Pet Peeves

Poststructural Pub
1

What are your most annoying everyday type little peeves? And I don’t mean the political/religious hypocricies type of peeves. For example, why do we now have to listen to the equivalent of the close up roar of jet engines just for the sake of leaf removal/control? Leaves are not inherently a great threat. I know they can clog drainage and become an eyesore, but anyone ever heard of a friggin rake?

Twice a week in the courtyard there is a veritable army of young able bodied men wearing masks and carrying jet propulsion tanks on their backs; they spend an hour blowing leaves around at untold decibels.

Raking could be sort of fun and a bit of exercise to boot. A much nicer autumn scene, the casual raking of leaves; perhaps a spot of tea and the like…

Philo

2

I had a pet peeve once, but I left his cage open and he flew away… :cry:









jus’ kiddin! :stuck_out_tongue:
One thing that, for one unexplainable reason or other, really bothers the friggin H outta me is when someone leaves their sunglasses on the dash of their car while driving…I dunno why that bothers me so bad. It doesn’t matter if we’re in my wife’s car (which just got it’s poor shiz-nit blown away this weekend by an unattentive driver, by the way) going somewhere as a family or one of my friend’s cars, I’ve gotta reach up and put their sunglasses away for them if they don’t do it themselves.
I can’t just let them sit there! It’s like the damn things are sittin’ there lookin at me!! STARING at me!! AAARRGHH!!
gnyarr… :stuck_out_tongue:

3

one that recently began to bother me is the habit of many young people (and some not so young) to end their sentences with an UP timber of voice. ALL sentences. It sounds as if they are asking a question, but they aren’t, they just end every sentence with UP instead of DOWN tones.

I’ve found this in day to day conversation, news reporting, people giving talks, etc.

Drives me crazy.

4

Especially when they use and overabundance of “Like” and “you know”…ugh! :stuck_out_tongue:

5

When somebody tells me something and then asks if I understand them…

Know what I mean?

Slan,
D. :wink:

6

Vern…

7

Oooh, you know what I mean!

8

I think the folks at Hogwarts have a bone to pick with you.

My pet peeve: Inconsiderate neighbors who who stand outside and smoke their cigarettes upwind of my house, forcing me to shut my windows to avoid their nasty second-hand smoke. :angry:

9

There’s a name for it, which escapes me just now. It originated in CA (Valley Girl) and I think there’s a bunch of psychology literature on it. Has to do with young girls low self esteem.

Current peeve - People who use a credit card to buy a cup of coffee for $1.76. This makes the line a Dunkin’ Donuts go really slow.

10

Your houses must be 10 feet from each other. :boggle:


I have so many peeves I can call none of them my pet.

11

I’d guess about 15 feet, maybe 20. And for some reason, when they’re out on their back deck smoking, the smoke always drifts up to our 2nd story bedroom window. Blech. :imp:

12

The icky, smacking noises someone makes while chewing food with their mouth open. :boggle: It’s very difficult to resist violence against them.

13

That puzzled look cashiers give you when you give them 3.12 cents for a 2.87 purchase.

Indian customer service, unless it’s in Oklahoma.

People selling door to door, especially if it’s religion they are selling. Girl scouts and Cub scouts are exempted from this peeve.

Asking an airline agent why a flight is late and being told it’s waiting on the incoming flight when I can look out the damn window and see that.

Dogs that pee in my yard, especially when the owner is attached to the other end of the leash.

Screwed up drive through orders.

Zealous converts, especially those who cannot understand that difference between conversion and apostasy is merely point of view.

Ordering “diet cola” and being told “We only have Diet Pepsi and Diet Dr Pepper.”

Pinheads whe cannot park between the lines.

Perkiness.

14

Almost all of what I might call Pet Peeves are dominated around cell phones being used by others as well as me. Not just vehicular, but actually using the damn things. The Authorities (at home) finally convinced me to get one again (having been cell-free since mine was stolen two years ago) and now I get to have the pleasure of interrupted calls, dodgy signal, a dinky keypad and way too many bellls and whistles.

On the street, in their cars, in shops, in businesses, restaurants, the fact that the whole world seems to be calling to get out of the Matrix really bugs me. If only it worked.

Why do people have to talk so much all the time?

15

Geez, where should I start?

Loud rock music in stores.

Snowmobiles driven anywhere except on the edge of highways. Why is it okay to ruin my quiet walk in the woods and scare off all the birds and animals?

Purposely loud cars and pick-ups driving fast through quiet neighborhoods.

People who do not immediately remove their noise-making (and it doesn’t have to be that loud, ANY noise is disturbing) child from a concert.

People who make avoidable noise in wilderness areas. Leaving no trace applies to sound waves too.

Dogs that bark constantly because their owners don’t care for them enough to have them in the house or make arrangements for a better home for them.

People who, instead of troubling themselves to move to roughly the same place the person they are addressing is occupying, shout across long distances to converse thus forcing us all to hear their conversations.

People who do not whisper quietly in museums and libraries.

People who allow their children to run around in restaurants endangering themselves and servers as well as disturbing the other diners. When the children become restless, it is time to go.

People working anywhere who do not make an effort to be friendly if you need to deal with them. I know it is hard sometimes, and even impossible on some days perhaps, but I really appreciate just a bit of a hello and an attempt, at least, to appear to be concerned with my question or problem.

Litter bugs.

People who have lots of things and go on great vacations but who complain about vet bills or don’t want to pay much to have their pet taken care of while they are on vacation. Part of vacation expense is the cost of making sure the animal is well cared for----just making sure it will survive is not good enough. If the vacation needs to be scaled down to do that, then scale it down.

Restaurants with food and other debris on their floors. Get the dang carpet sweeper or broom out!

Restrooms that only have air blowers for drying your hands.

Hmm. I guess I’m a pretty peevish person :laughing: .

16

Ditto that. I had a lengthy wait in a couple of airports over the weekend (I’d allowed an extra couple of hours because of the new regs)… and as I strolled around the terminal it started to creep me out, a bit. Seemed 9 out of 10 people were walking along or sitting or standing talking on cell phones. And talking. And talking. People with handsfree mikes walking along as they babble away, appearing to be talking to themselves. I find it amazingly obnoxious that a guy will stand in the middle of an airport terminal and loudly discuss a business deal, including names and sums of money, on a cell phone. … And then when you try to sit in the waiting area at the gate (or anywhere) and read, it’s impossible to concentrate because of all the cell phone yammer. Ack.

17

Since cell phones are a fairly common peeve, here are some things I’ve tried –

Herding cell phone people – There is a comfort zone for most people when talking on the phone. Unfortunately, it’s nowhere big enough to keep them from being an irritation, but you can use this to amuse yourself. Just go stand close to them. When you get inside the magic comfort distance, they’ll move away (most of them, anyway). Then you just move in closer. Or come in at an angle to get them to take a different path. If they head off in a distance you don’t like, just work your way around and herd them on back where you want them. I once herded a person (granted, a co-worker, not a stranger) all over a restaurant parking lot just to prove to people this works.

Fisher-Price cell phone – They used to make one with a belt clip that looked pretty real. Put it on your belt, then quietly hit the button to make it ring, and answer it. Have your own loud and obnoxious conversation right next to the person in whose honor you are giving this entertainment. ("G**dammit, I told you not to call me at this number. This can be traced . . .etc. . . . ") Pretend cell phone works best in confined areas.

Whistling while you fly – I can whistle pretty well (with my mouth, not with a whistle, which is another thing altogether), and I have a developed a kind of sotto voce whistle that can be very irritating, especially when performed sitting next to a cell phone user on an airplace when waiting for the doors to close. I can also side-blow a whistle loud enough to be irritating. They usually hang up pretty quickly, although one turned to me and said I was distracting, to which the reply was “So is your braying into that cell phone, but you don’t see me complaining.”

18

Gonzo rocks.

19

Word.

20

Aw, shucks, it was nothin’. I have a natural proclivity for being irritating. But it is nice to have a socially acceptable outlet for it for a change.