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Why You Never Ask the Designers For a Favor 238

Posted by samzenpus from the no-reward dept.
Usually there is nothing funny about a missing pet, but the tale of Missy the lost cat is hilarious. It serves as an example of just how clueless your fellow employees can be, and why you should never ask the designers to drop what they're doing, and help with a personal matter.
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Why You Never Ask the Designers For a Favor More

Why You Never Ask the Designers For a Favor

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  • Link to the original (Score:5, Informative)

    by Petersko ( 564140 ) on Monday July 26, 2010 @12:05PM (#33032558)
    I think this might be the original - why not start there? There are some other articles that are funny as well.

    http://www.27bslash6.com/missy.html [27bslash6.com]

  • Stolen content? (Score:5, Informative)

    by GoNINzo ( 32266 ) <<moc.oohay> <ta> <ozNINoG>> on Monday July 26, 2010 @12:06PM (#33032574) Journal
    Why did you post this link to a bunch of stolen content?

    The original source is 27bslash6.com, which is David Thorne's website. Which is awesome.

  • Look at his first reply, about the cat possibly being lying injured somewhere - what a pointlessy cruel and horrible thing to say. The owner of the cat is most likely upset enough without this moron winding her up with a comment along the lines of "oh hahaha isn't it funny, your cat is probably lying hurt and needing help lol". No, it's not funny.
    I get the idea that he's trying to hit back at people trying to "waste his time" by asking him to do freebies. So, why did he waste over a day tormenting the ow

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      So, why did he waste over a day tormenting the owner of the missing cat?

      Its a fucking cat.

      She could have easily made her own poster at the copy shop/photocopier she was going to use anyway.

      He should have done a poster showing how Missy might look now after being run over, made into chineese food, mangled by a stray dog etc.

    • What a noxious little prick.

      This should not have been modded as troll.

      There's a difference between "I want something for free" and "HELP a beloved pet is missing!!"

      • No, there isn't a difference between, "I want something for free", and "I want something for free because it's really really important.". The problem with this reasoning is that for some people, the barrier for really, really important is set really, really low.

        I agree that the GP shouldn't have been modded troll though, not because it's true, but because it looks like a heartfelt sentiment.

        • The problem with this reasoning is that for some people, the barrier for really, really important is set really, really low.

          It was reasonable of her to ask.

    • The idiot in the exchange is more likely a smug IT sociopath who fancies himself a "designer" because he's the only wonk in his small dysfunctional company with the cracked copy of Photoshop and the free time on endless weekends home alone to spend learning enough about it not to electrocute himself when scaling a photograph.

      He's a mechanic, at best. He clearly lacks the grace to be a legit professional designer.

      • learning enough about it not to electrocute himself when scaling a photograph.

        Somebody is doing something very, very wrong here.

        Let me guess, you use GIMP.

        • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

          by tumutbound ( 549414 )

          learning enough about it not to electrocute himself when scaling a photograph.

          Somebody is doing something very, very wrong here. Let me guess, you use GIMP.

          Shows how much YOU know! gimp is battery powered and is completely safe.

          • I don't know about that man, some batteries are pretty heavy.

            Drop one of those things on your foot while you're trying to invert the color palette, and you might be off for some serious worker's compensation claims.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by nomadic ( 141991 )
        The idiot in the exchange is more likely a smug IT sociopath who fancies himself a "designer" because he's the only wonk in his small dysfunctional company with the cracked copy of Photoshop and the free time on endless weekends home alone to spend learning enough about it not to electrocute himself when scaling a photograph.

        Why would an IT guy pretend to be a graphics designer? My impression was in the business world graphics designers are pretty much low men/women on the totem pole. The secretary pro

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rcamans ( 252182 )

      Actually, he is a TOXIC prick.
      Danger, poisonous, avoid at all cost.

    • You are not thinking long-term. He didn't waste his time. He prevented her, and the dozens of others she will whine about him to, from ever even thinking about wasting his time in the future. Remember, a little bit of effort put into being an asshole now can save countless hours of people bothering you in the future!

  • A new thing on the internet! (Score:3, Funny)

    by by (1706743) ( 1706744 ) on Monday July 26, 2010 @12:15PM (#33032742)
    Speaking of which, check out this awesome All Your Base Flash video! [scene.org]

    Things they have in common: I've seen them both before Slashdot enlightened me...

  • "This is the only photo of her I have she answers to the name Missy and is black and white and about 8 months old."

    Cats don't answer to names.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ronocdh ( 906309 )

      "This is the only photo of her I have she answers to the name Missy and is black and white and about 8 months old."

      Cats don't answer to names.

      While I'm sure you're joking, cats actually do tend to respond well to sibilant names. So in this case, "Missy" is a name a cat is likely to respond to.

      Googling around at work didn't yield any articles that were both in support of my claim and cited other sources, so you'll have to perform the research yourself. I've had many cats over the years, and this seems like a reasonable observation to me. A good relationship with your cat and reasonable training usually means the cat will respond to whatever its na

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by GooberToo ( 74388 )

        Actually, both dogs and cats have shown to respond to rather large human vocabularies. The average dog, on average, is smarter than the average cat. Just the same there are plentiful examples of the smarter than average dog or cat be considerably more so. Furthermore, recent research indicates the average dog is smarter than a three year old human and cats somewhere around a two year old.

        Even a visit to YouTube can show you that not only do cats hear phonetics, its possible for them to push their vocal rang

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by yoyhed ( 651244 )
      You've obviously never owned a cat. I can sit there talking at my cat loudly while he's sleeping (I know, I know - what the hell is wrong with me?), and he won't move or open his eyes at all. The second I say "Norman", even quietly, his head perks up and he looks at me. I know it's just the combination of sounds that he's used to hearing, being associated with me petting or feeding him - but he definitely answers to it, sometimes with a MOW.

      • Actually, in my life, I've lived with a good 12-15 cats, and it really does boil down to the cat and the owner.

        The two that are entrusted to me now couldn't be more different. One is unbelievably affectionate, actually will come when called (and very often when NOT called...), a talker.

        The other's a loner, very quiet, never comes when called (in fact, seems to take a delite in ignoring me) but will, on occassion, saunter over for attention (but only when SHE wants it.)

        (I was, for the record, just trying fo

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by yoyhed ( 651244 )
          Ha - sounds like the two extremes of cat personalities. I stand corrected. I prefer the first type (same kind I have), except when I'm trying to sleep - he craves attention, i.e. sitting on the face of sleeping people.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Chysn ( 898420 )
      I figured it was a fake based on the content, but the subject lines recursively adding "Re:", like "Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster" clinched it. My cat does look at me with utter disinterest when I call her name.

      • If someone walked up to you at work and called out "marvin!" despite that not being your name, would you give it more than a passing glance? No? Ok, let's move on. Try this next time you see your cat: say name, offer treat. Wait 5 minutes and repeat, alternate between treat and petting or playing with a toy. Any animal with ears and an attention span can learn a "name" if provided with the right motivation. Did you expect your cat to be attached to you for the scintillating conversations the two of y

    • Cats don't answer to names.

      Some definitely react when you say their name, some cats come trotting over when you call them.

      Whether it's that they identify with the word and know you're talking about them, or they merely associate you saying that word with you giving them food or attention and as a consequence of that become more alert, or they just notice the tone of voice and you looking at them, I don't know. Animal behavior is often difficult to understand. Most cats don't seem to do that in my experience.

      I'm not skeptical that s

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Tridus ( 79566 )

        I have two cats. One of them doesn't respond to her name (she went through multiple owners before we got her and I think each one called her something else).

        The other one we've had most of his life, and he'll come running down the stairs from the top floor if you say his name.

        So, it seems to depend on the cat, and most likely how strong their association is between the name and something good (feeding).

    • Really?

      I have 7 cats

      Ruby
      Jake
      Fuzz
      Alice
      Bug
      Patches
      JJ
      and they all answer to their name. Now 50% of the time they could care less about interacting with you if they are in some king of search/investigative/attack mode. But if they are not in those modes they do react to their names and only to their names, other cats will not respond to a different cats name. DO they actually think its their name? Well probably not but I'm sure the sound of each name could be a meow sound specific to their own ears.

  • Holy crap, two people that are perfect together (Score:4, Informative)

    by jeffmeden ( 135043 ) on Monday July 26, 2010 @12:25PM (#33032916) Homepage Journal

    Despite being incredibly funny (to the point of an uncomfortably loud outburst in an otherwise quiet office) I have to think that those two would make quite the couple. She didn't seem to badger the designer about the poster, she sent just one brief email that he could have ignored as easily as he no doubt ignores all the others. Although it was a project that would take a complete amateur no more than 5 minutes to perfect in MS Word, and a "pro" probably 10 minutes out of insistence on plodding through Frame Maker or Illustrator to achieve the same thing, the designer is understandably upset that his workload is going up. Good thing he decided to carry out 5 design projects, all off-spec, in order to spite her for asking for one very simple thing.

    Those two should hook up already.

  • Meh (Score:2)

    by jythie ( 914043 )
    While I am guessing that this exchange is made up... it is a good illustration of why I someday hope to get out of the computer industry. While I love the work, I have encountered way to many people like this fictional designer that relish the fact that they are in a sufficient position of power to be asshats to those around them. I know the basic behavior is pretty universal, but it seems to be worst in technical fields..
    • If you have an aversion to assholes, what are you doing reading slashdot?!?

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by jd ( 1658 )

        Because there are at least five highly intelligent people here, and the several hundred who have listed me as friend must have some willingness to listen to unorthodox opinions that almost certainly differ from their own.

        Now, admittedly, the readership of Slashdot is closer to 100,000, making the percentage of potentially civilized people rather small in comparison.

        However, given that you could only half-fill a remote Alpine village with all the truly civilized, courteous yet self-respecting, intelligent pe

        • Perhaps, as in Dinner for Schmucks, we just keep people with "unorthodox opinions" around for sheer amusement value? ;-)

          Look, people (myself included) are jerks that almost always fail to consider the effect their actions have on others before acting. The signal to noise ratio is abysmal on the internet, and only marginally better on slashdot. You either get used to dealing with sociopaths, or you just stay away from them. But whining about them accomplishes nothing.

          People don't think before they speak

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jd ( 1658 )

            One of the reasons my posts tend to be long (and slow to type) is that I try to keep the communication as clear as I can, within the limits of my ability. (And my former English teachers would tell you exactly how limited they thought that ability to be.) A major reason I stick with Slashdot is that even if I am kept around as the modern version of the court jester, I am tolerated and can even persuade myself that people appreciate my views here. That simply is not, and never has been, the case anywhere els

    • It's not really asshats as much as the people around them feel as though they're entitled to free tech support for their computer woes just because they know someone who can do it.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Darinbob ( 1142669 )
        No, in this fictional story, the asshat is clearly the villain of the piece.

        When I first read it awhile back, that's what I thought was the intent. The "haha, let's make fun of the idiot graphical designer" story sort of fell apart when I read his other stories, which seemed to be more about "I'll prove how cool I am by pranking other people."

    • To be fair, I think that computer-centric people tend to get asked for free work more often that most other professions. Probably for two reasons:
      1. It usually involves minimal physical labor, which people are less likely to expect for free.
      2. Many people apparently think doing anything on the computer requires but a few mouse clicks before the machine does all the work for you.

      The correct response to this is not being an asshole, but still, I can understand the urge to be impolite.

      • To be fair, I think that computer-centric people tend to get asked for free work more often that most other professions

        Apparently you have never owned a truck.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by bsDaemon ( 87307 )

          step 1) buy truck

          step 2) move into neighborhood mostly populated by off-campus college students

          step 3) girl: "hey, can you help me move?"

          step 4) profit.

  • It's a joke! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 91degrees ( 207121 ) on Monday July 26, 2010 @12:34PM (#33033094) Journal
    People who are taking this seriously - Do you really believe that someone snowed under with work would spend so long composing email responses, or spend so much of his time putting together silly posters?

    Do you really think that the woman asking wouldn't have got the hint and done it herself? Or even if she didn't, she might have talked to someone else who would have explained things?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Divide By Zero ( 70303 )
      What, next thing you're going to tell me is the Bastard Operator from Hell never existed! Bollocks! Hogwash! I refuse to believe it, Fellow Internetizen.

    • Yes (Score:3, Informative)

      by Sycraft-fu ( 314770 )

      It is amazing the amount of time assholes will spend on being assholes. They can be pressed for time to get their work done, yet find plenty of time to be dicks to people since they take pleasure from it.

      Now this doesn't mean that this case isn't made up, but I could certainly see it being real. It follows asshole logic (such as it were) perfectly:

      --Spend 10 minutes helping you: WASTE of time! How could I waste so much time on something that gets me nothing when I'm so busy!

      --Spend 2 hours making your mise

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gknoy ( 899301 )

      Do you really believe that someone snowed under with work would spend so long composing email responses, or spend so much of his time putting together silly posters?

      It's quite possible that he wasn't super-busy at the time, but had in the past been frequently pestered by her (and others) for graphic design "favors". She could have spent 5 (or 2) minutes in Word and made her own, and instead decided to waste his time. So, being a complete dick to her (if it's not fiction) sends the message that not only is

  • you should always follow these three rules of business:

    1) Never let a web designer design your web page (or in this case, a designer design your missing cat poster)

    2) Never let a developer develop your software

    3) Never hire an MBA to run your company

    • Re:And thus why... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Fnkmaster ( 89084 ) on Monday July 26, 2010 @01:22PM (#33034056)

      Clearly, you should hire an MBA to write your software, a developer to design your web page, and a designer to run your company. Then all will be right in the world.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by igaborf ( 69869 )

        Clearly, you should hire an MBA to write your software, a developer to design your web page, and a designer to run your company. Then all will be right in the world.

        Fnkmaster, do you work at my company? Cuz' that's pretty much what we gots here.

  • Sorry, but last month called. It wants its old meme back.

  • Fiction? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by oldmac31310 ( 1845668 )
    I assumed that this was fiction based on the kind of things that do happen in real life and then exaggerated to humourous effect. Are we supposed to think this really happened and that the Thorne guy really delights in being so nasty to stupid people? Who in reality would waste so much time on something like this?
  • Speak of the devil. I edited down the copy a co-worker gave me for their lost-cat flyer one lunchtime back in 1999.

    Just 3 words in the headline big (a short description of the cat in very very small type) and his phone number. LOOKING FOR PUSSY.

    He got 10 angry phone calls in 20 minutes and got the cat in less than an hour - I shit you not. Effective advertising works.

  • What? (Score:3, Funny)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Monday July 26, 2010 @02:37PM (#33035374)

    No 'milk carton' missing photo?

    Or a '404: Missing Cat' poster?

  • To the very first email his response contains this sentence: "I am surprised you managed to attend work at all what with thinking about Missy out there cold, frightened and alone... possibly lying on the side of the road, her back legs squashed by a vehicle, calling out "Shannon, where are you?"

    Yes, she was a bit silly to engage with an obvious asshole. I wonder if at some time in the future he has a daughter who is late and not home, and the ultimate irony, she had gone out with her friend, the daughter

  • I'll just link a few nuggets from the site (Score:3, Funny)

    by obarthelemy ( 160321 ) on Monday July 26, 2010 @07:34PM (#33038822)

    so you can get the gist. Once again, the site is http://www.27bslash6.com/ [27bslash6.com] , I personally like it, but not everyone will, or should.

    ___________
    Riddick
    While watching the movie 'Chronicles of Riddick' together last night, my offspring stated that he wished Riddick was his dad. When I asked why, he replied that Riddick is good looking, has muscles and is a good fighter. I told him that I wished Matthew (his arch-enemy at school) was my son because he is better at maths and has cool hair.
    ___________
    One thousand characters
    Writing rubbish on the internet amuses me a lot. There is often a limit of 1000 characters per post so every story (including punctuation, spaces, introduction, proposal, argument and punch line) has to be within a small paragraph.
    Sometimes I just write nonsense and other times I write something rather insensitive to evoke angry responses.
    When I was just fourteen, I was given the task of drowning kittens by my girlfriend's mother. I filled a large laundry sink with room temperature water and held the eight kittens under. As each kitten died and sank to the bottom, it turned and rested 'snuggled' to the previous. I put them in a garbage bag and was carrying it out when the bag moved and I heard a meow. I opened the bag and found one kitten had survived. So I drowned it again.
    And that is an exact one thousand.
    ____________
    Also, don't miss the Chatroulette one: http://www.27bslash6.com/chat.html [27bslash6.com]

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