This Is What Bugs Me

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At risk of sounding negative, this month's Not Just A Mom link-up is about our pet peeves. I feel like I have an awful lot of petty little things that irritate me, so that's the real risk of negativity, right? Going on and on about things that bug me might get me in a grumpy mood and nobody wants that. So I'll try to keep it light and I hope you'll be able to laugh or sympathize or both with some of these complaints.

You might already know that I am a grammar nerd, so the first pet peeves that come to mind are related to incorrect grammar and punctuation. I assure you that I do not mentally correct every text or social media post I see, because I think that kind of informal speech and writing is in a different category. But getting the most basic stuff wrong does annoy me. Using apostrophes to make plurals is the worst. There really is no excuse for doing that.

A related pet peeve is not proofreading. Having taught high school writing for years, I've seen my share of papers students have handed in thinking I wouldn't be able to figure out that it was slapped together late last night or that they had just typed and never bothered to read before submitting. This goes for advertising and so-called professional business documents and signs as well.  

Unless this store is owned by a Mr. Your, it's wrong.

For my students, I was often tempted to ask if they'd even read the assignment instructions?! Things like the word count and a reminder to proofread are right there. Just in general, failing to read instructions is irritating. I get it, we like to think we can figure it out on our own, but maybe check the instructions before complaining that something didn't work or before asking a really stupid question. A stupid question is one that has been clearly answered in the instructions but you couldn't be bothered to even look at them.

Spelling my name wrong while looking right at it. Oh my word, if you are responding to me on Facebook and still spell my name wrong when it's right in front of you?!?! I know it's an unusual spelling, but it's quite literally right there. Maybe it's auto-corrected? My phone's auto-correct is so bad, and my email and Google Documents 'correct' the spelling of my daughter's name, so maybe that's what is happening and I shouldn't get mad. Similar pet peeve is pronouncing my last name wrong. It is very simple and there really is only one acceptable pronunciation, so unless you've been reading or speaking English for less than a year, you should be able to figure it out. Back before caller ID, that was a dead giveaway to a scam phone call - pronouncing my name wrong. Buh-bye.

Why can I be subscribed or added to an email list instantaneously but when I want to unsubscribe to something it takes two weeks? Why is it so hard to talk to a live person for any kind of customer service? Why is it next to impossible to get simple accounting or record-keeping things fixed? Sloppy customer care aggravates me. Over the past five months I've spent HOURS on the phone trying to sort out two separate messes with health insurance coverages, and it's still not done. I am still waiting to receive a corrected tax document from a state agency, and when I called six weeks ago the case was 'escalated' so it could be handled quickly. I shudder to think how long I'd be waiting if they'd gone at their normal speed. That's just the two most recent examples of incomprehensibly slow or incompetent response times. Grrrrrr.

Odd package delivery protocol. Something that annoyed me at our last house was that one of the mail carriers would put packages inside the garage door instead of on the porch and not let us know. We had a covered porch so unless it was raining sideways or super windy, the porch should have been safe enough. At the very least let me know where it is! And if he/she is getting out of the truck anyway, why not come to the door and at least see if I'm home? Maybe they're not allowed to do that any more, I'm not sure. 

Hair in the sink. So gross. Enough said.

Inconsiderate driving. I hate the people that pass me on the double solid line doing 80mph while I'm doing 60mph in a 50mph zone. Or the people cutting across five lanes of traffic. Those are just dangerous. But it also grinds my gears when people do just dumb stuff because they think they can get away with it. There's a place nearby where there is an abundantly clear No Left Turn sign at a gas station entrance. There's a triangle median thing so that you have to do almost a U-turn to turn left. But does it stop people? It does not. Every. Single. Time I drive by I see at least one person do that illegal turn. Why you gotta be like that?

Unsupervised children at a buffet. I'd say this is my Old Person coming out, but this has bugged me since I was twenty years old. Little kids generally don't make wise or hygienic choices when left to their own devices at the hotel's continental breakfast bar. Heck, lots of grown-ups don't. But I'm a little more hopeful that a grown-up can uses the tongs instead of their hands, and usually the grown-ups are tall enough to not sneeze directly onto the food.

This one is weird because it's not consistent. Crooked things. Like framed art that's not hanging quite straight, or things that should line up but don't. So I'm picky about how the framed photos on the mantel are organized, and making sure a wall hanging is centered and straight, but none of the little things tacked to the corkboard at my desk are straight at all. I can't stand it that these outlet covers are not all at the same height, and I carefully straighten the placemats on my table but there are also lots of asymmetrical things that don't bother me in the least.

Are you seeing this? Why? WHY?

I hate when the sheets are untucked at the foot of the bed. Hate it. Yes, there have been times when I got up in the middle of the night to fix the sheets on my side of the bed because I couldn't stand it. And I'm a restless sleeper, so I do it to myself, but I really need the sheets to be snug and neat. I may or may not make the bed neatly in the morning―usually it's just 'good enough'―but I will fix the sheets before I get in bed at night if I see they are bunched up.

I've developed a relatively new category of pet peeve since moving into the townhouse. Things left out looking temporary like we can't be bothered to figure out where they belong. I say 'we' because I know I'm an equal opportunity offender on this point! It obviously bugs me more when my husband leaves things where I don't think they belong, but since I call my own organizational style Artful Stacking, I know my so-called filing system is not aesthetically pleasing either. I get on my own nerves with my habit of leaving projects partially done, like the random stuff on my bathroom counter that I still haven't put away properly or the messy collection of books and mail that I unpacked on the spare room sofa and still haven't sorted. In fact, I've added to it. So yes, the unnecessary piles and clutter aggravate me now, when they never really did before. I think it's because we supposedly only brought what we needed so we shouldn't even own clutter here, and there's no little kids or pets to clean up after so it should be simple to keep the place tidy. Also an inconsistent peeve, now that I think about it. I will silently fume when my husband puts his dinner plate on the counter where the clean dishes are supposed to go, but I will absolutely pile up dirty dishes on the 'correct' side of the counter until there are 'enough' to make it worth my while to wash them. 

Totally me bugging myself by just 
leaving this jumble of stuff and even
adding to it! Shame on me.

Totally my husband bugging me. 
Pretty sure it's not on purpose . . .

Slow walkers. This is the pet peeve that is embarrassing to admit, because it shows how impatient and inconsiderate I can be. I should clarify that I'm talking about the people that kind of take up the entire lane, making it hard for others to get around. This happened a couple times in my recent treks through airports. A whole travel group ambling slowly through an airport, walking six abreast so the people who are hurrying to their boarding gate can't pass. Ugh. I had plenty of time, but I'm a fast walker, so it irritated me. I try really hard to remember that I was a slow walker after my knee replacement, and that just because a person isn't using a cane or crutches doesn't mean they aren't dealing with painful arthritis or recovering from an injury that slows them down. Because that was me. Just try not to take up the whole entire sidewalk, okay?

Random litter makes me so mad. Why do people think it's okay to toss trash out their car window? And even worse―diapers. Who are the people that leave a diaper in a parking lot or shopping cart? That is so gross and inconsiderate. General litter is a peeve, but diaper litter crosses the line into being utterly vile and infuriates me.

Believe it or not, this is not an exhaustive list! I'm sure that when I read what bugs others I'll be reminded of a bunch more. What bugs you? Tell me in the comments and let's laugh about it together.

This post will be linked up with the Not Just A Mom Link-up hosted by Adrienne, Dara, Jen, Joanne, Lauren, and Sarah.

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