Pet Peeves

As I walked up to my office this morning, pondering the topic of today’s blog, I stepped into a spot on the carpet and instantly my sock was wet. I’d cleaned up a spill an hour before and had forgotten about it.

I hate wet socks. And I’m constantly stepping in wet spots on my carpet or my kitchen floor.  (If you have a cat with hairballs—you’re cleaning up a lot of spots off the carpet).  My feet are just attracted to them.  And though it’s no big deal, especially at home, when I can immediately change into dry socks, it drives me nuts.

It’s a pet peeve. According to Wikipedia, a pet peeve is, “a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to himself, to a greater degree than others may find.

You can say that again.

I’ve got pet peeves. Everybody does.  Wet socks is only the beginning.  For example, at work, it drives me absolutely nut when someone asks me a non-urgent question while I’m eating lunch at my desk.

Although, that actually might not be a pet peeve, as I’m pretty sure that behavior drives everyone absolutely nuts.

Pet peeves are idiosyncratic.

Some of mine: televisions in restaurants and waiting rooms.  These days, everyone can carry headphones and the internet around in their pocket.  Can’t the rest of us eat and read magazines in peace?

Candy bars for sale at hardware stores. America:  never more than fifty feet from a snack!

When someone at a four way intersection immediately follows the car in front of him, therefore cutting in front of three other cars. I’m pretty easy going in the car—when people cut me off or do other crazy things, I try to believe they simply weren’t paying attention or aren’t familiar with the area.  But everyone knows how stop signs work, and it drives me nuts that you think you should get to take my turn just because you’re in a hurry.

Now this is getting fun.

How about when Panera gives you a little plastic cup of cream cheese instead of spreading it on your bagel for you? At their prices?  Not right.

Or when the trailer gives away the entire plot of the movie, all the funny jokes, and most of the climatic action sequence. I mean, why even bother seeing the movie now?  You’re supposed to give us a taste, not force feed us the entire movie.  And I also hate how movie theaters now run those first look shows before the official movie previews.  I’m going to be watching a screen for the next two hours.  In the moments before, I’d rather be talking to my movie companion.

Then there’s high-priced grocery stores without enough employees to bag your purchases, commercials at double the volume, outrageous wedding registries, waitresses who bring out one plate of food when there’s five people at the table, and, most of all, metal bookmarks.

I mean, they’re too heavy. One wrong move and they fall out of your book and defeat their entire reason for being.

But the most annoying thing of all?

People who go on and on about minor things that annoy them.

Guilty!

P.S. People who loudly talk in libraries like they’re at the local Starbucks should be shot.

P.P.S. Bumper stickers.  Nobody cares!

Okay, I’m done.

For now.