• Firestorm Druid
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        2110 months ago

        Yea, the word isn’t really used these days, and if it’s used, it’s frowned upon. Has a very bad ableist ring to it

        • @[email protected]
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          310 months ago

          I like how a word starts as a technical/medical term for a disability, then it’s used as a slur, then they come up with a new term….repeat. It’s happening now with “learning disability” and “intellectually challenged”.

          Also, as someone with a learning disability, ableism is a big part of my life but people using the word retard in stupid throwaway jokes really doesn’t even register as an issue.

      • Flying SquidM
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        1910 months ago

        I personally would prefer it not be used around here in general. I don’t delete it overall, but I will occasionally depending on its usage. I have known too many good people with intellectual disabilities who were abused by bullies calling them that word.

        • @[email protected]
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          1910 months ago

          People are bullied by a lot of words, stupid, dumb, crazy, ugly, gross. Context of the words used is what matters. Obviously bullying is not acceptable, but a self-deprecating joke is okay.

        • @[email protected]
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          1710 months ago

          Well yeah, context derives meaning which is why words have multiple definitions. I’m not disparaging the differently abled but people’s surface level disdain for it is tedious. Barely a decade ago it was the polite way to characterize someone but we needlessly allow words themselves to be tainted rather than take the time to address the context and the meaning used with it.

          • Flying SquidM
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            810 months ago

            I’m sorry, it was not “the polite way to characterize someone” barely a decade ago. It was a big insult when I was in school in the 80s and 90s.

            • @[email protected]
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              10 months ago

              Sir it was in a Disney show when I was growing up. Yes, it was the polite way to say it. - It quite literally means slow. Fire retardant, for example, slows fires.

          • @[email protected]
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            610 months ago

            Ok but like so are the terms idiot and dumb and moron. We’ve turned them all into insults derived from their original meanings, but that doesn’t mean we should never use the words. Context matters.

          • @[email protected]
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            510 months ago

            Hey, I’ve got a (albeit very minor) mental disability and I use the word casually around friends all the time, but I just want to point out that it’s you and me that are tainting the word, your comment makes it sound like “other” people are the cause of it no longer being a clinical diagnosis rather than an insult.

            That being said it’s definitely falling out of favor in the public eye. It probably won’t be too long before it’s viewed at or close to the same level as the hard R. I think a lot of us are getting cancelled in 20 years.

            • @[email protected]
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              510 months ago

              The only way words become tainted is when they’re used to attack people. Using it for a good natured joke or even self deprecating humor can have a positive effect on it. If we all stopped saying it, the few people who choose not to stop and continue to use it to attack people, like “The hard R word” will be seen as extreme. And as someone who enjoys language, attributing words as the source of hate instead of the people who conjure it gives me great conniptions.

              • @[email protected]
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                610 months ago

                Using it for a good natured joke or even self deprecating humor can have a positive effect on it.

                I really don’t think you’re gonna have many people agreeing with you on this one… it’s hard to say a joke is good natured when it uses a word that defines a group of people as an insult. The context isn’t going to matter to someone with a disability who’s been called a retard maliciously. To use the same example as before, there are plenty of “good natured” people that use the hard R for humor and it pretty much is never gonna land. Or when a gay person hears a straight person say something is gay, they don’t really care how many gay friends you have.

                Just to be clear I’m not trying to tell you not to use it. Like I said before, I’m an asshole and use it with my friends too. But I realize this makes me an asshole, and instead of trying to spread my asshole around (phrasing…) and convince the people I’m offending that they shouldn’t be offended, I keep it to my circle of asshole friends and accept it when people tell me I’m being an asshole.

                As someone who enjoys language, you understand that it changes over time. The time period where “retard” is a word that can be thrown around on a TV show without repercussion is coming to an end, just like the time period where calling gay people fags and black people negro or worse came to an end before. Language is not static, we can try to pretend it is but that’s just not how it works.

                Hope this didn’t come off as a rant or anything. Just trying to give my understanding, one retard to another.

  • kase
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    4910 months ago

    If reception means to receive, then anyone who is given the package (receives it) is by default a receptionist. Therefore, if the delivery person hands the package to anyone, they’ve handed it to a receptionist. /s

    • @[email protected]
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      410 months ago

      But “ist” in this context says that this person does this receiving regularly, likely as a hobby or profession. In which case, OOP would likely know if there was a receptionist that would have taken the package.

      So, I’d probably go with receptioner which is more open to uses in situations where the person acted as receptioner this time, but not necessarily as part of a thing they do regularly.

  • Alien Nathan Edward
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    4510 months ago

    delivery drivers lie all the time. when I was still in a row house, I watched the amazon guy from my window take the same package from door to door, put it down, take a picture, then pick it right back up and take it to the next stop where he did the same thing.

    • @[email protected]
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      2910 months ago

      The ups guy that delivers to my work has been marking every package as signed for by a person who quit 5 years ago… Sometimes on stuff he didn’t even leave at our building…

      • @[email protected]
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        310 months ago

        This kind of shortcut taking is why Uber now has the customer give the driver a code at handoff so the driver can’t just mark it delivered. (This is only when you opt for “deliver directly to me”)

  • LeadersAtWork
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    2310 months ago

    I treat customer service reps with patience, friendliness, and a little bit of awkward humor. Had to activate a phone awhile back and was struggling. Had an issue with one of the steps just not working. It was due to their poorly worded online guide. Customer rep confirmed that this issue does happen, etc etc. Told her “It’s okay. Small issue, we’ll figure it out. You’re not the one responsible, though I really appreciate your help.”

    Rep, "Oh no you’ve been really patient and kind! I am happy to help "

    And she did help. Probably more than she needed to since she wasn’t in the service department at all. I had been transferred to Sales without realizing. So huge props to her on that one.

    • @[email protected]
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      610 months ago

      I try to do this as well. It usually ends up being resolved quickly, as building rapport with the person on the line often leads to them feeling more invested in helping.

      I’m sure it’s a breath of fresh air to have a break from being on the other end of passive aggressiveness, screaming, and other forms of behavior that come from grown adults having tantrums over spilt milk.

  • cum
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    1810 months ago

    3 letters of mass destruction