Do you consider yourself an activist or do just complain loudly?

I"m a bit of both. SOmetimes I just want to be a complainer, I have no special solution nor am I looking for one and although it is pointless, the complaining is just a way to let out some of what I'm feeling about the situation, but it's not really that important to me at the same time - I know I tend to confuse people sometimes LOL Other times, whatever it is, it's quite important to me, and then I become an activist:) WHen it's important enough I prefer to think about it and be logical. I like to have ideas and possible solutions before I talk to the people involved, and I like to know all that I need to know about the subject.I also like to know where I can go to make myself heard so I'm not limited in where I can go. SOmetimes I get a solution that I like. SOmetimes a compromise is reached. Sometimes nothing happens, but at least I know I did my part. Standing up for myself is something that varies a lot with me. I am good at it if it's impersonal. Not as good if it's personal, if it has something to do with family.

I always hate the thought of standing around moaning when I could be doing something about a situation! At the primary school my kids go to the bus route went down a small road that ran alongside the school wall and the buses always passed at the time school was going in and when they were coming out at home time! there were so many near misses that it was a question of when a child got hit by a bus not if! Anyway I talked to the management team at the school and they could not do anything about it , or so they claimed so I decided I would have to. I was going to try and get a parents meeting organised but before I did I contacted the council. The man I made contact with was lovely and arranged to meet me to discuss the situation - he was a godsend! His first visit was without all the traffic there was when the school was starting and finishing and he saw that even then the bus struggled to get down the road because of parked cars! Anyway he came back for another meeting with more council officials and to cut a long story short apart from the safety of the school children the road wasn't wide enough and should never have had a bus route on it in the first place! Within a few weeks of my initial call to the council the route had been moved to the next street! That felt good and now that my son is at High School and my daughter goes there I sometimes still have a little smile to myself when I think that those children are all a lot safer now. Some of the people from that street were not happy cos they had to make a 3 minute walk to the bus stop instead of getting it at their front door - TOUGH! xxx

Once again, wise beyond your years! I believe that if one complains responsibly, like you did, your issues will not fall on deaf ears. You offered constructive information, back-up data, and a possible solution. You and I know that we would be willing/happy to be approached in this manner. But if someone comes at me/you ranting and raving, I do not co-operated in a constructive manner. Each approach has their own place, like our anti-loggers in B.C. They exhausted all channels before setting up road-blocks. Yes, I took on a giant! B.C. Hydro....and slayed them! They quietly bought a piece of property kitty-corner & uphill from me to put in place a Hydro Pole storage yard. These things are treated with PCB's & they also stored liquid PCB's and dynamite in thier current storage lot. I left no stone unturned,had every report you could even think of, had the MLA on my side! Took pictures, of the PCB storage, the poles, the dynamite, took the MLA's secretary to the current site, so she could see firsthand. I fought long & hard, not dirty. The culmination was the head of B.C. Hydro, sitting in my kitchen, husband, neighbours, MLA secretary present....and listened to him "lie his face off." Then I presented him with my documented, notarized information! End result! No Hydro Pole yard, in "rural, residential property." What was funny about this is at the time B.C. Hydro was owned by the B.C. government, yet I as able to get our MLA (like your senator) on side. My neighbours have now bought that piece of property. You must remember, that all of us are on wells on these Gulf Islands. PCB's leaching into drinking water. End of story. Fight back fairly, be reasonable, have your facts together! Good on you for taking on a Giant, too!

I think I more of loud complainer. I know that that is not the right attitude to have, but I don't believe I am "active" enough to call my self an activist.

Well done you. Did you give him your referral link cos I bet after reading it he will register with myLot? I am a bit of both, but I do taken action on things I feel strongly about. I petition the British Government all the time of lots of various issues. I will wirte and complain when I receive poor goods or services. I even contacted a company because I hadn't received afreebie they had been offering and instead of the original sample sachet I should have received of their body lotion I received a whole tube! People should stand up for themsellves more often, especially with customer services because without our custom they wouldn't be in business would they. Ellie:D

I used to put up with poor service but now I rarely do. How the customer sees your company can be the difference between business or no business. I think that you did the right thing by showing those comments to the Asst Manager. Let's hope that he actually does something rather than putting them in his bin. I m not sure that I would call myself an activist, but I hate to see lazy and apathetic approaches to issues that are causing others distress.

I am activist.I strongly believe in action and less words.I am the first one to help form a queue in public places and many a time I got down from my car to help to regulate the traffic snarl.As I told you I mind the order in the school parking lot and guide the toddlers safely to the classes.

I think I complain loudly all the time, but when I was younger I was pretty much an activist. Most of the time, however, I got into more trouble for having stood up for what I thought was right. Like, when I was in high school one of our teachers told us that we must all bring palm leaves (to decorate the school stage with.) The next day only a few were able to find some---I mean, is there anyone who would like their palm trees ripped up to be given to students like us? But our teacher said if we didn't have any leaves, then she wouldn't sign our clearance forms. We have to have every subject teacher sign clearance forms to prove that we passed their subject and were clearedto proceed to the next year level. I, being the class president, was like "This is not right! Palm leaves have nothing to do with academics!" and my classmates were like "Yeah! You're right~!" (applause, applause) And so I talked to the teacher in her office and she got very, very angry with me. The next day, the class adviser talked to us and said that particlar teacher complained about how we offended her and blah blah...And my class adviser said to me "And she said you were the ringleader..." and none of my classmates ever supported me for what I tried to do for them. During my college days, however, I had a shot at being a fast-food service crew and I experienced being badly treated by unreasonable customers. Sometimes, they were reasonable, like, when I was too slow, or I looked too snobbish, or I couldn't answer their questions, or I was just in a terrible mood. But the experience of being looked down on kind of softened me up a bit. Now, whenever I get badly treated in a store or restaurant, I find myself just trying to understand the worker. Like, he might have worked two shifts already, or he's a newbie, or his final exams are coming up. I also find myself trying not to complain loudly. Now, I find it easier to forgive mistakes service crews sometimes make. But when it comes to the issue of the service crew's attitude, I make sure I alert the manager----but I do it very, very calmly. I most especially hated it when any customer screamed around our store, so when I do have concerns I make sure I err them out in a polite, dignified way.

I am all about keeping the piece..that is until I get enough and then you will get it from me with both barrels lol...but gosh i understand what you mean with wal mart..dont feel bad it isn't just your wal mart i mean i hate even going into the wal mart where i live because the people there aren't that friendly at all

hi there, oh its definitely much better that you do something about the problem rather than just create a commotion and embarrass yourself acting like uneducated and uncivilized. if you do something about it then everyone would benefit from it and you surely would still go back to that place and atleast youve done something to change things for the better