I've always tested as INTJ as well, but this test says ISTP. I did score a 99% on introversion so at least that's about right. All of these tests ask the same basic questions multiple times per test and just word them differently. I assume it's to balance scores, but it's annoying to answer "you would rather read a book than go to a party" and then turn around and answer "you don't enjoy parties as much as reading" or what have you. Interesting, but I don't feel it describes my personality particularly well. Still, it's a fun 5 minute break from work.

As for your sales series, I have to admit that I don't have a very positive view of sales, probably due to movies/shows/my dad, but I'm going to try to word this in a non-hostile way. If you think I'm being a dick, sorry! I promise I'm not trying to be one. I really do enjoy reading about your work and am very curious to know how it all works. I know nothing about the sales world so be prepared for some stupid questions if you decide to read on.

I can't help but feel that everything in sales is contrived and designed to purposefully sell things that maybe the customer doesn't really need. This isn't due to what you're saying, but my own uninformed view. Do you as a salesperson have a genuine concern for the issues that your customer faces and have a desire for them to succeed or is the goal just to sell more things? I'm certain that you want their business to grow so that you can continue selling more things to them, but do you have to balance their growth with your own sales goals? Speaking of, what kind of goals do you (salespeople in general) have? Sale quotas, dollar quotas, or something else? How do things like having Billy Bob as a customer for 20 years who only buys $10,000 in goods/services a year compare to Joe Dirt who pays $100k this year and you never see him again? I guess my question there is who is the more valuable customer? Is that question even relevant?

Hypothetical - your customer says he needs a bigger refrigerator, but you convince him that he needs a bigger freezer as well. He doesn't necessarily need a bigger freezer, but you've convinced him that he does. Is it due to you projecting a future need for more frozen storage for him or a present want for more money for you? Is there an established ethical guideline or is it more of a personal one that you set for yourself? How do you know that you're acting in the customer's best interests and not just your own (I'm assume you try and have a healthy balance), or is that a consideration? Is this even a realistic scenario?

The things you've posted such as mirroring and paraphrasing also seem very odd to me. For example, you said

Prospect: We are down about 12% year to date in the southeastern US market. This means we are likely not going to be able to open our new southeast facility until fourth quarter 2016.

Salesperson: Okay, so what you are saying is that you would like to be able to open up your new southeast facility sooner, but because of sluggish sales in that region, you will have to wait until late 2016.

Prospect: Yes, unfortunately, that's where we find ourselves.

Do people not get annoyed when someone does that? "Yes, I just said that (and now I'm annoyed)" is what I think when I read the salesperson's response. As for mirroring, I just think "are you copying me?" suspicious squint. I do realize that you put disclaimers at the bottom for newbies about being genuine, but I'm curious as to how this actually works. Maybe I shouldn't own a business.

Anyway, sorry again if this comes off as rude. I'm curious as to how this works with more normal people.

vi ride our pet bears!

I refuse to believe that this is a false statement. Don't shatter my dreams.

Russia is more than people in the US are lead to believe through idiotic stereotypes in the modern artistic media.

I imagine other countries portraying America as either filled with beer-guzzling hillbillies or brutal Wall Street types. I'm sure you've answered this somewhere, but are there any stereotypes that Russians think about Americans (or other countries)?

It's called a wardrobe malfunction. Sheesh!

When I worked at the construction site, my first six weeks of work were unofficial, and so the payment to me wasn't declared anywhere (probably ascribed to buying a bit more materials); as such, I received what's called "black payment" (which is analogous in meaning to black market, with "white payment" being taxed over and "grey payment" being a combination of two - so you might make 80k in total, but the organization only pays taxes on the officially declared 30k).

We would call black payment "paying under the table" here in the US. I don't think we have a name for the other two, but many places with cash tips are the same as your grey payment. Credit card tips are recorded, but sometimes it's up to the person being tipped to declare cash tips to be taxed.

This is one thing I love about English: you can address any man by using the respectful but not poetic "sir", and any(?) woman - by using "ma'am".

Yep! Tacking on a "sir" or "ma'am" is usually smiled upon. You can call an older man "sir" and be seen as respectful, while calling a younger man "sir" helps them feel respected and included. I've seen some younger women turn their nose up at being called ma'am because it makes them feel old, but everyone gets a healthy dose of "sir" and "ma'am" from me anyway. Take my respect, dammit!

I'm surprised they gave you books at all.

e - Seems someone hasn't noticed their typo.

I've read two books in North Korea's prison system.

in

I encourage you to read up on North Korea's political prisons. Here's a few links that you may find interesting.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/19/north-korea-prison-camp-14-documentary

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/a-land-of-unspeakable-atrocities-un-commission-warns-leader-kim-jongun-he-could-face-trial-for-human-rights-abuses-in-north-korea-9134405.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/10/AR2008121003855.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_North_Korea

There's also a documentary on the subject.

I stand by my statement that Manning is facing nothing close to this. Humiliating, inhumane, and illegal, yes. Nothing close to North Korea.

I do agree that we need protection for whistleblowers. What that should be, I don't have the expertise to accurately say, but we can't continue to torture people and call ourselves a civilized nation.

It's contraband because they say it's contraband. It doesn't have to make sense to someone outside the system. The article uses the terms "including" and "among" thereby implying there to be more than just these items. Buzzfeed has only highlighted these specific items because that's what brings controversy to the story. It's easily spun as an attack on transgender folks and that's what they want because that's what brings views which turns into money.

I don't doubt that Manning is probably being treated more unfairly than other prisoners because of her decision to (not sure of the correct phraseology here) be transgender and the nature of the crimes committed. That's not a fact that I can verify and it doesn't mean I'm right, but it's not hard to imagine that it's happening.

It's not even close to North Korea. We're not taking generations and enslaving them in essentially concentration camps.

The article and the title here both inspire the reader to have a certain mindset and that is to think that this is an affront to transgender folks, when it's not verified that this is true. Buzzfeed has cherry picked the information they want to use and spun it into an article of half-truths, which is in no way surprising, but it does need to be noted.

Oops. Sorry. Just click the title of this post. It should take you to...

http://www.theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/2014/oct/21/martin-gardner-mathematical-puzzles-birthday

Here be ze answer.

I support Proposition 1.

Never played, but I'm always down for a game of just about anything.

I tried. I really did. He took too long to get to the point and kept interrupting Spoony! I'm just starting the Pathfinder videos now. I've got the itch! I'm about to go on roll20 and beg for a game.

Yeah I'm trying to watch in order, but I may skip forward to those videos since they aren't in the same sequence as Counter Monkey. Only one I skipped was when he brought some other dude in. My girlfriend said D&D was too nerdy for her tear. She can't imagine the awesome battles!

Sort of echoing or at least inspired by tehstone's comment, people in America have this weird masochistic enjoyment from being offended. Words really only have the power that you give them. Saying pretty much anything is bound to offend someone. It doesn't usually make any difference what you mean. It usually comes down to what the actual words are and who says them. Americans are terrible at incorporating context into their judgement.

To answer your specific questions - usually people don't call each other nigger if they're trying to be friendly. They'd go closer to nigga for a friend. See Denzel Washington in Training Day for an example.

People like to whine about retarded because they can. Now we're supposed to say "intellectual disability." Means the exact same thing, so to me it doesn't make a difference. Retarded replaced "feebleminded" or "idiotic" as a medical definition for people with developmental disorders. Now we've replaced that with intellectual disability. Calling someone retarded isn't considered on the same "level" of offensiveness as nigger, IMO. That's pretty subjective, though.

Context and your audience determines your word usage. Losing a game of Mario Kart and calling someone an asshole is different than calling someone an asshole after they key your car.

If you're offended by "you guys," fuck yourself so hard (not you, but... you know. Those folks that are.) Asking "hey, why do you guys tip" and getting that response is ridiculous. If you can't answer a simple question, then it's time to go meditate or some shit because you are way too high-strung.

For some reason, Americans as a whole don't know how to give people the benefit of the doubt. People go immediately from hear word to react, skipping any kind of thought about context, meaning, or speaker's background (e.g. foreigner).

I didn't think you were angry or frustrated at all. I understand that you're genuinely asking these questions and providing your own experiences and thoughts as context.

Edit - If you're comfortable saying, where are you from? Just curious!