Pet Peeves
I get annoyed when I get a notification of a new Twitter follower, and I click over to see that they have already unfollowed me — even though there hasn’t been a new tweet to bore or offend them. In other words, they could see my stream, decided to follow me, and when I didn’t follow them back quickly enough, they unfollowed. Which means they never had any interest in what I had to say. They just wanted me to follow them back. And that is the worst reason to follow someone on Twitter since… you know… you’ll have to read their blatherings even if they do follow you.
Sometimes social media doesn’t feel very social at all.
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I am constantly annoyed when there are two lines of cars, and they are supposed to alternate to combine into one line. But rather than wait for ONE MORE CAR to go ahead so we continue the pattern, a car tries to dart forward from the same line, throwing off the rhythm. And it only puts them ONE CAR LENGTH forward. Being a dick to save minutes of time, sure. But being a dick to save exactly three seconds while you potentially cause an accident and force everyone else to slam on their brakes?
For what amounts to one car length worth of driving time?
That pisses me off.
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Facebook invites are the bane of my existence. Every few months, I remember they exist and I go into Facebook to discover that I’ve been invited to a dozen events, some of which I would have liked to attend. I know Facebook invites are easy. I know they work for some people. But despite my notifications box being checked, I do not see Facebook event invites unless I go into Facebook events. Therefore, I rarely find out about them before it’s too late.
I’m totally down with the electronic invitation. While I still love to receive a paper invitation because it goes up on the board in the kitchen, I can understand why people choose the environmentally-friendly evite. But please, we’ve gone from the ultra personal (paper) to the personal (evite to your inbox) to the totally impersonal (Facebook). I need things to come directly to me if people want me to see it; not to languish somewhere on my Facebook page. And I’ll be honest, even if I were to ever time it properly and see the invite on Facebook before the event, I doubt I’d RSVP on there. I don’t need my Facebook friends to see what I’m doing that day. I don’t need Facebook to know what I’m attending. I would really like my attendance at events to be between myself, the host, and maybe the other guests.
Those are my pet peeves. What are yours?
28 comments
Oh, that car thing gives me the irrits, as well as those people who go through the intersection and wind up on the crosswalk, or better yet in the middle of the road because the lane is full. Argh, everyone in the crossing road is now delayed for the sake of maybe 30 seconds.
Someone at work cooks fish and broccoli in the microwave. Our kitchen doesnt have a door. It’s not a friendly smell. I actually set off a fire alarm by spraying deodorant to deal with stinky fish smell ( apparently the fine particles in deodorant are similar to smoke for modern fire alarm sensors).
The people who bring those little suitcases on the plane as carry on and proceed to shove everything around because they boarded last
And finally, people who are late. Drives me nuts. I of course must drive them nuts too, with my fixation on earlyness. I deal with it by arranging to meet somewhere pleasant or where I can do something while waiting.
The fb thing annoys me too bc I also get a million of those, “online buying party!” invites on there, and it clogs up my brain for useful invites even more.
Also, people who act sure that they know when they don’t. For example, an animal is sleeping and, “Oh look! That one is depressed! What a shame!” or, “look at that great warthog!” when it’s a farm pig.
Lastly, when you get answers to questions you didn’t ask for, and it’s usually assvice. Ex: How well did clomid work for you?
Answer: Have you tried a cruise? Bc really, relaxation is so much healthier. ARGH
Hmm, mine for today is going to be: When people repeatedly ask you to do something, even when you have told them you will as soon as you can and they KNOW that their request is not in the top 20 in the priority list. A la “hey, can you send me that recipe when you get a chance”, repeated every few days. Yup, I remember, the chance just hasn’t come around.
Also – people who cannot park between the lines in the parking lot. If you go in crooked, back up and try again. If you can’t successfully judge the length of your car, at least try to line up the front of your car with the rest so you’re not taking up the space behind you too.
I’m so with you on the Facebook invites. I never ever click them. I also am kind of old school on evites for things the are a formal occasion. Evite for a kids birthday party, fine. Evite for a wedding, I still think that’s tacky. If I’m bringing you a present I kind of expect a formal invitation. I know. I’m sorry. The first time I get a Facebook invitation to a wedding I might pass out.
Mine is tailgaters. Especially the ones who get all upset and further up on my bumper when I’m slowing down for a red light.
I’m not on Twitter,* but many of my pet peeves are Facebook related. Yes, the event invitations, most of which are at-home sales parties, but also post- and photo-stealing contacts. My aunt hijacks/shares pictures and status updates without asking. She does this routinely, several times a week. My SIL’s mom was at the hospital when her newest grandchild (my niece) was born, and she posted pics to FB; within moments, my aunt had shared the pictures, introducing the baby to everyone. My dad (other grandparent) was really irritated.
A very good friend also always “likes” each and every one of her own comments and photos, which I find annoying.
People who park their carts right in the middle of the aisle at the grocery store, and then are annoyed when you politely ask them to move aside so you can continue past them. I imagine these are probably the same people who drive 55 in the left-hand lane on the highway.
Ooh, the alternating merge drives me nuts too. Especially when one line is really long and the other lane is open for ages, in anticipation of what is up ahead causing the merge in the first place and someone drives all the way up the empty lane and merges way ahead of people who had already merged. To me it’s a sign of either dickery, or idiocy because how can it not occur to them that EVERYONE is in the lane for a reason. I imagine them driving along thinking, “Oh, how nice for me, everyone’s out of my way… I wonder why all those morons are all inching along in the same lane”…
I’m not on Twitter, but I find the other two things you mention annoying, too. (Saw an example of the merge thing just this morning on my commute, as I do most mornings.)
Like ANDMom, I hate people who can’t park inside the lines, too. How hard is this? If you don’t get it right the first time–I don’t always–just back up and try again instead of inconveniencing others. Just shows selfishness, IMO.
I have a lot of pet peeves that involve Facebook, but one of the latest ones is its “suggested pages.” I really don’t need help finding the things I like, thanks.
My pet peeves: waste, sense of entitlement, and (in the last hour) people who write numbers as “three (3)” because they think it looks professional. Folks, I can understand either number format. Just pick one and stick with it.
Pretty much everything irritates me. 🙂
Other drivers – the mergers, the 5 mph under the speed limit drivers when the weather is clear and there’s no traffic, the people who pull out in front of you and go slow especially when there’s no one behind you and they could have waited 10 seconds and not inconvenienced anyone, people who can’t find the center of the parking space. You know, I probably should just move somewhere with good public transportation.
Also, my printer, my husband and his constant battles with all technological items, my daughter repeating the same thing over and over and over and over, Ke$ha, and my coworkers. I could probably keep going, but I’m sure my endless list is irritating to others.
I share in all of yours and have to add the one where you’re walking down the sidewalk (or an aisle in a store, etc) and you meet a horizontal wall of people walking along together and they insist on holding their formation and because there is no room for an extra body to get past them, they force you to either completely stop walking or step into the bushes. It’s mostly teenagers trolling my small town who do this. OK, now I sound crotchety. I probably am. GET OFF MY LAWN!
Agreed on the fb invites. Actually most of my pet peeves are things people do on fb, like lecturing me about what I should be sharing (I don’t share anything FYI). Or non-parents posting parenting advice. My fingers itch with the need to comment “Shut. It.”
Otherwise, I let a lot of stuff go. Mostly because I am too tired to be annoyed. 😉
#1 pet peeve is people who don’t pick up their dog poo. I’ve had a dog for years. I always pick up. Even in the woods, if I can see it and get to it, I own it. I’ve been known to go back and pick it up hours later, if I run out of bags or whatever. Even when my dog had the squitters, I would carry a 2 litre bottle of water or cover it with dirt or sand and did my best to remove the remains. It’s disgusting, foul, and I can’t tell you how many times I cursed if my fingers got soiled but I did it anyway. Dog walkers generally walk the same dog friendly areas over and over and I don’t enjoy stepping in dog poo or smelling it on a hot summer’s day. I will go up and ask other people for a bag. I will give others a bag. I never lecture or harangue or follow anyone to harass them. I even used to just pick it up myself. It’s just common courtesy and contrary to popular belief, dog poo is NOT AS biodegradable as you think it is (especially if the dog is not on a raw food diet) . Here in North Vancouver, people have a habit of bagging it and then LEAVING it. They’ll even throw it under your bushes or something. I could go on and on but you get my point.
Check out the Lions Gate bridge in Vancouver. Specifically on the North Vancouver side. It’s 3 lanes. The traffic is horrendous. 3 lanes of traffic have to do to merge into one lane to get onto the bridge at alternating times. I have no idea of the timing of these things, but if you need to get downtown at 5 pm, you’re screwed cause you know for sure that on the North side, you get only one lane. It’s been this way since the beginning but some dick always tries to push forward and screw up the system of taking turns to merge.
People who don’t say ” excuse me” when they want to get by you in a line or something. They just stand there or just push by like you’re not there. It’s rude to do that. If I don’t know you’re there or I’m looking in another direction, just speak up and I will accommodate you. Please don’t stand there like a lamp post and glare.
Whew! Wow, that was some venting! Thanks.
Cellphones are a big pet peeve of mine. I was just at the Starbucks downstairs in my office tower, and I swear half the people were standing there staring at screens while they waited for their order. This morning, a moron walking ahead of me was staring at his screen and nearly walked into a delivery guy crossing his path with a big tram full of stuff. The delivery guy said, not loudly but not happily either, “Watch where you’re going…” and the guy snapped at him “YOU watch where you’re going!” Hey, he was pushing a big trolley full of stuff; you had more leeway to move than he did. :p
Related to that — the commuter trains here introduced Quiet Zones on rush hour trains (the upper level of each train car) a few months ago. This is not my pet peeve, lol — quite the opposite. I am so happy they did this, and for the most part, it’s been working reasonably well — but every now & then, there are people who will be happily chattering away with each other or on their phones… and the irony is they are almost ALWAYS seated directly below the sign that says “Quiet Zone”!!!
It’s all to do with manners (or lack thereof)…
We have several of these… here’s the first! http://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/the-pet-peeves-post/
Apostrophes used in plural words. Never ok!
Baggers at the grocery store who fill one bag extra heavy then put like a loaf of bread in the other.
Incorrect use of the word “literally” (e.g. “I am literally starving” or “I literally just walked into hell”) drives me nuts. I’m also not a big fan of mixing up “fewer” vs. “less,” but I have learned to set that aside in the interest of, you know, having friends 😉 I have little patience for people who drive in the left lane even though they’re not passing the person to the right. I live in a traffic hell, and this makes everyone’s life unnecessarily complicated. Go slow, fine, but get the hell out of the way. People are trying to get to work, princess! How about high-maintenance girls who don’t grab the door when I hold it or say thank you but prance on through with entitlement? B*tch, I’m not your boyfriend!
I have to ditto Working Mom of Two. When, OH WHEN did it became so common to use apostrophe’s when the word is not possessive but plural? I have seen this in so-called professional write-ups. DRIVE’S ME CRAZY. Where did these moron’s go to school? I know teacher’s are teaching it correctly so what happened? It seems to have taken off just in the last few year’s. WHY????
I get so annoyed with the facebook invites too! I never see them until AFTER the event is over or it’s too late to get a gift, make plans, or clear my schedule!
Wait, Facebook has invites? I am so 20th century. . .I had no idea. I’m going to have to go look.
Today’s pet peeve is when people who get an electronic invite DON”T RESPOND. It takes two seconds to click and respond, for pete’s sake. But from polling my friends, I know it’s a common problem. Argh.
Oh so many peeves!! I can’t stand when people push their cart down the middle of the aisle at the grocery store! Then stop to contemplate what to by while standing in the MIDDLE of the aisle then have the nerve to look all put out when I say excuse me to get by. I mean, really people!! They must think they’re the only ones on the planet!!
Biggest pet peeve: People bringing their smart phones to a meeting and looking at them instead of engaging in the meeting. Never. Acceptable. Yet my office seems to be okay with it…
Another pet peeve is people who claim to be “to busy” to do, well just about anything apparently. I’m running into that at work: coworker is to busy to respond to a meeting invite but will gladly chit chat about Punxatawny Phil for 20 minutes…
My biggest pet peeve is when parents are too busy gossiping with other people at stores or places with automatic door buttons for the disabled and they just let their kids use those buttons as a distraction or a toy. They never play lightly with it, they never press it for people going through, they run around the door and press the button just to amuse themselves. I have an issue with anyone using those buttons that have no need for them. Do you have a disability? Are you unable to open the door with your own strength? Are your hands full and you are using your elbow to activate the door? Then it’s ok. Are you using it because you are lazy? Then I’m gonna say something.
There is nothing worse than taking someone in a wheelchair (both with volunteer work or with my own family members who are wheelchair bound) and pressing that button and nothing happens. You just know that a kid broke it because a parent was too busy to teach them that the picture of a stick man in a wheelchair is the universal sign for this is here to assist a person with disabilities and not this is a toy for kids so you can catch up with Jane Doe and not watch your kids. Sorry, its a very big pet peeve for me.
Yes on the Twitter churners. Something fundamentally wrong with people who go after you to up their numbers only to drop you.
Pet peeve: people who respond to a headline or post title in a comment without actually reading the post.
I am FINALLY catching up on my blog reading (and my commenting always suffers in direct proportion to how many unread posts I have), but I can’t wait to read through these comments to commiserate with others. I have many pet peeves, deserving of their own post, but as I don’t have time for that and this here comment window is already open, here I go:
1-I hate it when there are two lanes of traffic moving in the same direction and someone puts on their blinker and immediately comes into my lane even though I am RIGHT there. Just signaling that you want to change lanes doesn’t mean you can come into my lane when I am right where you want to be.
2-I hate it when frozen items come packaged, say, 4 to a box, but none of the inner packages are labeled with how/long to cook the item. So, you have to keep the entire outer package even though you don’t have space in the freezer and it would be so much more space saving to just keep the actual frozen items, you know, if you knew how to prepare them.
3-I hate it when something is perforated but still doesn’t tear cleanly.
4-I hate it when it is impossible to open a foodstuff without the packaging ripping beyond use, requiring you to transfer it to a bag or reusable package. I hate it even more if, in the attempt to open said package, the package rips with such velocity, that the contents spill everywhere.
4-I hate people who do not pick up after their dog just as much as I hate people that don’t flush the toilet in a public restroom.
5-I hate that I don’t have more time to chronicle the myriad other things that annoy me.
Ah, social media. I am actually coming to terms with it, but only as I come to the point of ignoring all the petty school-child behaviour it brings out in people.
The worst for me is when someone finds an “unfollower” and then complains loudly about it. I get that it’s a pet peeve but honestly, roll your eyes and move on. Every so often you’re going to end up blasting someone who just genuinely changed their minds about wanting to follow you (or maybe just pressed the wrong button) and in the meantime nobody looks pretty bitching about someone.
Not talking about your “pet peeve” general note at the top here, I’ve seen people specifically calling out “unfollowers” by name as if that doesn’t make them look equally bad (and, by the way, love having my twitter feed clogged up with name calling and catty bitching, couldn’t be that made them unfollow you, do you think?). And, well, I could go on. But I won’t. Because I don’t need to be in junior high school any more and we all know social media.
A few pet peeves – chewing with your mouth open. I should NOT be able to hear you chew your food.
Having to scoop dog poop out of my yard. I don’t have a dog. I should NEVER have to scoop poop out of my yard!
While we are on that subject, I also hate having to watch every single step while out for a walk or run because people are irresponsible dog owners and can’t pick up after their dogs. I do NOT enjoy cleaning dog poop off of my shoes! We should be able to walk safely on the sidewalk without having to worry about stepping in poop.