Ditto. Continuing that point, as a person coming from a family of doctors, if you're not a medical doctor, under no circumstance am I calling you doctor. Yes, technically you have a doctorate, but everybody knows damn well that in this society only medical doctors are explicitly referred to as doctor. I guess it's okay listing it in your formal title on a business card or something, though even that irks me, but there's definitely no damn way I'm calling you doctor in casual conversation. I remember a Dear Abby article where the write-in was bitching that people didn't call him doctor even though he had a doctorate in philosophy. A law degree is also a doctorate, but you don't call your lawyer "doctor." Anybody who insists on being called doctor when they're not a medical doctor has serious esteem issues.
Well technically people with doctorates are most of the time the only ones that actually should have the title of doctor, as medical doctors should be called a "physician" or GP or whatever as most don't have actually have a PhD.
A JD is a professional degree. Same story with the MD. When I finish my PhD program, I don't really give a shit if anyone calls me doctor or not. Allegedly, at other PhD programs, it's common practice for PhD students to be on a first name basis with professors, and call them as such. Not so at my institution. I don't really care either way, but it surprised me the first time I heard about it. I only want students to cite me as Dr. Dyson and shit. As in "In a 2010 study, spirituality and internalized racism were found to be positively correlated according to Dr. Dyson and shit." I have no reason for this other then the fact that I think it'd break up the boorishness of some of the research papers that are turned in.
I've had a couple of professors who use the title of doctor. I call them professor, as in "Professor Dyson." It seems perfectly respectful and professionally more correct. If I refer to them as doctor, it's only because I feel they're one of those people who will take issue with me if I don't, and while some people like to take a stand, I prefer to keep amiable relationships with the people influencing my GPA. On the subject of biking: I'm surprised to see a lot of people take issue with cycling on the sidewalk. I guess if you're in an area with heavily-trafficked sidewalks, that might be a problem, but otherwise it seems to me that bikes belong on the sidewalk. Whatever cyclists want to believe, I think that only automotive vehicles should be on the road. The reason there are bike lanes on some roads is precisely to separate them from the main road, where they don't belong. If there aren't any bike lanes, then the proper place is the sidewalk.
Agreed. The only time I will use the title is when flying. I have about a 1/3 success rate at being upgraded because of this. God help if anyone ever gets sick on my flight.
No fuck this and fuck your lack of respect for academia. A PhD is very respectable accomplishment from years of hard work, I say they deserve the preface Dr. more than a medicine man does. In the USA you seem to call every fucktard in front of a group of people 'professor'. Hell I could teach a bunch of 5 year olds how to wipe their arse and I'd be 'Professor Solaris'. In the UK, we call our teachers and lecturers Mr. If they have a PhD we call them Dr. And if they are very well esteemed and hold a top position in the university, then they become a professor and are addressed by that title. It's a far better system.
This really infuriates me when people throw shit out of moving cars. Ever had a lit cigarette or hot ash from one get sucked into your car window because the asshole in front of you felt like the world was his ashtray? I've seen upholstery ruined and folks get burns on their arms. And are you seriously telling me that these people have NO room in that shit box of theirs for a Big Mac wrapper or the foil from a cigarette pack? Crap like this makes me want to follow these dolts to their homes and dump my trash on their front lawns.
My cousin has a doctorate and does cancer research at Harvard. The ONLY person he's EVER forced to use "Doctor" when addressing him was his younger brother. The only other time he's ever used it was to help secure an apartment lease in Boston... he said that it went from damn near impossible to get to a tsunami of offers, just by adding the "Dr." to the application. Personally, I used to work in a field heavy with Doctorates, mostly in math and chemistry (dynamic process simulation), and I didn't have any degree. The matronly office manager took it upon herself to at MTSU to my business card. When I asked what it was, she said, "you have a masters in Time, Space, and the Universe". You could really tell a lot about people when they saw that on your card, and asked what it was. The stuck-up snobs got their noses out of joint, and were dicks about it, and the "normal/sane" people laughed at the joke. Yeah, some people take themselves way to fucking seriously. In those situations, it's almost guaranteed that I will do the exact opposite.
My father has a PhD in A.I. Engineering and Fuzzy Logic, he deserves to be called doctor for his years of research, and the people who understand the sheer amount of work required respect that. In my opinion, everyone else has the problem if they can't understand that. edit: To clarify, I mean in a professional setting, he should be referred to as doctor. In everyday, non-work life he's mister, just like most doctors are only "doc" at the clinic/hospital.
My my, someone's ornery. As someone who has studied under both systems, I think I'm pretty qualified to speak on this. And the British system is stupid. First of all, there's a reason we refer to them as professors. Because they are professors. You are insisting on imposing the British meaning of the word upon the American usage, which doesn't make sense. The titles of reader, lecturer, etc. often do not exist in the American educational system, although there may be analagous titles at various institutions (Assistant Professor and Associate Professor come to mind. Note that they are types of 'professors'). What you call lecturers, readers, etc. are generally subsets of what we refer to as professors. Thus, under the American system, it is perfectly accurate to refer to them as professors. But to the point of why your system is stupid. Because of the annoying self-seriousness that permeates academia, people actually get offended here if you address them by the wrong title. In extreme cases, never-speak-to-you-again offended. How often do you see people walk around with their degrees and plaques with their job titles hanging around their neck like Flava Flav's clock? Never. So how, exactly, is one supposed to know exactly what degree a person has, much less exactly which job title they have? Yeah, you can research it. And for your own professors, this is a decent solution. But at least on an American campus, I sometimes interact with faculty I've never heard of before, let alone know. What am I suppose to do? Memorize the entire roster of the university's faculty? Guess randomly? Our system is infinitely more efficient. It doesn't require prior research into inter-university politics, and is less likely to lead to a ridiculous faux-pas. In what context? In any remotely professional or academic setting, yes, I agree. Dr. or Professor until they let you know otherwise (some of my teachers preferred to be referred to by their first name). If you make all of your neighbors and the girl at Starbucks call you Dr., you're pushing your luck regardless of what sort of degree you hold.
If bikes "belong" on the sidewalk, why is biking on the sidewalk illegal in so many cities? As someone who both walks and drives a decent amount, I'm much happier keeping the fixed-gear vegans on the road. At any rate, my opinion doesn't matter because it's the law.
I have had this happen to me more than once. I will be taking a deuce in the men's room at my office, I work at a fairly large bank so there are four stalls aligned next to each other, I hate when guys try and talk to me while they are dumping. They look at my shoes and are like "Mike is that you?? How about Sweeny at today's sales meeting?? It is awful. Just let me take my crap in silence.
Ditto if you're pissing. Especially if they're waiting in line behind you. Something about a voice behind you while you got your dick out seems unsettling. There should be a rule. No unnecessary talking between dudes in non-sexual contexts when one or more have their dicks out.
You know, I hate to burst your "I'm a son of a doctor!" complex bubble, but the guy who inspired that rant had both an MD and a PhD. Wanna take bets as to which degree inspired more of his inferiority/superiority complex? Having PhD is a perfectly legitimate reason to be referred to as "doctor" when the situation requires (day-to-day business at the faculty, or at a conference, awards ceremony, whatever). Anyone who, in the course of general conversation, makes it known that his proper form of address is "Doctor So and So" needs to get the fuck over himself. I'm taught by a constellation of MDs, PhDs, MDs & PhDs, as well as PharmDs (who are not generally entitled to call themselves "Doctor", and who would also come across as massive tools if they ever tried) and plain old B.Sc.Phm / B.Phm. Me and my classmates have a habit of wondering just what kind of doctor each person is, and MDs aren't at the top of our pecking order. This also reminds me that when I registered with aeroplan miles, I put my title as "sir". My mail comes in addressed to "Sir Ghettoastronaut". It looks pimp. I suggest you all try it.
I'm not positive, but I've heard that proper etiquette during a gang bang is no eye contact between dudes, but minor chit-chat unrelated to the activity at hand is permissible. No one wants to get their dick sucked while listening to another dude groaning and saying things like "Yeah, you like that big cock in your ass don't you?!" because it ruins the experience. But discussing your fantasy football team draft picks is cool if you want to talk about it. And it's always acceptable for the chick(s) involved to make so many pleasure-related noises that actual conversation isn't possible, thus minimizing the possibility of any awkward statements. I mean, sheesh. It's all about being considerate of other people. How hard is that? Focus: Always thank the host(ess) for dinner. ALWAYS. Forgetting that simple gesture means that you're an asswipe who takes the hospitality of others for granted--and it also means I'm not ever going to invite you to a dinner party at my place again.
I'll second that. Also, this might be less applicable to you people with older, better behaved friends, but no bringing extra people around without explicitly asking. It's imposing, and fairly presumptuous to think that your friends are likable enough for me to overlook the fact that there are six more people in my living room than I want there to be. I had one friend that would do this constantly last year, along with the knocking on the door at random times and walking in without an invitation. After a couple scoldings increasing in severity, he stopped, but it reached it's peak when he brought over one thirty-year old quasi-homeless dude that lives near campus, some other random dude, and a really strung out chick and started a drum circle while a hockey game was on. Not cool.
These are examples of people that don't have any awareness of their (entire) audience. These people suck at group conversation. This is probably the least known "etiquette rule" so you'd be surprised how many people fuck this up and piss people off without realizing it. -If you are in a college class with over 200 people, ask general questions that many people could use (IE: "Do we need to bring our own scantron for the final?"). Save your own opinion debates and one on one conversation for the professor after class. This isn't high school where you are still whoring for peoples attention. -If you are in a group talking with both men and women present, do not stir the conversation into something only half the people can relate to (IE Academy Awards: Dresses, shoes, jewelry, how much you'd want to bang Jessica Alba) On the subject of hosts and guests, Hosts should do the hosting and guests should be the guests. Know your fucking role.For example: my relatives tried to "help" my family with cleanup but they put away chairs not only in the wrong place but at the wrong time resulting in me having to find and take them out again because my dad wanted to show off his new sound system.