NationStates Jolt Archive

I was thinking about this question today:
Yesterday a bought a pair of shoes from a shop. I asked an assistant to try on a pair of size tens, the shoes the girl gave me fitted, so I said I'll buy them. At the till to woman there went to confirm that I was buying a size eight, I said no I was buying a size ten, so she went and got a size ten. I took my shoes home and found that they were far too big, obviously I had tried on a size eight thinking that they were tens. This meant that I had to go back into town to exchange them.
Later I told this tale to a friend, they said to me that they would have been rage-ing at the woman in the shop, and that they would have demanded a discount saying that the stupid assistant should have got the size right first time.
This reaction made me think, is it acceptable to blame stupid people for doing stupid things. I can't imagine berating the poor girl about a genuine mistake is going to do any good; and surely we must expect the less intelligent to do less intelligent things. Blaming a stupid person for a mistake is like blaming a dodo for being flightless, neither can help it.
Any opinions?

I was thinking about this question today:
Yesterday a bought a pair of shoes from a shop. I asked an assistant to try on a pair of size tens, the shoes the girl gave me fitted, so I said I'll buy them. At the till to woman there went to confirm that I was buying a size eight, I said no I was buying a size ten, so she went and got a size ten. I took my shoes home and found that they were far too big, obviously I had tried on a size eight thinking that they were tens. This meant that I had to go back into town to exchange them.
Later I told this tale to a friend, they said to me that they would have been rage-ing at the woman in the shop, and that they would have demanded a discount saying that the stupid assistant should have got the size right first time.
This reaction made me think, is it acceptable to blame stupid people for doing stupid things. I can't imagine berating the poor girl about a genuine mistake is going to do any good; and surely we must expect the less intelligent to do less intelligent things. Blaming a stupid person for a mistake is like blaming a dodo for being flightless, neither can help it.
Any opinions?

No, you can't BLAME a stupid person for being stupid but I believe you should be allowed to treat them in a discriminatory fashion. Otherwise you'd end up with people who had an IQ of 85 in Govern...ahem, people of an IQ of 85 at the best universities simply out of egalitarianism. Stupid people are stupid for life. It's not the same thing as ignorance.

I can't imagine berating the poor girl about a genuine mistake is going to do any good; and surely we must expect the less intelligent to do less intelligent things. Blaming a stupid person for a mistake is like blaming a dodo for being flightless, neither can help it.
Any opinions?
wholeheartedly agreed. though only with the first bit - i don't expect 'stupid' people to do stupid things, just i'm not gonna cause a fuss or make them feel bad cos of the mistakes they may make.
after all, everyone makes mistakes... even super smart people like me :D

You can blame stupid people for their stupid actions. You shouldn't however yell and scream and berate. The shoe girl may have just made an honest mistake. She didn't do anything particularly stupid.

That sounds like a mistake anyone could make, stupid or not.

it is incumbent upon smart people to mitigate the damage done by stupid people. you knew what you had tried on, you should have insisted on buying THAT pair no matter what the size said.

but more to the point, berating people for honest mistake makes the world a harder place to live in for everyone. being understanding and patient, as you were, is a much better approach. it will pay you back in the long run.

Who is the stupid one in the story of the shoes. The assistant for offering the wrong size shoes, or ProMonkians for not buying the shoes that had been tried on? Perhaps both.

There is no need to discriminate against truly stupid people, they will discriminate against themselves quite well enough without any help.

Is it cool to discriminate against anyone? no. Is it going to happen? yes. Is it fair in the case of being as thick as two short planks? yes.

Even the most egalitarian communist is going to want any neurosurgeon that is to operate on him or her to be clever enough to do so without making him or her see smells or something. They are also going to want the civil engineers to understand tension and stress calculations. etc. If they choose not to reward these people then that is a political decision, but to say that anyone is fit to do anything just does not make sense.

You really think that the wage-slaves at a shoe store make enough money at their job to give a flying fuck how large or small your shoes are? Get real.

If you can't rely on so-called 'stupid people' to provide the sort of bended-knee consumerite servicing you and your 'rage-ing' friends seem to demand of unsalaried frontline workers, maybe you should just rely on yourselves instead.

Try on your own damned shoes. Take them to the checkout. Pay for them. Go home. It's a radical notion, yes?

Works for me every time, though - and my feet aren't standardly sized, either.

It depends what the mistake is. If it's the shoe incident, then I personally wouldn't be too bothered. If, on the other hand, it's pouring sulphuric acid into another substance, producing a potentially lethal gas that then fills the room, then we have a different story all together.

You really think that the wage-slaves at a shoe store make enough money at their job to give a flying fuck how large or small your shoes are? Get real.


Never said that, or even inferred it.


If you can't rely on so-called 'stupid people' to provide the sort of bended-knee consumerite servicing you and your 'rage-ing' friends seem to demand of unsalaried frontline workers, maybe you should just rely on yourselves instead.


Woa where the fuck did that come from? I never demand any sort of "bended-knee consumerite servicing", I resent the implication the I am some pompous git demanding service of people when all I did was answer 'yes' when I was asked if I wanted assistance.


Try on your own damned shoes. Take them to the checkout. Pay for them. Go home. It's a radical notion, yes?


You see the way shoe shops work where I'm from is that only one shoe is one display, to deter theives from stealing (as they will never get a complete pair), therefore you need to ask somebody if you can try on a pair and they will go to the store room and get the complete pair, in the requested size. Once you find a size you like they then go back to the store room to get a complete package pair and bring it out to the checkout - it's at this point that the mistake was made. Then you pay for them. Not that radical.

I'm tired of this constant flaming against Bush.

... ow, wait...

It depends what the mistake is. If it's the shoe incident, then I personally wouldn't be too bothered. If, on the other hand, it's pouring sulphuric acid into another substance, producing a potentially lethal gas that then fills the room, then we have a different story all together.

Yes, you have someone stupid enough to allow those with no idea of what they are doing have access to sulphuric acid in a public place (I presume a school). The stupidity here is on the part of the supervision/security.

I blame the people who blame the media.

You cannot blame a truly unintelligent person for being unintelligent - it isn't something they can help.

You *can*, however, blame the ignorant for being ignorant - as ignorance is generally a matter of choice.

You see the way shoe shops work where I'm from is that only one shoe is one display, to deter theives from stealing (as they will never get a complete pair), therefore you need to ask somebody if you can try on a pair and they will go to the store room and get the complete pair, in the requested size. Once you find a size you like they then go back to the store room to get a complete package pair and bring it out to the checkout - it's at this point that the mistake was made. Then you pay for them. Not that radical.


I don't think Dobbs Town was actually thinking when he typed the last part of his post. Mhm, and I think that is how shoe stores work basically everywhere? Unless your at a flea market or a Salvation Army.

Stupid people can't help being stupid. Besides, there is a far better group to be angry at--the lazy. Like when I went to the DMV and got the person who couldn't care less if something is allowed on their website, they would not allow me to do so just because they are too lazy to do their job. Then there is the everpresent stench of urine, but that is an entirely different reason to hate the DMV...

Stupid people can't help being stupid. Besides, there is a far better group to be angry at--the lazy. Like when I went to the DMV and got the person who couldn't care less if something is allowed on their website, they would not allow me to do so just because they are too lazy to do their job. Then there is the everpresent stench of urine, but that is an entirely different reason to hate the DMV...
oh em gee. i hate the dmv. in oklahoma its called dps but its still just as retarded. on top of the laziness and stupidity there, i get the worst jokes from obesely fat fucks as they type in my weight. why is it not ok to comment on fat people's weight but it is ok to comment on skinny people's weight? maybe it makes me uncomfortable. gah.

I prefer to play with the stupid. Messing with their heads can be great fun! :D

Is it cool to discriminate against anyone? no.

I thought one of the whole points of cool was discriminating against uncool people, no?

Any opinions?

Isn't it pretty stupid to not know your own shoe size? Or, am I being uncool for pointing that out?