Almost everyone and everything, at some point will annoy me. I was tempted to name this blog something rant-y or angry, simply because I figured that most of my posts would consist of venting. So far that has not been the case, but today that changes, in a big way.
Today I present a non-inclusive list of things that annoy the living shit out of me.
1) When people exhibit a lack of common courtesy and manners. Honestly, a large percentage of things that piss me off on a regular basis boil down to this. Whether it's being so self-absorbed in public that you don't watch where you're going, or what you're doing, and just expect that everyone else will get the fuck out of your way, or not thanking strangers who do nice things for you, or thinking that the rules of polite society don't apply to you and acting like an asshole, your behavior is guaranteed to raise my blood pressure on a regular basis. I have tried to ignore the jerks. I have tried to live and let live. So far, it has not been effective, because I firmly believe that the entire world would be a better place is people would just treat each other with courtesy, manners, and kindness.
2) Whistling, popping/cracking gum, humming, basically making any noise at all. Let me clarify this one. It is a fact of life that people will make noise as they go about their daily lives. And it is up to me to learn to live with the fact that I am hyper-sensitive to noise. Having said that, no one needs to listen to you whistle as you walk around the building. Whistling is one of the most grating noises a person can make, and I don't know why people (men, okay, MEN! I can count on one hand, with fingers left over, the number of women I have heard whistle as they walk around) think people want to hear this. Gum cracking and popping refers to constant cracking and popping. The occasional crack or pop, one that happens naturally or, if you decide to blow a bubble, don't bother me. It's the person who cracks his or her gum with every chew (how does that HAPPEN?) or has to pop a bubble ever single chew that gets on my nerves. People who sniffle when they're sick can fall into this category, also, depending on how often the sniffling happens, how many days in a row it has gone on, and whether there is freely available tissues, toilet paper, or other means of blowing the nose.
3) Calling my house or knocking on my front door to sell me something/convert me to something/convince me that your political candidate rocks! Yes, I am on the Do Not Call List. Yes, I still get calls. No, I do not answer them, because I have Caller ID and only answer the phone when I recognize the number. I registered to vote when I turned 18, got my absentee ballot, cast my vote, then promptly never voted again (it was for Bill Clinton's first term, for perspective). I updated my registration ahead of the Obama-McCain election, since I had moved many times since my first registration and I really wanted to vote in this election, but not where I used to live many moons ago. As soon as I did, I was inundated with political phone calls. Between the normal phone spam I get (not that much) and the political spam (a lot before an election), when the phone rings, I get angry. I have a Pavlovian response to the phone ringing that carries over into the phone conversation. It doesn't matter if I want to talk to the person who called, I am now at rage level 11 (on a scale of 1 to 10), simply because the phone rang. People knocking on the door is even worse. I'm referring to people knocking out of the blue, not delivery people. Now that I have a dog, the knocking drives my dog batshit. I adopted the attitude that if I am not expecting you, I will not answer the door. I will not hide, I will not act like I am not home. I am under no obligation to answer my door, so if I don't, just leave.
4) People who want to debate their hot button topic. This refers to people who love to beat the dead horse. They feel passionately about their religion/political party/political candidate/abortion/etc. and even though it is a topic where people have deeply held beliefs, and rarely change them, these folks love to shit-stir. I'm married to a shit-stirrer, in a way. He doesn't pick fights, but loves to go on and on about his topics of choice. I don't care. People's minds are rarely changed when people hold forth like this, and all it does is start arguments. I'm of the belief that so long as your opinion/value system doesn't actively harm someone (physically, mentally, or emotionally) then feel free to practice it. I don't need to practice it, in order for it to have any more value. The fact that I don't doesn't lessen it's value, so leave me be. I'll use an example: religion. I have religious friends, an atheist husband, and I am agnostic (I suppose). I don't care if you practice religion, I don't think any less or more of you. It's just something about you, like your hair color, or where you were born. My husband is one of those atheists who think that religion is for the weak, it's a crutch, etc., etc., and while he would never ever get into an argument with you to your face, he will go on and on with me about how it is stupid. My parents are very religious, and had I not nipped their efforts to bring me back into the fold years ago, I'm sure I'd be on the receiving end of their religious efforts. I don't judge them for being religious, and I don't judge my husband for not being religious, and them arguing about it isn't going to change anyone's mind, so how about we all agree to disagree, and live and let live, huh?
That's enough for today. I could go on and on, because a lot of things annoy me, but then this post would be the length of War and Peace. I will end by saying that I recognize that I am not perfect and I'm sure I do things regularly that annoys the shit out of people.
Recommended listening: I Hate People by Jemina Pearl and Fuck You by Cee-Lo Green.
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