The List, part deux

Let the vicious (verbal) beatings begin!

1) Charles Rubin. Normally I wouldn't throw a specific (non-celebrity) name out their for all the world and google to read, but this man pissed me off more than any other person who is not my mother ever has before, and I want him to suffer for it. I want anyone who happens to be searching for him or his stupid book to come across this entry and think twice about giving up even the tiniest portion of their time and/or money towards this rude jackass. The asshole was an author who was invited by our grossly incompetent area marketing manager to have do an event in our store this past weekend. His book is directed towards parents dealing with drug-addicted children, which is admirable, but I now believe this man to be too idiotic and insensitive to be helpful at all. He called a few hours beforehand to ask for directions to the store. Ordinarily that would be perfectly acceptable, but he was coming from over an hour and a half away and was already in the car on his way. I may be crazy, but when I'm expected at a certain place by a certain time, I look up the exact route online before I leave, just to make sure that I have adequate time to get there and have more than a vague notion how to get there. Even if for some insane reason you don't have access to the internet, INVEST IN A FUCKING MAP. Those of us who were there didn't know how to get to our store from his location because it's not like his town enters into our daily routine, or that we have regular customers from there. I told him how to get to the store once he hit a certain freeway, (which he claimed to know how to get to) and gave him the very simple directions a minimum of six times. When we couldn't give him the information he wanted, he berated and demeaned us (well mainly me), and from the very beginning his tone was condescendingly rude and spiraled into downright hostility. I'm sorry that I don't have a GPS system implanted in my brain, but I can't magically pull information out of my ass because you were to fucking lazy to do your responsibility. He called several times and the last time he called he claimed that we kept giving different and conflicting directions. I either spoke to him, or was standing next to the person who spoke to him at the time, and we gave him the exact same, simple directions that all employees give at least 5 times a day, and they all seem to get to the store ok. So essentially he either wasn't listening or flat-out lying, either way not desirable attributes for anyone dealing with the thorny issue of drug addiction. I have worked in that store for over two years and I know what I am doing. I am not an incompetent worker like this man said I was, he is an incompetent human being. If you ever come across this man, I strongly encourage you to give him hell.

2)People who plagiarize others words, or just generally take credit for other people's words. Since there seems to be some confusion out there, dictionary.com defines the word plagiarize as: 1)To use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own. 2)To appropriate for use as one's own passages or ideas from (another). Apparently there has been some confusion about whether or not this is wrong. I always thought that this was a given and that people who did it just didn't care, but it is without a doubt wrong in every sense of the word. First of all it is illegal. I know that in this world of digital information and the internet, regulation and enforcement of an individual's material is next to impossible. I'm not sure the internet should be regulated, because I think it's one of the last forums for a free exchange of ideas. But this is not so much about legality, as it is about ethics. A person, the essence of who he or she is, is made up by that persons thoughts, actions, emotions, and words. By taking someone else's words you are stealing, yes stealing, a piece of them and misrepresenting who you are. Also, the act itself of taking someone else's words as your own, is a dishonest and amoral one and reflects poorly on you. I'm not saying you should never reference the works of others, hell that's what research papers are all about, but it's not to difficult to add the words "written by _______ _______" to any piece. I'm not using this space to passively aggressively snipe at intended targets, those in question know how I feel about this, I just wanted to more eloquently put together an argument against this heinous act. As a writer and a (hopefully) moral person, I find the practice of plagiarism both offensive and reprehensible.

3) Everyone responsible for the show "The Swan." Let's send out the message that physical beauty is the key to happiness and then tell them that they aren't good enough! Assholes.

4) Giuliana from E! Just because she annoys me.

5) James Van Der Beek. Just because.