And now we begin our interactive portion of my blog. I’m blatantly stealing this idea from a fellow blogger. Names have been changed, but yeah, it’s theft pure and simple.As a former Social Services worker, we vent…a lot. But in a creative and constructive way, mind you. We get it all out and we are able to move on.
So let’s vent! Let’s make a list of our pet peeves. OooOoO…I’ll start!
Grocery carts. Yes, grocery carts and their drivers. In my humble opinion, there should be driving and parking lanes in the supermarket. Complete with grocery cart police, tickets and jail time for the worst offenders.
When you go into a grocery store, generally, so do about 700 other people all at the same time. It gets very busy and very crowded. I start breaking into a sweat as I cross the threshold. Oh, this is gonna be bad, I think to myself. It’s a science to try to manoeuvre my cart without crashing into anyone. I loosely follow the rules of the road to try to cope. Stay to the left, pull into the curb to have a closer look at the food items.
I’m waaaaayyyyyyyy too polite. Do others afford me the same respect? NNNOOO!!!!!! It’s mayhem! Every shopper for themselves! If they see something interesting two feet away, they abandon their carts IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE to go and have a look!!!!!!! Oh God, I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking of it. So, you have a few people trying to be orderly, most people just out for themselves and the rest of us have to try to figure out how to get ‘round these inconsiderate shoppers who seem to be wandering off muttering “look at the pretty colours!”
But the worst, the absolute worst, is when they gather in groups. I think they have a cult or something. And they have their monthly meetings - you guessed it- in the middle of the grocery isle on a Saturday afternoon. I think they chant about broccoli or something.
Outwardly, I suppose I look frustrated an annoyed. A smart-mouthed comment may slip through my lips. Inwardly - there's twisted metal everywhere as I lob a hand grenade into the centre of the mass to clear a path.
So, what about you? What’s your pet peeve?
So, what about you? What’s your pet peeve?
You're amazing! BTW, I haven't forgotten my assignment.
ReplyDeleteBut what's your Pet Peeve??? :)
ReplyDeleteOops, forgot the interactive part.
ReplyDeleteOne of my pet peeves is also shopping carts in the aisle.
A related peeve is people who take up every inch of available space even without shopping carts (on sidewalks, in halls), people who stop in doorways or in front of subway turnstiles, line jumpers.
Gosh there are just so many. Inattentive wait staff. Wait staff who want to bring a group bill because individual bills are just too much work.
Customer service people who say, "That's not my problem."
OH! OH! The people in the middle of the aisle and sidewalk and doorway - I think they belong to the same grocery-cart-driving-broccoli-chanting cult!
ReplyDeleteI'm SOOO onboard with the shopping carts BUT it goes farther.....
ReplyDeleteFirst, I just got back from the store..2 days before US Thanksgiving...just kill me now. Next, I say pardon, excuse me and I've had the shelf stalker actually stop and stare because this is such abnormal behaviour here. I still try.
But the absolute WORST is the parking lot and the "non-return/up on the curb/beside the car" cart people. This is where the polite Dar leaves the building. I see red. I get hot flashes.
Lets just say I've had 2 women return their carts after I've gotten out of mine and (politely) but sternly told them exactly where the cart returns are and glower at them until they slowly back away or TAKE THE DAMNED THING BACK.
Aaaaaaah. I hate people.
Dar here again. On a different note: non-wavers on the road while driving.
ReplyDeleteYou know the ones I mean. You not only drop back but wave, flash your lights etc making the effort to let someone in. No courtesy wave. No acknowlegement whatsoever. In Canada it's the exception to the rule, but in the States...well you may as well not bother. I nearly drove off the road when somebody did wave....they must have been Canadian.
Once again....I hate people.
OoOOo....I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of polite Dar leaving the building! Spooky! Luv it!
ReplyDeleteGotta say, the non-wavers get on my titties big time. Doesn't happen too often here, I must say. Canadians are pretty much human.
In Scotland, driving is a dream. Flashing your headlights is not a sign of aggression. It's a signal to let you merge into traffic ahead of the "flasher". A bigger problem there is traffic tie-ups as exceedingly polite Scottish people get hung up in the "you go first" "no, you go first" traffic dance. And rare is the time when they don't enthusiastically wave their gratitude.
Dar: Well the "too much courtesy" thing here, i'm afraid, is fiction.
ReplyDeleteJust to illustrate. Not only did a woman (in a BMW) nearly take my front bumper off, but when I honked at her (how dare I claim some of the road) SHE didn't respond....her todler in the car seat did...by flipping me the bird. Mom then turned to the child and congratulated it for saving her the effort.
Welcome to LA. I hate (even little) people.
Dar: It's so sweet how people are teaching their children love and respect at an early age, isn't it? This child will be well-prepared with a good, solid foundation of morals that will serve it better in it's life in prison.
ReplyDeleteTelemarketers and door to door Jesus-people. Two more to add to the list. They both get my "one chance" rule.
Very few things bug me as much as being disturbed in my own home by other people who want to pressure me into something, whether it be parting with my cash, or my immortal soul.
I will give you one chance when you enter into my circle. I will politely tell you that I am not interested in what you are trying to sell me (whether it's a time share or everlasting redemption). Take that shot, get out while you can. Cause if you don't, you're mine to do with what I please - and it ain't pretty.
People in subways who stand close to you while you're sitting and let their purses hit you in the head. People in subways who lean against poles, squishing your hand. People in subways.
ReplyDeleteProject Managers who disparage and slander other people. Project Managers who say "I have the power" and that Project Managers can affect what goes into your performance appraisal. Project Managers who over-explain simple concepts or explain things that don't need explaining. Project Managers.
ReplyDeleteCan you sense a theme? Today was not a good day. I had to have some tests this morning and came into the office and into the meeting feeling like shit. My response to said project manager was laughter and questions like "We're not getting any raises next year. How can you affect our appraisals? Oh wait, can you give negative increases?" Needless to say, not career-enhancing behaviour.
ReplyDeleteFrom your oldest sister. You guys have GOT to get them back the way I do! I actually have (maybe had now) terrified of me every time she saw me. I've told this story to family, and now that there is a following here, see if this works for you. When I worked at the Variety Store and my boss would go on vacation, I did the banking for her. She'd set it up so all I hade to do was go in and say who it was for and which account it was to be deposited in. One day, the Bank Manager was there and she said "we don't do it that way and nothing was set up for it", well, I just gave her "the look", smiled and said "fine, when I speak to my boss later today, I'll tell her what you just said". She sputtered and said something like fine, we'll do it just this once. I had informed the woman that I didn't want my boss's banking information as it was none of my business. I was just there to put it where I was told. After that, any time I went into the bank and she was there, I'd look at her and smile and every time she saw me, she'd do something silly, like, run into things, trip over things, fall on her ass, etc. GOD, the power trip in that!!!
ReplyDelete