What Annoys You? Pet Peeves and Worse....

[Artemis@BC]

I won't go into all my grammar / spelling / vocabulary peeves, we've been over those in other threads.

I think a lot of my pet peeves stem from the general principle of lack of consideration. Or people who think the rules don't apply to them. Like the person who parks in the no-parking-during-rush-hour lane "just for a minute, I'll just picking someone up." Or the person who brings 30 items into the 12-items-or-less [sic] lane at the grocery store. People ignoring the "no smoking within 10 metres of doorways" signs (and of course leaving their butts all over the ground).

Also: people who talk during movies, plays, or concerts. Especially plays or concerts -- it may be elitist but I expect a higher level of audience decorum there than at movies. Or the people who unwrap noisy candies, or fidget with their programmes, or tap their feet, etc. Or the guy sitting next to me at a play last month wearing a very "creaky" leather jacket who couldn't sit still ...

And people who don't wash their hands after using the loo. I mean, I know people are doing it so I don't touch the doorknob on my way out, but to actually see someone leave without washing is extra gross.

 

[Desperado]

Can someone explaine the shoes in winter peeve?

There's snow and ice on the ground, so they walk slower and at any moment, can fall because they think they are above the weather. Maybe I'm just a cranky person.

 

[I Luv Bulldogs]

Piggies who litter . . . . have some damn respect for the planet and where you live! Special shout out to the people who throw out cigarette butts. The ground is not your personal ashtray.

 

[PDilemma]

There's snow and ice on the ground, so they walk slower and at any moment, can fall because they think they are above the weather. Maybe I'm just a cranky person.

So you meant shoes instead of boots? Because your post was unclear. I had visions of someone very fond of frost bitten feet.

As for why people would do that, the reasons may vary immensely and have nothing to do with any notion of being "above the weather". And many shoes have adequate traction without being boots. Plus, people may be moving slowly for a variety of other reasons that are not related to footwear. I say this because people make a lot of assumptions about why my mother moves slowly at times or holds someone's arm. At the airport over the holidays, she was twice offered a wheelchair because airline employees saw her take one of our arms. She has no need of a wheelchair. She happens to be visually impaired and in unfamiliar places takes someone's arm to help ensure she does not trip over something she cannot see.

 

[Johnny_Fever]

People who stand, and don't walk, on escalators. Well, just the people blocking my path.

 

[DBZ]

As someone who needs their caffeine to start the day...when I get coffee in the morning before heading to work, and it's peak morning rush hour so the lines are long, I can't stand people who hold up the line because they don't have their order ready. Either they can't decide what they want, aren't ready to pay or, worst of all, try to strike up a conversation with the cashier/barista or ask them to explain the ingredients/origins/whatever about such-and-such coffee, tea or product.

The line is winding out the door, we're all trying to get to work on time, and these people just bring everything to a halt. Super annoying. At least have the consideration for others and the situation and have your order ready, so we can all get our caffeine and get going.

 

[vesperholly]

People who stand, and don't walk, on escalators. Well, just the people blocking my path.

I stand. I'm lazy. But stand right, walk left.

 

[Artemis@BC]

Special shout out to the people who throw out cigarette butts. The ground is not your personal ashtray.

Yup, that's pretty high on my list too. Butts are the worst litter because birds and other critters tend to eat them, causing all kinds of health problems.

Then there are the extra special a**-holes who empty their car ashtrays on the ground in parking lots. Seriously?

 

[algonquin]

Deleted

 

[olympic]

People using their electronic devices in movie theaters after the lights have dimmed.

Parents that are oblivious to their kids' abrupt / rude behavior in a public place

Drivers who cut in front of you, then slow down!

Soliciting phone calls, especially when the caller gets offended when you tell them not to bother you anymore

Doctors and Dentists selling you crap / procedures that you don't need or can get OTC at pharmacies much more cheaply. My former dentist tried to push a $250 mouth guard on me when you can get one for 10% of that at a pharmacy

 

[PRlady]

Internet trolls.

 

[dinakt]

Loud music in restaurants. Then everybody tries to shout over it, creating the noise loop. I just want to leave, and if I cannot, I am miserable.

 

[Japanfan]

Or the person who brings 30 items into the 12-items-or-less [sic] lane at the grocery store. .

This. When I want to use a short line at the grocery store with a limited item limit, I ensure that I don't exceed the allowed number of items. The limit is the reason why I get to use the faster check-out process, so I respect it.

I've gotten very annoyed at people ahead of me in the limited-item line who try to get away with more items than they are allowed. If six items is the limit, it doesn't mean seven. If you have more than the line allows, you need to go to the regular line. Otherwise there is no point to the fast limited-item line.

 

[skatepixie]

Here is something that has been bugging me for years and I even just mentioned to someone a couple days ago -- grocery baggers. They fill those little plastic bags full of everything. You would think they are doing that to save bags, but, no, then they double bag it because it is too heavy. Put half in one bag and half in the other. Duh!!!!! 1. I have rheumatoid arthritis and I can't lift it. You could quintuple bag two 2 liters of pop and my wrist would break if I tried to lift it by the handles. I tell them and they look at me like I'm a 90 year old woman. 2. Everything falls over in the cart on the way to the car and I have to pick them up and put them in the trunk separately. 3. I've had yogurt leak after having a soup can fall over on it in the bottom of the bag. (Yes, I ask them to put all the yogurts in a separate bag, but between trying to keep my purse on that little ledge and use my card and coupons and pay and watch the register, sometimes I don't notice till it's too late.) Hating to go to the grocery store is bad enough, but the bagging really stresses me out.

I had a bagger last week who broke a bag -- he put in 5 pounds of pasta and 6 pounds of meat into one bag, then complained about the quality of the bag when it broke as he tried to put it in my cart. *eye roll*

 

[misskarne]

Piggies who litter . . . . have some damn respect for the planet and where you live! Special shout out to the people who throw out cigarette butts. The ground is not your personal ashtray.

Elaborating on this: people who throw their cigarette butts out the car window.

Especially the ones who do it in summer.

When it hasn't rained for three weeks.

And the grass by the roadside is bone dry.

Charge 'em with attempted murder, I say.

 

[Susan1]

People who stand, and don't walk, on escalators. Well, just the people blocking my path.

Sorry - I don't understand this at all. If I wanted to walk, I'd just use the stairs? Aren't you supposed to stand there? If I was standing on an escalator and someone tried to go past me, I'd think they were rude.

Funny - my cousin Patty and I used to walk up the down, and down the up escalators at a small department store that didn't have a lot of people trying to go the right way. 1960's - nobody yelled at us.

Still thinking about this - if you walk up an escalator, how much faster do you get there? By the time you take one step up, that step is already up higher anyway. Getting a headache hee hee!.........

 

[olympic]

Sorry - I don't understand this at all. If I wanted to walk, I'd just use the stairs? Aren't you supposed to stand there? If I was standing on an escalator and someone tried to go past me, I'd think they were rude.

Funny - my cousin Patty and I used to walk up the down, and down the up escalators at a small department store that didn't have a lot of people trying to go the right way. 1960's - nobody yelled at us.

Still thinking about this - if you walk up an escalator, how much faster do you get there? By the time you take one step up, that step is already up higher anyway. Getting a headache hee hee!.........

In Europe while stationed in Germany back in '89, it was 'rechts stehen, links gehen' on the escalators (stand on the right, move on the left). I hadn't seen that up to that point in the US. But, it made sense: You can stand but make way for people on the move. Also, department stores may have escalators but no stairs.

 

[Johnny_Fever]

In Europe while stationed in Germany back in '89, it was 'rechts stehen, links gehen' on the escalators (stand on the right, move on the left)...........

That goes for the Autobahn too, unless you want a beamer three inches from your rear bumper.

 

[Artemis@BC]

Elaborating on this: people who throw their cigarette butts out the car window.

Especially the ones who do it in summer.

When it hasn't rained for three weeks.

And the grass by the roadside is bone dry.

Charge 'em with attempted murder, I say.

Last summer when we had a long dry spell here, and at least 2 forest fires that were caused by cigarette butts, the provincial government started toying with legislation that would levy hefty fines for people tossing butts. I don't think it ever got further than a proposal though. Plus of course you'd have to catch the bastards ...

 

[vesperholly]

In Europe while stationed in Germany back in '89, it was 'rechts stehen, links gehen' on the escalators (stand on the right, move on the left). I hadn't seen that up to that point in the US. But, it made sense: You can stand but make way for people on the move. Also, department stores may have escalators but no stairs.

Pretty sure it's illegal to not have stairs in public buildings, even though they may not be conveniently located.

Escalators are so wide in most US stores that standing on the right leaves plenty of room Do people stand on the left in the UK, like driving on the left?

 

[Susan1]

In Europe while stationed in Germany back in '89, it was 'rechts stehen, links gehen' on the escalators (stand on the right, move on the left). I hadn't seen that up to that point in the US. But, it made sense: You can stand but make way for people on the move. Also, department stores may have escalators but no stairs.

Yeah, I don't know why I mentioned stairs. The middle of the mall doesn't even have them anymore. (In grade school my friend Shauna's untied shoestring went in the escalator at the bottom and we didn't know what to do. A man came over and pulled it out. We thought if we tried to pull it out, we'd get our fingers sucked down in. Ha ha.)

Anyway..........the four department stores in the mall have one story of escalators. I think only Penney's has an elevator. The stairs would be behind doors for employee use, like in office buildings. Once a year before school started we used to go to Rike's (Macy's) in downtown Dayton to shop. I always had to ride the escalator from the basement to the 8th floor (Toys!). In 1999, my mom and aunts and I went to Rike's (it might have been Lazarus by then?) to say good-bye before they imploded it, and rode the escalator from the basement to the 8th floor and back down. So sad. I always had to do the revolving doors too!!!

Still.....why would you need to walk on an elevator? How many seconds does that shave off between floors?

 

[ilovepaydays]

Does anyone else here get annoyed when someone in a work email asks you to "Please advise..." - I feel like some people think that wording is more intelligent.

I also get bothered when I'm in an elevator and the doors are almost completely closed and someone walks up and sticks their arms, legs, or whole body into the closing doors and because they can't wait a few minutes.

 

[my little pony]

anyone who can't spell out or pronounce the entire word vegetable

 

[Johnny_Fever]

Does anyone else here get annoyed when someone in a work email asks you to "Please advise..."

I'm annoyed with requests that end with, "Thanks in advance." What makes you so sure I'm going to help, and how does that release you of the obligation of a 'Thank You' after the fact?

 

[vesperholly]

The middle of the mall doesn't even have them anymore.

Ugh, there's an annoyance for me. Our two-story mall is a long V shape, and there's escalators at the ends and the "bottom". There used to be a set of stairs halfway, but they removed them. It's not the walk I mind, it's the inefficiency of traipsing halfway across the mall just to get downstairs.

 

[Moto Guzzi]

Doctors and Dentists selling you crap / procedures that you don't need or can get OTC at pharmacies much more cheaply. My former dentist tried to push a $250 mouth guard on me when you can get one for 10% of that at a pharmacy

My dentist told me to go to a pharmacy to get a mouth guard. He said he could fit me with one but it would cost more so I should try the drug store version first.

I'm another who dislikes seeing cigarette butts thrown out along the road. Stop at any intersection and look around; they are everywhere. I was walking across a parking lot and somebody had emptied about 20 butts onto the pavement instead of in the nearby trash can. Is it really that much trouble to throw them away properly instead of littering the streets and pavement?

At my former agency, smokers rarely went to the designated smoking area near the parking garage but would smoke anywhere so we'd have to pass through their smoke as we left the garage. Since the ashcans were in the smoking area, they'd throw their butts into the mulch and were always setting it on fire. One woman in particular would flop herself on a bench, deliberating positioning herself in front of the "No Smoking Area" sign on the back of the bench, and puff away before throwing her butts on the ground or in the bushes. Sorry, smokers, but I don't want to smell your stinking cigarettes or see your nasty cigarette butts and ashes.

We had kitchenettes at work and people would leave their dirty dishes in the sink to soak instead of washing them out or taking them back to their cubicle if the dish needed to soak. My coworker got so irritated by constantly finding dirty dishes in the sink she would just chuck them in the nearest trash can. She was also very good about throwing away food, along with the container, people would leave in the refrigerator for days. She posted signs saying "Your mother doesn't work here. Clean up your own damn mess."

People who don't wash their hands after using a bathroom disgust me. It's basic hygiene. Oh, and is it really necessary to pee on a toilet seat and then leave it?

People who let their kids run amok in public and make no effort to control their behavior. I was at a restaurant with a salad bar and two boys who were around 9 or 10 and certainly old enough to know better had their hands in the various containers and were stirring the food around and laughing about it. I told the manager but he just looked at me like I was crazy when I said he needed to have the food replaced because nobody wanted to eat food a kid had been playing with. I've been in places where parents let their kids run at top speed screeching all the way. If your kids need to burn off energy, then take them outside and away from other people who don't want a kid running into them or tripping them.

 

[D&Sfan4ever]

Internet trolls.

This.

Loud music in restaurants. Then everybody tries to shout over it, creating the noise loop. I just want to leave, and if I cannot, I am miserable.

This, and in pubs too. I'd love to be able to hear what the person sitting next to me is saying, after all, I'm not in a disco.

People who let their kids run amok in public and make no effort to control their behavior. (...) I've been in places where parents let their kids run at top speed screeching all the way. If your kids need to burn off energy, then take them outside and away from other people who don't want a kid running into them or tripping them.

My cousin does this with her 2 kids all the time. She just sits there talking to other adults while her kids torn the place apart. One of this days I'll snap and trip them, just to see if she finally reacts when one of her little rascals ends up with a bloody nose.

Another pet peeve of mine is the music players that plague the subway lines here in Buenos Aires.
Look, I know they need the money, but at 7am in the morning I just want to sit down, close my eyes and pretend I'm still in bed. Instead, I get to hear a lousy violinist screech her way trough a Celtic piece... then a saxophonist bad attempt at a jazz piece and, if I'm really lucky, a blind person or two trying to sing some horrible pop music piece.

Oh, and the last one. One of my best friends writes like this: "Holaaaaaaaa Doctoraaaaaaaaa. CoMO dice que le vaaaaaaaaaa..." and I just

 

[Matryeshka]

When people post all of MY annoyances before I can

My biggest professional annoyance is personal questions at meetings. For the love of Dunder Mifflin, if you have a question that applies ONLY to your bizarre, overly-specific, highly hypothetical situation, send an email or ask later. If there are multiple departments present, and your bizarre, overly-specific, highly hypothetical situation applies only to your department, have your department head send an email or ask later. Do not keep the entire staff waiting because you are convinced of your own specialness.

This is a life-long pet-peeve. I even tell students: if you cannot put your question in ten words or less, you do not have a question. You are grandstanding and the only one allowed to grandstand is ME.

 

[misskarne]

Last summer when we had a long dry spell here, and at least 2 forest fires that were caused by cigarette butts, the provincial government started toying with legislation that would levy hefty fines for people tossing butts. I don't think it ever got further than a proposal though. Plus of course you'd have to catch the bastards ...

It is quite a hefty fine here, but again, the police have to catch the little shits.

Does anyone else here get annoyed when someone in a work email asks you to "Please advise..." - I feel like some people think that wording is more intelligent.

I use this at work a lot. Primarily because I'm not allowed to say "actually do your fcuking job" or "stop expecting me to do your fcuking job" and I can't come up with another way to say it.

 

[skateboy]

Pet peeve: parents who insist on bringing their infants and toddlers into restaurants. If it's Burger King or Chuck E. Cheese, fine. Otherwise, do us all a favor and eat at home for a few years.