My Pet Peeves, Part 2

Pet peeves …

I don’t have many – or at least I didn’t think I did until I started this list. The last time I wrote a “pet peeves” post was on October 22, 2013. It’s taken me almost a year to stew about the ones I didn’t put on that first list. Here, in no particular order, is a list of things that currently drive me over the bend. (I’ll try not to repeat pet peeves listed on my first post which you can read below.)

1. People who don’t replace the toilet paper when they use it up and leave an empty roll for the poor, unsuspecting person who uses the toilet next. I know this happens in every family – my friends and I have talked about it. And, in every family, there’s always one person who, regardless of whether they’re using it at that moment or not, is the toilet paper replacer. In my family, that would be me. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to call out, “Can someone please bring me a roll of toilet paper?” That little half-square that’s left on the tube is just not enough. Seriously, is it that hard to replace?

2. Boxes of cereal, cookies, crackers, etc. that were not thrown out when they were empty but were put back into the pantry. Has it happened to you that you crave a bit of cereal only to find that the box in the cupboard is empty save for a few measly crumbs? Grrr! (They don’t replace the toilet paper and they don’t throw away empty cereal boxes.  I’m beginning to sense a theme here.)

3. Having to rearrange the dirty silverware in the dishwasher because someone overloaded it into the front compartments of the holder and left the back ones empty. This drives me crazy but it’s something I do every single day – and have for years. Instead of opening the dishwasher by pulling the door all the way down and pulling out the shelf that contains the silverware holder, the people who live in my house (no names. You are ALL guilty.) open the dishwasher only slightly and then put their dirty silverware into the only compartment they can reach – the front one. Then I come along and, in order to ensure that all the silverware gets cleaned, have to rearrange the dirty silverware and separate it into all of the compartments. Since no one rinses anything anymore, this is a rather disgusting task and one that seriously pisses me off.

4. Gossip.

5. Home hair color. While it’s great and saves me time and money that I’d spend at the salon, it’s a double-edged sword in that it’s such a mess.

6. Drivers who don’t signal their intention to turn. This pisses me off in ways that I can’t even describe. Frankly, it bothered me more when I was driving little kids around – the safety issues, you know? But, safety still reigns and it still irks me when drivers don’t signal. Am I supposed to read their mind and just know in which direction they are heading when I’m driving behind them? I justify their selfish driving habits by thinking they are simply too stupid to signal.

7. Nose hair – not necessarily mine.

8. Dairy products that are past their sell-by date but are still on supermarket shelves.

9. Those stupid commercials for Direct TV where real people share their lives with marionettes on wires. I get the whole no wires advantage of Direct TV but can’t the advertising agency creatives come up with a better way to sell the product? These commercials are just bizarre and kind of creepy to me. Which brings me to …

10. Commercials for adult sanitary wipes. There must be a better way to sell this product that, by the way, we never knew we needed before someone put a commercial on the air to tell us that we did – although, if I had wipes on hand I may not be so bothered that no one replaces the toilet paper. But naming the way in which we keep ourselves clean or interviewing people in public venues about how they clean themselves and then handing them a container of wipes to use at that very moment just drives me insane.  There has to be a better way to sell this product category. Which brings me to …

11. Fund-raising commercials for children or animals in need. I cannot watch these without sobbing and so, I don’t. I race to change the channel but, more often than not, can’t find the remote so end up running out of the room, eyes closed and singing “la la la” loudly to myself so as to drown out all sights and sounds of the sad commercial. I know I’m not alone in this behavior so question whether these commercials actually work. I do donate to children’s and animal charities but I’m not sure they’re the same ones as those that advertise – since I don’t know what those ones are. La la la la.

12. Sneezing and peeing a little when I do. Oh come on, we’ve all done it. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen all the time.

13. Hazy, hot, humid, headachy days.

14. People who don’t leash their dogs.

16. The icky crust that sometimes forms at the tip of the toothpaste tube. It’s gross. I wipe it off with a tissue before I use the toothpaste but this could be avoided by putting the cap back on the toothpaste tube and securing it tightly. (I’m talking to you – the same people who don’t know how to load a dishwasher.)

17. Slugs.

18. Credit card robocalls in which the caller informs me that there are no problems with my account but it’s urgent that I contact them concerning my eligibility to do something or other and that this will be their final attempt to contact me. I work from home and on some days this company has called me, in their final attempt to contact me, five or more times. 

19. iPhone games that require me to spend money in order to continue playing. Delete.

20. Procrastination.

Ok, so I did repeat a couple of my pet peeves from the last list. Some things die hard.

Have pet peeves of your own? (Of course you do.) Leave them in the comments section below. I’d love to hear them.

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