I feel like venting my spleen
As soon as I typed that title, I started thinking that you don’t often hear people talk about venting their spleens anymore. In fact, I began to wonder, did I ever hear it? Or did I merely read it in old novels? And is its origin in the ancient ideas about the four humors? Choleric, for example?
The answer is yes, it’s about the humors:
The phrase “vent one’s spleen” originates from ancient Greek and Roman medical theories known as humorism. According to this theory, the spleen was believed to be the organ responsible for producing and storing black bile, one of the four humors or bodily fluids. This idiom may be used in various occasions, such as during heated debates, arguments, or discussions where individuals passionately express their discontent or dissatisfaction. It can also be used in personal settings, such as venting frustrations to a trusted friend or family member, or even in written form, like venting through social media posts or blog entries.
Blog entries! There you have it.
Except there’s a glitch. Black bile, associated with the spleen, was historically connected to melancholy. Yellow bile – the “choleric” humor connected with anger – was supposedly secreted by the gallbladder. So it really should be “venting my gallbladder,” shouldn’t it? However, it just doesn’t sound as good.
But I digress. Or do I?
What am I angry about? Maybe not angry; maybe just annoyed – or perhaps even a trifle melancholy? It’s that it seems every time I do anything – have a doctor’s appointment, go to the theater or a museum, have my car fixed – I get an email asking me to rate the experience. I ordinarily don’t answer unless for some special reason I want to give some feedback. But then a day or two later I get a repeat email asking the same thing, and then another, and then another …
Finally it ends. I don’t want to block the email address in case they happen to send me something important. And I realize in the scheme of things this whole topic is very small, almost nothing. But still annoying.
And the phenomenon seems to be building. It started quite a few years ago, but the number of companies or groups asking for feedback was not large. Now the practice seems near-universal. And it’s not as though there’s any evidence the organizations involved actually pay attention and improve their customer service. Quite the contrary.
There now. I feel better. Perhaps I vented my spleen and my gallbladder.
I feel your pain, but I think it has more to do with the ubiquitous “star” rating systems that seem to be everywhere from social media to Google Maps to e-tailers. These seem to have become a shortcut for consumers to decide what product/service/store to patronize, and thus have a real impact on sales.
As long as this is true, I think we must expect that businesses will do everything they can to boost their ratings, including importuning customers for their opinions. As a former business owner, I was acutely aware that one bad “review” could outweigh a host of good ones.
Geez!? Classic Liberals Venting their Spleens … will have to toss the Chicken Bones to rid my mind of such a thought – Shake-sssshhhaaKKKE rattle shaaake rrAAAAAtttlllEEE ‘n *TOSS*!!!!
Bones say: ‘Liberals should be careful venting their spleens—as such can attract bad Karma.‘
For me, the problem is less about requesting feedback, and more that they want to confine the feedback to imbecilic ‘star’ ratings, instead of (usually) excluding the possibility of adding specific comments. The first question they should ask is, ‘Would you like to opt out of providing customer feedback?’ That would probably encourage people to comment more by reverse psychology.
So, I buy a couple packaged of seeds from a specialty house and next day they want me to evaluate their product. Not just how fast they arrived, etc. It’s January in Colorado. Tiresome.
I delete all the feedback requests. Yes, it’s annoying.
Neo, as always: thanks in your sweat.
“Spleenventing.”
Isn’t THIS precisely what Twitter became famous for? And now, as X.com, practical for all?
My friends and I in college used the “venting spleen” figure often. We were a bunch of English and other humanities majors and had picked it up from literature as an amusing alternative to “complain.”
Yeah, every doctor visit, every trip to the grocery story, I’ve even had requests to rate books I’d bought the previous day. I just ignore them now.
Garrett, my part of CO on the Northern Front Range it is Feb, almost March. But the weather makes you think it is still Jan.
I had 3 hr session on the phone about something. IPhone got updated, but an app wasn’t working. Wanted password, which I entered. WRONG!! Then on the phone to India, and they wanted $$ to reset MY password. I got the request for rating the “experience”. I could not go below 1, but I wanted too.
Off topic, something else that makes me upset. Wanting a tip when you fill a cup with coffee.
There, I am done Venting my Spleen.
SHIREHOME:
Yes – but are you done venting your gallbladder?
Being behind the times that I am I , etc
, I regularly pay both my truck insurance and my phone bill in person. I have a T-Mobile account. Originally it was Sprint, but there was some kind of merger / takeover and my account was transferred to T-Mobile. I would get those request for feedback in a text after paying before I could even get to my truck. I kept complaining that the signal was weak at my house and I complained that they started charging Xtra to pay in the store. I expressed my thoughts one time to one of the workers that I thought this was part of a larger plot to go cashless in society. I didn’t get that employee for a while and one month I go in and she says wait a minute. She went and talked to the manager on the phone and came back and said I was hurting their store due to my complaints and they no longer would accept my payments. She falsely accused me of giving the store itself bad ratings even though my survey comments and ratings had been directed to the poor signal and Xtra charge of paying in store. At some point in the numerous surveys I filled out I probably mentioned that the store had told me there was a new tower going up that had not at that time materialized. I now go to a different TMobile store and never answer the survey. I thought about switching to a different company but hate the hassle. Maybe at some point. I did later look up that particular store and it had LGBTQ stuff on the site and I later thought about the strangely small framed, effeminate manager and wondered if ” he” was a “she”…
sharksauce, but now we’ll need to give neo thanks in her bile as well.
Something on the composition of bile here
(As it says there, “while you may not think about bile much…” Well, not since that episode with the stone, at least….)
Hmm… one interesting little detail is that it conveys bilirubin to the intestine! I had always thought bilirubin exited via the kidneys.
I try not to get into venting spleen and negative emotions, but …
I really, really hate Hamas.
I suppose venting your spleen or your gallbladder is no messier than spilling your guts?!!
Neo,
Please rate my comments:
*
**
***
****
*****
Please don’t be too splenetical. Thank you!
Sarah Hoyt had a column once about how the review system originated and why anything less than a 5-star on everything is considered an abject failure (which kind of defeats the purpose of a “review” IMO).
I would vent my gallbladder about those instant-review requests, but I had it removed 20 years ago. (I would have given the surgeon a 5-star but they weren’t asking back then.)
Short of childbirth, the pain from the gallbladder was the worst I’ve ever had, and at least birthing was OVER in a couple of hours.
But I did it five times, and I can’t do that with a gallbladder, thank goodness.
I haven’t spilled my guts much, but I do give people a piece of my mind from time to time.
But maybe we should be more concerned with the bowels of mercy; those poor folks are just trying to stay up with the herd.
So keep your eyes on the prize, and I say that from my heart.
Somewhere, I once read that that blogs are good for validating your anger. If somebody’s gotta do it, I’m glad it’s you.
As far as my gallbladder goes, all the tests say “leave it alone.”
Now, it’s 2:00 in the AM, and I’m gonna get back to my book. Slow blues on the radio. First time in years I’ve said “lets fund NPR.”
@ Cornflour > “First time in years I’ve said “lets fund NPR.”
Just buy the CDs that you like.
I’ll even send you some of mine!
NPR delenda est.
Also, you may leave your gallbladder alone, but will it leave YOU alone?
It is annoying to get these requests for just about everything. Home Depot wants me to rate my experience with 1 1/4″ drywall screws. Seriously, that is ridiculous, they should apply some discretion and not ask about such mundane things.
For major items, whether they be products or services, generally that cost a significant amount of money or that are important and consequential (doctor visits, vehicle service, etc.), I don’t mind completing the survey. The reason is that I rely on the opinions and assessments from these surveys when choosing which item to purchase or service provider to hire.
Anyway, just ignore and delete the trivial ones, like the one for 1 1/4″ drywall screws – which we’re downright incredible and perfect for my project. 🙂
Yes, Shirehome, every cash register seems to have a tip request -I bought fresh fish at a market yesterday and the card machine asked, tip? 15? 20? 25%, and you have to choose “no tip” but why tip the guy who just wrapped a filet and rang it up? Same thing with a loaf of bread at a bakery that they simply pulled off the shelf and rang up on the register. Why tip?
The emails that do not get filed in my service qualify for a mass delete. Over time one gets very astute as to what emails to open and which qualify for the delete pile.
The ratings requests that really get under my crawl are those that pop up when you go to a site and are three clicks into your information quest.
No, I haven’t found what I am looking for. No I will not give you a good rating because you are so damned annoying and won’t allow me to even accomplish what I came here for before bothering me.
No I won’t acknowledge this request.
It seems government websites are the worst for doing this.
There all vented . .
The worst is when they beg for 5 stars because anything less is no good. Wife and I stayed at an inn in Lake Tahoe a few months ago and got one of those messages. The room was nice except for the bathroom so I would have given it 4 stars but they said they only wanted 5 so they got no review at all.
The problem with most surveys is that they are focused on the performance of individual employees rather than the system, and 95% of the time, the problem is with the system.
Trying to get a problem resolved w American Express, I got transferred around at least 4 time, I think actually in a loop at one point. I’m not going to give an individual employee a bad rating because procedure designer screwed up.
(nevermind)
2024 was a year of orthopedic repairs to my legs. Only two surgeries, but rather a lot of electronic information “noise” ensued.
Yes, I got bugged with a dozen or more ratings requests, but the other thing that bothered me was all the demands to create and use online accounts for each individual healthcare provider. Primary care physician, orthopedist, MRI provider, blood work labs, the physical therapist, and I’ve probably forgotten a couple. I gotta laugh when the account requires a password that must have at least 10 characters, upper and lower case characters, a number, and a special character. It’s not Fort Knox people!
The orthopedist had a couple automated systems that would ask me to confirm an upcoming appointment (email), then a few days later I’d get another vague one via voice message. Was the second message a duplicate or not? On inquiry, yes. They explained that their system does that. I imagine it’s not easy to fix.
I also get such emails. Lowe’s, Amazon, most online purchases, and now seemingly my periodontist. The bane of keeping email communications open is the (seemingly) continual chore of manually deleting such junk. As WJC would say, “I feel your pain.” [But I am not biting my lower lip]
Andrew Sullivan (yes I know, who cares?) just vented his spleen, liver, gall bladder, and entire gut with a tirade against Donald Trump. Talk about unhinged. To quote his Requiem for the West:
“Control, plunder, gloat. This is the Trump way.”
To think that back in the day I was an avid follower of the Daily Dish.
I’d like to vent my spleen about charity requests at the register: “Would you like to donate money to prevent childhood cancer…?” Now I’d like to think I am very generous with charity. But charity is very personal! Buying toilet paper at CVS shouldn’t be a cause for a guilt trip.
Well, since venting is the order of the day. The most annoying to me is my medical service–a large University affiliated one–that always asks for feedback; then insists that you must answer every question whether it is relevant or not. Tut. Tut. No skipping of questions. Very controlling. As a result, I answer no pleas for feedback, although I would frequently like to offer compliments.
I have tried to comment on the practice, but there is no facility to do that.
“The room was nice except for the bathroom so I would have given it 4 stars but they said they only wanted 5 so they got no review at all.”
So, 100% of their reviews will be 5-star? Nice (?)
OT
Dan Bongino is Assistant Director of the FBI.
Yes, all those emails, requests for tips, please don’t give less than 5 stars, etc are annoying as all get out.
But, the one thing that “galls” me is if I give to a charity and they then spend more than the amount I gave them in trying to get more money from me.
No, I gave what I could and please do not pester me for more.
It really is galling if they simply add me to a list of potential donors and spend more on mailings, phone calls, etc. that are just a waste of the money I gave them.
I have found that the only ones who don’t waste my money on trying to hit me up for more are the local First Aid and Fire Company (both are all volunteer in my small town); and the local food bank.
Richard F Cook:
Heads will be exploding tomorrow!
Dan Bongino as the no. 2 backing up Kash Patel.
Sweet!
@ charles > “I give to a charity and they then spend more than the amount I gave them in trying to get more money from me.”
They have a lot of gall!
Back in the days of paper mail, I would save a bunch of the “dunning” letters, put them in a single envelope and send back with a note: “I know who you are and how to send mail. I will continue to contribute to your cause only if I NEVER hear from you again. One more letter from you and the deal is off.”
I seldom heard from them again.
Now, I just throw the mail in the trash and take them off my list.
@DAVID FOSTER on February 23, 2025 at 9:43 am said:
The problem with most surveys is that they are focused on the performance of individual employees rather than the system, and 95% of the time, the problem is with the system.
_______
You nailed it. But to allow you to give a bad rating to the system would reflect on management, and we can’t have that.
(Note, the anything less that a top score is a failure features in the Caine Mutiny.)
I choose to remain a cipher to these people. I’m not about to rate a doctor; I figure he knows what he’s doing. And for online purchases, if you don’t hear from me after the sale, then I’m fine.
Which is a little contradictory, because before I buy I do look at how a product is reviewed. But I guess I’m going by people who desperately need their voices heard. If they’re willing to take the time, I’ll pay attention. I’m not, though. Life is too short.
the worst is when you send back a product, and they refuse to acknowledge it, worse yet, they send keep sending you recommendations for other products,
This is not really on point because I’m not talking about feedback. But this post is about annoying websites making demands, especially government ones, so here goes. I’m president of the board of a tiny little nonprofit corporation. This morning I had to set up an account for the corporation with NY state’s business licensing portal so we could get a certain exemption certificate that the county health department was requiring before it would give us a license to have fundraising pancake breakfasts. (We’ve been doing the breakfasts and getting the licenses from the county board of health for years and years. They never asked for this exemption certificate before. But whatever.)
Filling out the online account took forever and asked for every possible detail about both me, as the requestor, and the nonprofit corporation I needed the certificate for. Finally I had to name at least one officer of the nonprofit and provide info. I named myself, and the site then insisted that I tell them what percentage of the corporation I own. It’s a nonprofit. I own none of it. Nobody owns it. There are no shares. It owns itself and various volunteers serve on its board. That’s how nonprofit corporations work. And mind you, this certificate I was trying to get is ONLY for nonprofit corporations, so nobody who’s filling out the application ever has any ownership interest. But would the site accept “None” or “Zero” or 0 as an answer? It would not. I had to put in a number between 1 and 100 as my percentage of ownership or it would not let me complete the application. There was no way around it.
I hunted around for a help feature or phone number on the site but couldn’t find any. I searched a little online to see if anybody else had dealt with the problem and couldn’t find anything. I finally got fed up with the waste of my time and put in that I own 100 percent of the nonprofit. Bingo, out came my exemption certificate. And of course I had to certify that everything I’d put in had been accurate, when in fact they had refused to accept accurate info and I had to give them false info. But that’s what it took to make NY.gov happy . . . so dumb!! It made what had been a sunny morning a cranky one for a while there, until I got over it.
Just venting my spleen! Or gallbladder or whatever.
Mrs. Whatsit: my gosh, what a crazy, defective new website requiring assinine fake data!
I feel for you! Hope your BP is good, by now.
Earlier today, I attempted to pay a hospital bill online.
It took ridiculous time, & EXHAUSTING trials, in 3 different browsers before one would accept my payment.
Really makes me wish there was some fair system where my fee was reduced by some % each time I had to fight a defective web form they forced on me!
Mrs Whatsit:
Condolences!
Since Thanksgiving I’ve been running through mazes to get access to the family trust. It was based on oil leases which I thought had run dry. We hadn’t received any disbursements for six or seven years..
There’s not a lot of money at stake. But I managed to discover there’s $28K sitting in an account. I would like to get that money out for myself, my sister and niece.
But geez louise, these people are useless. They keep asking me what I want and how to do it. You tell me!
After I got access to the account just to view it, something changed and I lost access. Neither the bank nor the trust people could help me. Today I drove to a local branch and maybe I now have access.
We’ll see. I’m too tired tonight to check.
It seems to me that with all digital/online/security issues involved no one really knows how these systems work. If you stop bothering the personnel, that’s fine with them. Why should they care?
Marlene and huxley, I guess we feel each others’ pain! good luck with the hospital bills and trusts . . .