Languish.org

The scenario: I was on a business trip with someone else, and we rented a car together. He went home for a few days, while I kept the rental. He left his umbrella in the rental car (I don't remember if he told me, but I think I knew he had something in the car). While he was gone, I lost the keys to the car. The rental car company couldn't find an extra set, so they towed the car with his umbrella inside and gave me a new car.

When this guy came back, he found out what happened, and asked me to buy a new umbrella for him. I agreed, and bought an umbrella from Target.

But I guess I'm feeling a little passive aggressive about this umbrella. So was this guy right to ask for the new umbrella? I don't think he should make me liable for stuff he leaves in my care while he is out of town, but then I did lose his umbrella.

How many business trips to do you do a year?

It was his fault for leaving the umbrella behind.

He was a doucebag for asking you to replace it, and you did the right thing to just replace it when he asked.

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 06:33:10 PM
How many business trips to do you do a year?

It depends. Last year it was a lot, now it is less.  :P

You should have replaced the umbrella for him but it is a bit rude for him to outright tell you to do this.

Get the fucker a dollar store umbrella.

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 06:39:48 PM

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 06:33:10 PM
How many business trips to do you do a year?

It depends. Last year it was a lot, now it is less.  :P

You always seem to be visiting some third world hell hole, Bolivia, Morocco, Mississippi...  yeesh.

The ideal scenario is that he does not ask you to buy him a new umbrella, but that you make it up to him somehow - either by actually buying a replacement umbrella or some drinks or otherwise extending goodwill towards him.

When he asks for you to replace the umbrella he's being a bit of a putz, and you are occupying the moral high ground by replacing in.

Conversely, if he did not ask for a replacement but merely confirmed that the umbrella was lost he would've occupied the moral high ground; you would then be a bit of a putz if you did nothing to make it up to him.

What kind of rental company doesn't have spare set for car?
Didn't they tow it o someplace you could still recover belongings from? I mean what if you had something more important than an umbrella??

 In this situation I could not have brought myself to ask for the umbrella if I was him, and could not have brought myself to not replace the umbrella if I was you.

Ideally he'd not have asked with the unspoken expectation you'd do the right thing, and he'd resent you as a cold yankee afterwords if you failed to replace his lost item.

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 06:44:36 PM

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 06:39:48 PM

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 06:33:10 PM
How many business trips to do you do a year?

It depends. Last year it was a lot, now it is less.  :P

You always seem to be visiting some third world hell hole, Bolivia, Morocco, Mississippi...  yeesh.

I've never been to Bolivia, and I think the only time I posted about being in Mississippi was with Lettow.

You may not believe this, but the umbrella incident was actually in Saint Louis.  :P

What sbr said.  Can't imagine asking someone to buy me an umbrella in this or really any scenario.  And although I'd  go ahead and agree to replace the umbrella if asked, the person who asked for it effectively would be dead to me.  I'd show them the bare minimum of courtesy and attention, and probably wouldn't ever go out of my way to help them after that.

I've run into several people like that, who maybe seem fairly normal at first but then do something really weird.

Kill the guy and make an umbrella out of his skin.

Quote from: Jacob on October 23, 2012, 06:46:05 PM
The ideal scenario is that he does not ask you to buy him a new umbrella, but that you make it up to him somehow - either by actually buying a replacement umbrella or some drinks or otherwise extending goodwill towards him.

When he asks for you to replace the umbrella he's being a bit of a putz, and you are occupying the moral high ground by replacing in.

Conversely, if he did not ask for a replacement but merely confirmed that the umbrella was lost he would've occupied the moral high ground; you would then be a bit of a putz if you did nothing to make it up to him.

What J said.

Quote from: katmai on October 23, 2012, 06:46:29 PM
What kind of rental company doesn't have spare set for car?
Didn't they tow it o someplace you could still recover belongings from? I mean what if you had something more important than an umbrella??

It was Hertz. They towed the car away and I never saw it again, but I think the only thing it had in there was the umbrella. It was a bit of a fiasco--it took a good part of the day (my fault of course).

Quote from: PDH on October 23, 2012, 06:54:13 PM
Kill the guy and make an umbrella out of his skin.

Like the "Jaron" voting option, we should probably make the "Nazi" option a Languish-poll meme.

This is a pretty trivial incident, stuff happens and things get lost, no one is at fault and people buy another one.

The guy was being an idiot, but the upside for you is he's gave you a clear window into his soul, he's an accountant isn't he ??

I ask Al as had similar experiences with vehicles rented for film productions with hell of a lot more important stuff than umbrella locked inside. :lol:

On the one hand I feel vindicated that this guy was in the wrong.

But I was probably a bit off too because I wasn't going to replace the umbrella until he asked.

Quote from: mongers on October 23, 2012, 07:03:10 PM
This is a pretty trivial incident, stuff happens and things get lost, no one is at fault and people buy another one.

The guy was being an idiot, but the upside for you is he's gave you a clear window into his soul, he's an accountant isn't he ??

He used to be.  :lol:

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 07:03:42 PM
On the one hand I feel vindicated that this guy was in the wrong.

first mistake is thinking these misanthropes are indicative of anything.

Now a moral dilemma that actually bothers me...

Some of you may remember that rental car I destroyed in Patagonia (I rolled it over)? It turns out my credit card agreed to cover the losses (as I had rental coverage).  So the bill for the car was reversed from my card. However, the credit card never could get in touch with the rental car agency--which isn't a big surprise to me: this was in a little town in Argentina. So the credit card isn't going to pay either.

So there is some poor guy in Argentina whose car I wrecked and he isn't going to get paid. I'm not the one that owes him the money (the credit card does), but still...

Price of globalization.

Quote from: katmai on October 23, 2012, 07:06:13 PM

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 07:03:42 PM
On the one hand I feel vindicated that this guy was in the wrong.

first mistake is thinking these misanthropes are indicative of anything.

Yeah, you can take the man out of accountancy, but you can't ...

Quote from: katmai on October 23, 2012, 07:06:13 PM

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 07:03:42 PM
On the one hand I feel vindicated that this guy was in the wrong.

first mistake is thinking these misanthropes are indicative of anything.

You only shot down the part of my statement that was favorable to me. Is that because you are a misanthrope?  :P

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 06:50:08 PM

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 06:44:36 PM

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 06:39:48 PM

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 06:33:10 PM
How many business trips to do you do a year?

It depends. Last year it was a lot, now it is less.  :P

You always seem to be visiting some third world hell hole, Bolivia, Morocco, Mississippi...  yeesh.

I've never been to Bolivia, and I think the only time I posted about being in Mississippi was with Lettow.

You may not believe this, but the umbrella incident was actually in Saint Louis.  :P

I thought you were in Bolivia recently.  Or was that someone else?  There are parts of St.Louis that are pretty much a third world country.

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 07:30:51 PM


I thought you were in Bolivia recently.  Or was that someone else?  There are parts of St.Louis that are pretty much a third world country.

Nope--I posted about potentially going there, but I've never been and not going in the foreseeable future.

I like St. Louis.

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 07:28:33 PM

Quote from: katmai on October 23, 2012, 07:06:13 PM

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 07:03:42 PM
On the one hand I feel vindicated that this guy was in the wrong.

first mistake is thinking these misanthropes are indicative of anything.

You only shot down the part of my statement that was favorable to me. Is that because you are a misanthrope?  :P

Only towards the denizens of Languish.

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 07:33:46 PM

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 07:30:51 PM


I thought you were in Bolivia recently.  Or was that someone else?  There are parts of St.Louis that are pretty much a third world country.

Nope--I posted about potentially going there, but I've never been and not going in the foreseeable future.

I like St. Louis.

Ah, that was it.  Don't ever go to East St. Louis.

Quote from: katmai on October 23, 2012, 06:46:29 PM
What kind of rental company doesn't have spare set for car?
Didn't they tow it o someplace you could still recover belongings from? I mean what if you had something more important than an umbrella??

Alred travels to hell hole nations for fun. i can only imagine where his compnay sends him :ph34r:

Quote from: mongers on October 23, 2012, 07:03:10 PM
This is a pretty trivial incident, stuff happens and things get lost, no one is at fault and people buy another one.

The guy was being an idiot, but the upside for you is he's gave you a clear window into his soul, he's an accountant isn't he ??

<_<

Umbrellas never really belong to an individual, they just stay with us a while and then move on. Left in a waiting room, on a train.........sometimes strange umbrellas will appear in one's home; in which case we simply have to be grateful that they are not made with a magenta fabric covered in turquoise polka dots. Which is probably the style of umbrella you should have bought for him as a replacement  :D

That's the reason I don't have umbrellas anymore. I've easily lost a dozen over the years (one even twice!), and broke countless more.

Also, it's usually too windy in Vienna to make good use of an umbrella.

One of you should have expensed it.

Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on October 24, 2012, 12:45:15 AM
Umbrellas never really belong to an individual, they just stay with us a while and then move on. Left in a waiting room, on a train.........sometimes strange umbrellas will appear in one's home; in which case we simply have to be grateful that they are not made with a magenta fabric covered in turquoise polka dots. Which is probably the style of umbrella you should have bought for him as a replacement  :D

:D

Very Adamsesque, very true.

On topic, the guy's a dick: I would never ask for a replacement.

L.

It's a fucking umbrella. They cost less than a pint. The fact that you even feel the need to ask whether the guy is a douche makes me suspicious about you.

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 07:39:45 PM

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 07:33:46 PM

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 07:30:51 PM


I thought you were in Bolivia recently.  Or was that someone else?  There are parts of St.Louis that are pretty much a third world country.

Nope--I posted about potentially going there, but I've never been and not going in the foreseeable future.

I like St. Louis.

Ah, that was it.  Don't ever go to East St. Louis.

Yeah.  The part in the movie "Vacation" where the Griswolds get lost in East St. Louis is all one needs to see to get a feel for that place.

"Roll 'em up!"  :lol:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwBoa-NbNL8

Quote from: Gups on October 24, 2012, 05:32:11 AM
It's a fucking umbrella. They cost less than a pint. The fact that you even feel the need to ask whether the guy is a douche makes me suspicious about you.

Don't be too harsh. He obviously knows, he's just putting it as a question as a rhetorical technique to introduce it as a topic of conversation.

Quote from: Gups on October 24, 2012, 05:32:11 AM
It's a fucking umbrella. They cost less than a pint. The fact that you even feel the need to ask whether the guy is a douche makes me suspicious about you.

So you weren't made suspicious by the fact I frequent languish until this thread? That makes me wonder about you... :P

Quote from: Jacob on October 24, 2012, 10:44:43 AM

Quote from: Gups on October 24, 2012, 05:32:11 AM
It's a fucking umbrella. They cost less than a pint. The fact that you even feel the need to ask whether the guy is a douche makes me suspicious about you.

Don't be too harsh. He obviously knows, he's just putting it as a question as a rhetorical technique to introduce it as a topic of conversation.

Coming clean: this happened about 2 years ago. I was coming home from something last night where I got a free umbrella, which made me think of this. It seemed like a good topic to have a discussion about on Languish.

Quote from: Jacob on October 23, 2012, 06:46:05 PM
The ideal scenario is that he does not ask you to buy him a new umbrella, but that you make it up to him somehow - either by actually buying a replacement umbrella or some drinks or otherwise extending goodwill towards him.

When he asks for you to replace the umbrella he's being a bit of a putz, and you are occupying the moral high ground by replacing in.

Conversely, if he did not ask for a replacement but merely confirmed that the umbrella was lost he would've occupied the moral high ground; you would then be a bit of a putz if you did nothing to make it up to him.

I agree with the Ponytailed One.

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 06:50:08 PM

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 06:44:36 PM

Quote from: alfred russel on October 23, 2012, 06:39:48 PM

Quote from: Razgovory on October 23, 2012, 06:33:10 PM
How many business trips to do you do a year?

It depends. Last year it was a lot, now it is less.  :P

You always seem to be visiting some third world hell hole, Bolivia, Morocco, Mississippi...  yeesh.

I've never been to Bolivia, and I think the only time I posted about being in Mississippi was with Lettow.

You may not believe this, but the umbrella incident was actually in Saint Louis.  :P

St. Louis is the chocolate starfish of America.