''You Know What's Bull***t!?'' - Your Pet Peeves

It rises beyond the level of a pet peeve, but something that always infuriates me is people exploiting an imbalance of power in a relationship, which I suppose is just a roundabout way of saying bullying. It especially bothers me when I see people pushing around individuals in a service position, store clerks, waitresses, those kind of folks. I’m painfully shy and averse to confrontations in real life (I don’t even like talking to my friends on the phone), but I’m always compelled to intervene in situations like this.

Premature cynicism. To steal a line from Maya Angelou: “There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.” It frustrates me when I see otherwise smart and engaged people throw up their hands and say, “Both sides are just as bad. I’m going to sit this one out.” To steal a line from T.H. White: “Mordred and Agravaine thought Arthur hypocritical—as all decent men must be, if you assume that decency can’t exist.” Some people really are honest and decent and doing their best to make the world a better place. Others are not. There is a difference.

The woman at the local DVD / music store. The moment I walk in, she pounces on me with a "Can I help you find something?"

The answer is always "No", and when she asks I've only just entered and haven't even had a chance to look around. I almost always come in to browse rather than for the latest release, and I've been coming there for years. Why can't she remember this and leave me be? On the rare occasion when I have come in for something specific, her pouncing makes me forget what I came in for.

Also:

People who wander around in bookstores talking on their cell phones.
People at work who abandon their unwashed dishes in the community sink.
Neighbors who grant their dogs unlimited license to bark at all hours.
Chewing gum that has been spat on the ground.
Music that has been autotuned.

Oh, perhaps too many....



People who simply cannot be bothered to think of others around them. For example, blocking the shopping aisle entirely, people who go below the speed limit in the fast lane, people who visit an art museum but just go around taking pictures of every painting, not even looking at the actual paintings, people who leave dog turds on the ground, people who throw trash in the recycling-only bin, etc.

If the dishwasher isn't going, its understandable. If the dishwasher is in that intermediate stage of being stacked when dishes are brought to it, leaving in the sink is a big no-no. You'd expect adults not to need that sign saying "Your mother does not work here, so clean up your own mess". If it's just before people are heading off for the day, are in a hurry and the dishwasher is on, I'd be a bit more lenient but would advise better time keeping skills.

Fortunately New Zealand seems to be looser on the automatic greeting. It's only when I'm wandering aimlessly, aka browsing, I'll be asked and if I have an idea in mind I'll take them up on it. Otherwise right in the door and that's just rude. Managers and head offices who insist upon it should have to experience from the perspective of a customer. Actually, before implementing something new that should happen anyway. If the clientele is disgruntled by it then it's going to cause a problem for the most important people for the business. Of course some managers don't care for people and as long as the meatbags come in off the street and inject money into the business they can do all they want.

Ambiguous wording. My work involves being very accurate, and just one letter could be the difference between a big request and a small one (files vs file). At work there's a recurring client who is a professional adviser, yet emails like a ten year old. Pls and all that. There's no formatting or anything. I've seen regular people clients who have tidier emails. The first time I saw it I assumed it was a regular person based on the way the email was presented.

Another accuracy related one, incomplete or insufficient notes. I don't have time to be chasing a digital paper trail that may end up leading to the wrong place.

How do you spot a vegan? You don't, they come up to you and tell you regardless of whether you wanted to know in the first place.

The boss calling you for a so called important meeting just minutes before you are about to leave for the day

After my experience today, people who take pictures of films AT THE CINEMA!!!

Or when you're in the middle of something important that you need to focus on. I've had something open, the person I'm calling doesn't pick up and I move on to the next thing. Five minutes later, they call back and I need to open their profile up while keeping the one I'm working on shifted to the other monitor.