Pet peeves

[JSCOOK]

IMHO we're all in trouble, as all of the pet peeves mentioned so far are becoming far more common. What ever happened to good manners? Consideration? Too many syllables in that word, or too many reality TV shows that show greed, backbiting, etc?

I think that was when people understood the "Golden Rule" ...

[Ed62]

Yeah, I have to agree with you, Paul.

Ed

[siliconbauhaus]

just dont mention metric

[ufg8r85]

I manage a supermarket, so here goes. People who ask "do you work here" I want to respond "no I just noticed the mayo was low so I figured I would fill it. People who say "well up north..." I usually try to be compassionate and relate a personal experience where I was in NY and couldn't get grits with breakfast. When in Rome... Too many more to list.

[L. D. Jeffries]

This is not actually a rant, but seeing so much about drivers, traffic etc. can't resist posting this: While in Saigon during V.N. conflict had to ride "cyclo's" (three wheel motercycle open cabs) across town many times. The drivers had a practice that seems to have crept over here. "When approaching an intersection; blow your horn=to let people know you are coming; in the intersection; blow your horn=let people know you are there; leaving the intersection; blow your horn=to celebrate making it through!" Spent a lot of riding time back then with both hands covering my eyes!

[lrr]

Finally, the inverse of JSCooks: people who freak out when temperatures get a little below freezing, or they get a few inches of snow and it shuts down their life. This morning on the national news the weather guy was talking about a particular area of the country suffering through "arctic temperatures that may drop into the single digits during the night." Until the day's high is in the negative double digits with a 40 mph steady wind, don't talk to me about cold.

OK, first, since you are in South Dakota, you've automatically earned bragging rights for toughness during the winter ... at least from my perspective in Colorado.

But, we do get some pretty cold weather. like right now. We used to go to see family in Florida. Went one Thanksgiving, and the natives were walking on the beach, wearing long pants, jackets, and hats. We were swimming! -- it was 50 degrees, but the water was great. I am sure they looked at us and sniffed "Northerners" with disdain ...

Alright, now on to my biggest pet peeve, now that our town is way too big, and turnlights are now way too short:

People that WILL NOT pull out into intersection at a left turn, and then turn left on the red. At some intersections this is absolutely required if you are ever going to get left.

[Knottscott]

Prolly my number one beef are people who are in a hurry to pull out in front of me so they can drive slow.

Others:
- left laners
- tail gaters
- kid's functions that don't end at the stated pickup time
- telemarketers who don't listen to "no thank you"
- Ebay auto snipe systems
- people who take up two parking spots in a crowded lot
- loud talkers in movie theaters
- crying babies in movie theaters
- crying babies on airplanes
- slow drivers in general
- chronic tardiness
- litter bugs

[scorrpio]

I manage a supermarket, so here goes. People who ask "do you work here" I want to respond "no I just noticed the mayo was low so I figured I would fill it.

Well, this one is actually understandable. People at stores increasingly take initiative rather than wait for a worker to retrieve what they need. Other customers often mistake those for workers, which leads to interesting situations. Here's one.
I was going through a mess of pipe fittings at my local HD, finding them all in the wrong boxes. Finally, in order to find all I needed I started to sort them out, push empty boxes further in and retrieve and open new ones etc. There was another flustered-looking gentleman pacing up and down the isle as I was doing this. Suddenly he stopped by me and started chewing me out that he was waiting there to get someone to cut and thread some pipe for about 20 minutes and I am fiddling with those fittings which I can easily do when there is no customer waiting.

I calmly heard him out, and replied that I would be happy to do that for him as I probably know better than most employees how to use the threading machine, but unfortunately I do not know the lock code for it as I am not a store employee. He was VERY embarassed. I think he'll be asking 'do you work here' at stores for a while after this.

[jseklund]

IMHO we're all in trouble, as all of the pet peeves mentioned so far are becoming far more common. What ever happened to good manners? Consideration? Too many syllables in that word, or too many reality TV shows that show greed, backbiting, etc?

I agree. Something I always wonder- if all these things tick me off so much, and everyone seems oblivious to the fact that they are upsetting people- what am I oblivious to that I am doing?

I think that we have become a very "external" society. We look "out there" and let that control us, rather than looking inside and deciding how we are going to act. Instead of choosing characteristics that we want to have- like being polite, helpful, etc- we let the environment upset us, make us angry, etc. I have been trying lately to not let these pet peeves bother me. During Christmas I went to a store with my mother- in the MALL! There was this complete idiot who almost hit her head on, didn't bother to slow down, etc- he was in too much of a rush to realize what he was doing probably. My mom got upset. I told her that his stupidity was his problem, not hers.

It all begins with us deciding how we want to act and following through, instead of reacting to the environment. Connected to this is something someone told me once- "There is no They". People always say, "They should fix that." or "They Should do...." But there is no They- only people like me.

[cwsmith]

I agree, my biggest peeve seems to be the lack of manners that people have. Perhaps it's just being so self-centered that people don't care, or there's a lack of knowledge about such simple things.

Examples (and pet peeves):

Cell Phones: Technology is sort of cool, but are we all really so bored with our surroundings that we can't "hang-up" once in awhile. People use them in the restaurants, behind the wheel, walking down the street, and even in line at the stores. I find it a rather sad statement of life when I see two people together, and one spends all the time talking on the phone! (Duh, if you don't like the person you're with, then why aren't you alone?)

Baseball Hats: I can see wearing one most of the time, if you're in Little League, or to cover the head when out in the sun and weather... but haven't you ever been told that it's impolite to wear one when indoors, especially in a restaurant or theater!!?

No turn-signals: Most drivers seem to be clueless about that thing that sticks out beneath the left side of their steering wheel. Unfortunately, I don't think it's as much ignorance as it is, they don't care... afterall, they are the only one on the road that matters.

The inability to say "Thankyou" when somebody does something for you, even if it's something simple; or saying, "You're welcome" in response (somehow, "no problem" just doesn't seem to cut it). But I guess the pleasure is in the effort to help, as we don't do it for the response. Still it would be nice if there was some acknowledgement of your effort! Likewise, there are those other little acknowledgements like "excuse me please", "you're welcome", "pardon me", "may I help you", "Maam" and "Sir".... all seem to be lost along with the art of chivalry.

CWS

[JoeyGee]

I agree with most of the ones already listed--especially the slow drivers in the left lane.

Let me add mine...

People who ask themselves a question and then answer it. Could this trait be more annoying? Absolutely not. Am I happy about people doing this? No I am not.

The word absolutely.

Anyone referring to themselves in the third person.

Cliche's. MAN I HATE THOSE. "He brings a lot to the table" or "He always brings his A-Game" or any others I have blocked from my conciousness.

Using the word "baby" or any of it's variants to describe anything other than a recently born human or a small version of something larger (ex. baby grand). This includes, but is not limited to, any bad Austin Powers impersonation (and they are ALL bad). Any "Ya Baby!" exclamations in celebrations or taunts.

"That's what I am talking about"--unless it's an actual clip of Kip from Napoleon Dynamite.

Taunting in sports.

People who speed up in traffic just when I am going around to pass.

Stuart Scott

That should be good for now.

[lrr]

[...]
Cliche's. MAN I HATE THOSE. "He brings a lot to the table" or "He always brings his A-Game" or any others I have blocked from my conciousness.

YES! Especially "He gave it 110%" ... NO! The engineer/mathematician in me goes crazy!

Another one: Confusing "it's" with "its" -- "it's" is ONLY a contraction for "it is". But only English would use do this! You would use the punctuation "That is Billy's home", and dissimilarly: "That is its home" ... ??!

Sorry, I'm one of those rare engineers that has some English and writing skill ... and that probably explains why I eventually gravitated to sales and marketing ...