Here are a few things on my mind recently that bother me. If you read my blog regularly or know me well, you have probably heard some of these before.
10. Tailgating. Honestly, it is more likely to incentivise me to drive more slowly if you ride too close to my car. I drive a Saturn. I don't much care if it gets scratched. I can always buy another one. What's your hurry anyway? More often than not, I catch up to folks at the next red light anyhow, and so it really didn't do anything other than make everyone else just as nervous that you were that you were late or that I might cause you to be tardy.
9. Shoppers who get into the 10/20/X number items or less line who have more items than the level allows and the clerks who let them. What is the point of these signs or lanes if everyone thinks he is an exception? Rules are there for order, and any person who thinks he is beyond the rules upsets the order.
8. People who hold you accountable for things they also do. I get a real kick out of people who curse and swear all the time who make a huge hullabaloo about it when I say something that constitute a cursory approximation to the profane. Sometimes, I feel like people wait with baited breath to see me do anything wrong, anything at all, so they can feel better about themselves.
7. Government. With rare exception, government gets in my way, inconveniences my progress, and makes things more complicated, and at great expense of time, means, and materiel. While there are some legitimate functions of government, many of the people in government have not caught the mission statement of government or do not care.
6. When I rely on someone else's representations, but they didn't mean what they told me. I expect people to keep their word, to show up and do when they tell me they will what they promise to do. From coworkers to clients to students to stranges to friends to family, I make plans based on the representations other people give me. The problem is that people plan according to what others tell them, so when you yank out the foundation on which they built their life and made decisions and you tell them the prior representations were fabrication and deception, you have wasted your life and theirs.
5. Friends who were 'going to call/visit' but now don't have to because you did. That doesn't really do me any good. Well intended yet unimplemented actions only make you feel good. Also, people who are sorry. That's great. You're sorry. How does that make it better for me?
4. The introduction of words, phrases, and constructs into the language that are not proper grammar, useage, or vocabulary. While I understand that new words can and will be created, I am a bit at odds with the acceptance of slang, jargon, and the like in lieu of perfectly good words we already have in the dictionary but that people are too lazy to learn. "ROFL", "Chillax", and "noonish" are not words.
3. Women who opine the lack of good men in society. I have previously posted that the most offensive thing I have ever heard is "I wish I could find a great guy like you." You have. He stands before you. I see a lot of women talk about how much they want a great guy and then pick a guy who is only great looking or has a great fortune. The disingenuous application of this phrase annoys me. There is a good reason why there aren't more good men. The really good women have married the ones who are still interested in marriage. Very few people I know today choose a great guy because he is a great guy. Girls choose guys for other reasons, then some of them luck out that the guy they chose was also great.
2. How many 'privileges' have been converted into 'rights'. Young people have this great entitlement attitude based on what they have seen. I find it kind of ironic that what Lincoln said of his time applies to ours, that we have been bridled by unbroken success. Everyone expects you to have a cellular phone, home internet, a new car, a laptop, an iPOD, ad infinitum. Everyone likes their 'rights' to healthcare, privacy, abortion, etc., none of which are even remotely referenced in the documents on which the Founders wrote our governing documents.
1. People who don't finish what they
10. Tailgating. Honestly, it is more likely to incentivise me to drive more slowly if you ride too close to my car. I drive a Saturn. I don't much care if it gets scratched. I can always buy another one. What's your hurry anyway? More often than not, I catch up to folks at the next red light anyhow, and so it really didn't do anything other than make everyone else just as nervous that you were that you were late or that I might cause you to be tardy.
9. Shoppers who get into the 10/20/X number items or less line who have more items than the level allows and the clerks who let them. What is the point of these signs or lanes if everyone thinks he is an exception? Rules are there for order, and any person who thinks he is beyond the rules upsets the order.
8. People who hold you accountable for things they also do. I get a real kick out of people who curse and swear all the time who make a huge hullabaloo about it when I say something that constitute a cursory approximation to the profane. Sometimes, I feel like people wait with baited breath to see me do anything wrong, anything at all, so they can feel better about themselves.
7. Government. With rare exception, government gets in my way, inconveniences my progress, and makes things more complicated, and at great expense of time, means, and materiel. While there are some legitimate functions of government, many of the people in government have not caught the mission statement of government or do not care.
6. When I rely on someone else's representations, but they didn't mean what they told me. I expect people to keep their word, to show up and do when they tell me they will what they promise to do. From coworkers to clients to students to stranges to friends to family, I make plans based on the representations other people give me. The problem is that people plan according to what others tell them, so when you yank out the foundation on which they built their life and made decisions and you tell them the prior representations were fabrication and deception, you have wasted your life and theirs.
5. Friends who were 'going to call/visit' but now don't have to because you did. That doesn't really do me any good. Well intended yet unimplemented actions only make you feel good. Also, people who are sorry. That's great. You're sorry. How does that make it better for me?
4. The introduction of words, phrases, and constructs into the language that are not proper grammar, useage, or vocabulary. While I understand that new words can and will be created, I am a bit at odds with the acceptance of slang, jargon, and the like in lieu of perfectly good words we already have in the dictionary but that people are too lazy to learn. "ROFL", "Chillax", and "noonish" are not words.
3. Women who opine the lack of good men in society. I have previously posted that the most offensive thing I have ever heard is "I wish I could find a great guy like you." You have. He stands before you. I see a lot of women talk about how much they want a great guy and then pick a guy who is only great looking or has a great fortune. The disingenuous application of this phrase annoys me. There is a good reason why there aren't more good men. The really good women have married the ones who are still interested in marriage. Very few people I know today choose a great guy because he is a great guy. Girls choose guys for other reasons, then some of them luck out that the guy they chose was also great.
2. How many 'privileges' have been converted into 'rights'. Young people have this great entitlement attitude based on what they have seen. I find it kind of ironic that what Lincoln said of his time applies to ours, that we have been bridled by unbroken success. Everyone expects you to have a cellular phone, home internet, a new car, a laptop, an iPOD, ad infinitum. Everyone likes their 'rights' to healthcare, privacy, abortion, etc., none of which are even remotely referenced in the documents on which the Founders wrote our governing documents.
1. People who don't finish what they
1 comment:
Amen, amen, amen. Most of these are pet peeves of mine as well. Well spoken.
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