Anthony Hook

I have seen people do some really silly stupid things and therefore I am starting to compile a list of things people should be required to know, and rules to follow.  I have observed all of the following:

• How to jump start a car: wiring
  • Black, negative, goes to black or a ground (engine block).  Red, positive, goes to red.  Do not deviate from this.
• How to jump-start a car: after you get it hooked up
  • When jump-starting a car, you can’t just hook up the batteries and leave them sit for a while.  Run the car with the good battery for a while.  After you get the other car started, don’t immediately shut the vehicle off and assume all is finished.  It needs to charge for a while.
• Social rule 1:  missing the obvious
  • If you don’t have anything of value to say, don’t say anything.  Or perhaps “Hi/Hey.”  Example:  Brittany and I were clearlywashing dishes in the washing-dishes-nook on her floor.  Resident, “Hey, what are you guys doin’ up here?”  Me, “Playing hopscotch.”  What the hell does it look like?
• Computer basic 1:  know what operating system is on your computer
  • This does not include “Windows Dell,” “the blue one,” or “the one that everybody uses.”  I can infer you are meaning some form of Windows, but it is important to know what one.  I know you restart it often, it usually tells you before you get to the desktop.  I know you are familiar with what model of your car/truck/van/SUV you drive (Saturn ION, Chevy Suburban, etc), the same rules should apply here.
• Driving rule 1:  your blinker exists for a reason: use it
• Driving rule 2:  tailgating
  • Don’t you hate “that guy” in a line that stands one inch behind you?  You can smell his bad breath over your shoulders, perhaps feeling the nasal wheeze in the back of your hair.  You are being that guy.  If you keep it up, you may be in your windshield.  Better yet, my backseat.  I know you won’t have the reaction time when a deer runs in front of me.
• Cell phone etiquette 1:  texting and stairs
  • When you’re texting and on the stairs, your forward velocity decreases dramatically.  I’d like to get where I’m going before the sun runs out of fuel.
• Cell phone etiquette 2:  texting in a conversation
  • Finish your sentence or thought before you pause to text, ultimately forgetting what you were talking to me about.
• Pedestrian basics 1:  rules of the hall
  • Walk where you’d drive:  stick to the right.  Also, the wrong side on blind corners always prove dangerous.
• Pedestrian basics 2: doors
  • When you approach a door that is in use by somebody else and you have the opportunity to open another door, do it.  It’s okay, it won’t hurt.
• Elevator basics: etiquette

• Let the person that is leaving the elevator exit before you pile into it.

I will add more as situations arise.