Sometimes, people give the worst advice.
Oct. 26th, 2007 08:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
I call my sister, I need to know where Angelique's raincoat is. "Did you check the closet?" she asks.
What, exactly, does she expect me to say? I can only imagine it's along the lines of "HOLY SHIT! I TOTALLY FORGOT THE CLOSET! My god, I was checking the fridge and behind the toilet instead! Thank you so much for that terrific advice, Jenn!"
Where's the book you promised somebody I'd give them? "Well, it should be on the bookcase..."
No duh, it should be on the bookcase, but if it were on the bookcase, I wouldn't be wasting my time calling for help, now would I?
Here I am on LJ, and somebody asks for help - their son wakes up at an ungodly hour and, to make things worse, wakes the baby. They then fight until one of them gets shipped off for school. And this happens every day. And what advice does she get? "Well, at his age, he should understand no. Tell him no, he has to play in his room and not wake his brother, and let him know that he has to behave."
Here's the thing. If it honestly hasn't occurred to this woman to just tell her son no, believe me, suggesting it to her now isn't going to work. In all likelihood she tried that, and has been trying it for as long as this has been going on!
Jeez. Let's all try giving at least somewhat useful advice. Like stuff people might actually not have considered already.
(And I'm dead serious about the "Well, it should be in the most obvious location possible" nonsense. I'm so sick of hearing that line. Sooner or later, somebody is going to regret saying it to me.)
What, exactly, does she expect me to say? I can only imagine it's along the lines of "HOLY SHIT! I TOTALLY FORGOT THE CLOSET! My god, I was checking the fridge and behind the toilet instead! Thank you so much for that terrific advice, Jenn!"
Where's the book you promised somebody I'd give them? "Well, it should be on the bookcase..."
No duh, it should be on the bookcase, but if it were on the bookcase, I wouldn't be wasting my time calling for help, now would I?
Here I am on LJ, and somebody asks for help - their son wakes up at an ungodly hour and, to make things worse, wakes the baby. They then fight until one of them gets shipped off for school. And this happens every day. And what advice does she get? "Well, at his age, he should understand no. Tell him no, he has to play in his room and not wake his brother, and let him know that he has to behave."
Here's the thing. If it honestly hasn't occurred to this woman to just tell her son no, believe me, suggesting it to her now isn't going to work. In all likelihood she tried that, and has been trying it for as long as this has been going on!
Jeez. Let's all try giving at least somewhat useful advice. Like stuff people might actually not have considered already.
(And I'm dead serious about the "Well, it should be in the most obvious location possible" nonsense. I'm so sick of hearing that line. Sooner or later, somebody is going to regret saying it to me.)
