Pet Peeves
Posted: Tuesday, November 29, 2011
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
Oh, you so do not want me to write about my pet peeves. And besides, no one can do that better than Andy Rooney did. But I don't think he thought of them that way.
There haven't been too many celebrity deaths that have affected me quite as much as did his. He had a way of saying things with wit and style and panache that, quite frankly, made me jealous.
Pet Peeve #1: Car Bras
First off, just because this is number one on the list doesn't mean it's the thing that gripes me the most. It's just the one that came most easily to mind.
Why, I ask you, are the darn things called bras when they do not hold anything up? They protect the front of the car from road debris kicked up by other cars. They are actually bibs. So why not call them that? Simple. "Bibs" is no way as sexy or appealing as "bras." Chaps my hide how sexist the car industry can be. It's right up there with bath tissue as far as I am concerned. Toilet paper is toilet paper. We all know what it's used for. Why do we have to make it seem nicer somehow by calling it "bath tissue?" Of course, I'm not suggesting we call it something closer to what it actually is. Maybe this should have been Pet Peeves #1 and #2.
Pet Peeve #2: BOGO
You go to the store to pick up your groceries for the week or you are looking for a pair of walking shoes to replace your very worn out, imminently about to fall apart pair. You have a list and know what you want and suddenly you are confronted with a BOGO. It's just not fair.
Sometimes it is actually a case of Buy One Get One Free (which is, I think, how the phrase originated), but that is rare. Usually it's more like Buy One Get One Half Off or ever a Quarter Off (BOGOHO or BOGOQO). Then you have to decide, can I spend more than I planned, do I want to spend more than I planned? Why can't they just leave me alone?
Pet Peeve #3: Charge Card Offers
Really now! My bank is constantly sending me offers for a business charge card. I get them regularly in the snail mail. Recently, I got a call from a nice sounding young woman from my bank wanting to know whether or not I had received the most recent offer. Not the first time that had happened either.
I was very nice to her. After all, she was just doing what she was told to do. But I said something like this to her: "Yes, I did get the most recent offer in the mail. Were you aware that I get these at least once a month and perhaps more often? Furthermore, I have been receiving them since we first switched our accounts to your bank. I couldn't tell you how many of these I have received. And by the way, I consider it to be a huge waste of resources because I told the nice young man who opened our accounts for us that we already possessed a business charge card and did not need another one. Also, and this is the main point, I am perfectly able to decide on my own what I need and do not need. The fact that I have not followed up on one of those offers should be a good indication that I do not think that I need one of your business charge cards. So thank you for your time and I am going to hang up now. Good bye."
I have no idea what she thought about that, but I do hope that it did not make her cry. As young as she sounded, it might have. I probably would have when I was that young. But enough is enough.
Pet Peeve #4: Paper or Plastic
I've just spent more time than I care to think about rounding up all my grocery purchases. I've made a million decisions about which brand to buy, what is the best value for my dollar and if we really, really, really need it or not. I think that I am finished with the tough choices and wham, there it is, another choice to be made: paper or plastic?
Honestly, how am I qualified to make that decision? I haven't spent days or weeks researching it. Shoot, I haven't spent an hour researching it. Sure, I have an opinion. But it is a basically uninformed opinion.
Okay, here's how I break it down. Plastic bags use up a non-renewable resource and take an eternity to break down in the landfills. But they are re-usable and come in handy for all sorts of things. I've stuffed them into spaces in the basement that were letting rodents in. That was years ago and they are still there (the plastic bags, not the rodents), doing their job. I've put them into pillows I've crocheted for pets. They make pretty good cushioning for packages if you have enough of them. However, the production of them is highly polluting.
Paper bags are made from a renewable resource, albeit a slowly renewing one. They readily break down in landfills and are also re-usable. The production of them, however, to the best that I have been able to determine isn't really less polluting than the plastic bags. Okay, so I've done a little research. But in reality, a lot of what I've read on the Internet is just someone else's opinion. I need cold hard facts.
Personally, I think we should all take our own, re-usable, made from cotton, fabric shopping bags with us wherever we go. But that's just not all that convenient is it? So what do I do when faced with the choice? I choose plastic because I've usually forgotten to bring my fabric shopping bags with me from the car. Sometimes I hate myself.
Pet Peeve #5: Just Drive
Really. Just drive. I could probably do a thousand words on this one alone. So that's all I'm going to say. JUST DRIVE.
Pet Peeve #6: Waiter! Check, please.
This happens to all of us now and then, but seems to happen to Bernd (my husband) and me every time we go out to eat. We don't eat out very often due to all of my food allergies, so the fact that it happens every time is significant. Think about it. I don't have the stamina to explain the whole thing in detail (think about insurance actuarials and why they charge you more the more you drive). The upshot is that invariably there is someone in the restaurant talking loudly enough that the entire crowd can hear him. I wrote "him," because it is usually men doing this, but not always.
Why do people think that we all want to know just exactly what they have been up to for the past two weeks, or how their wife is spending too much money, or what sweet deal they just closed, or that they prefer bagels with jam to bagels with cream cheese? Come on!
I have more, but I figure this is enough. You might get the idea that I am an old sourpuss that hates people in general. Couldn't be further from the truth, however. I genuinely like people … so long as they are well behaved and abide by my rules. And according to Bernd, I have a lot of rules. After all, it wouldn't do to run out of pet peeves, now would it?
This Article has been viewed 304 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)Man what angst. You have got it going. Peeved and proud of it, and deservedly so. You got it down.Hi Christofer.
You know, on a daily basis, there are all sorts of things that tick me off, but when I sat down to write this, I was basically at a loss for them. Guess maybe I'm pretty good at letting them go ... in the moment ... not entirely or completely, as you can see. Have to give myself a pat on the back for something though. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Dianne
I agree with 2,3,4 and 6. The bra thing? I guess I never really thought about what it's called, I just think they're plain silly so I guess in that sense I agree with you. Add #1 to the agreement list. JUST DRIVE? You mean pay attention at the wheel, get off that cellphone, accelerate when the light turns green, don't block the right turning lane and stuff like that?Hi William.
Just drive: Yes, I mean that and more. You can add, don't fix your makeup or shave your face, forget about what you hair looks like, don't play the steering wheel like it's a drum, don't text, think about driving and not what you'll have for lunch, dinner or breakfast the next day. Just drive.
The other day I was stopped at a signal. I was first in line in the slow lane. The fast lane didn't have anyone in it. The light was green for the cross traffic and the only one to go was a person to the right of me who turned right. Luckily, they finished their turn in the proper lane because a big black pickup truck came up to the left of me in the fast lane and blasted right through the intersection, running the red light. And the light had been red for some time. As they drove obliviously on, I saw through the rear window that the driver was holding a cell phone to his right ear. Argh! I was just happy he hadn't involved me in an accident.
So ... do you talk on the phone while driving? :)
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Hugs,
Dianne
Well...sometimes, but rarely. I use bluetooth and talk to my GPS. I don't plaster a phone to my ear. In spite of my own occasional indiscretions I have to agree with the premise in Peeve #5, JUST DRIVE and give you an all out thumbs up on all 6.
If I may, I'd like to add one of my own Dianne and that is: standing in line to buy groceries waiting for Mrs. Coinpinch to find the exact change plucking in slo mo one penny, a dime a nickel maybe a quarter or two between thumb and forefinger as I roll my eyes, whimper and shift from foot to foot.
Oooh! That's a good one! I'd like to add (though I don't begrudge people wanting to save money) to it the person with 25 coupons. :)
25 coupons! Time to move to lane 6 behind 3 full carts.
I also hate it when I leave a comment and it doesnt save !! Gah.
Great article though:)Hi Tharuna.
I hate that too. I've had some trouble with that lately. But I've found that refreshing USUALLY works. When it doesn't, I don't usually have the patience to write it all over again.
Thanks for reading!
Hugs,
Dianne
???!!!
Funny. Good job again. Your pet peeves are mild compared to some I've heard from an acquaintance. I have one in common with you, and that's the loud talker. Grrrr. Annoying! I've always wanted to turn around and join the conversation. You know, just put in my two cents worth. Imagine the guy's expression. I'm gutsy, but haven't gotten to that one. Loved it.Hi Heidi.
I've also thought about that so many times! But never had the guts to do it. One summer night when we had all the doors and windows open, the neighbor behind us was talking on the phone very late, somewhere around 11:30. She was so loud I could hear everything. At one point, she was telling the person on the other end of the line that she couldn't decide whether to have jam or cream cheese on her bagel. I felt like going to a window and yelling, "Just have the d*** jam and hang up!"
Thanks for reading!
Hugs,
Diannethat would be funny -
Ha-ha--car bras....funny--I think they are stupid for what they are used for not so much the term. Why would I want to spend money to put something on the front of my car to keep debris off of it?
Why not buy a whole car "bra" then?
Great article!
SteveHi Steve.
I've thought about that too. I've seen vehicles of all sorts "coated" in all sorts of ... well ... odd materials. Of course, that happens far less than it used to. Arizonans seem to have left some of their "hickness" behind. An entire car covered in vinyl would be quite a sight!
Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Dianne
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.