation? Do you get bonus points for your cruelty? Do you get comp time for your uncaring attitude? My suggestion is - let's trade places with you for a day. How would you like the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness?

The Hillborough County Police department should be ashamed of themselves.