A couple of days ago, a very old and dear friend asked me what my pet peeves were. She then proceeded to post some of hers on her blog (find her link under My Favorite Blogs). Got me to thinking what my personal pets were. I came up with quite a few. But since I don't to bore you with the entire list, here's the Reader's Digest version:
1- Stupid Questions and Obvious Statements
This has got to be the biggest pet peeve I have. I HATE questions like "Did you fall down?" when I'm flat on my ass. Or how about "Are they twins?" No, you putz! They're perfectly identical strangers!. The one that I frequently hear since I live on a tropical island is "Is it raining, outside?" This after I walk in dripping wet. My usual answers to this are "No, I'm just a heavy sweater!" or "Where else is it going to rain? Inside?!"
This leads me to pet peeve #2:
2- Being called a Smart-ass, Wise-guy or Too Logical
Answers to that are also obvious. I'd rather be a smart-ass than a dumb-ass! Same goes for wise-guy. Now my mother is the first to complain that I tend to be too logical. So what if I am? At least I think things through. I can't help it if I have a very high IQ. It all goes back to stating the obvious. If the clouds in the sky are dark and heavy, and there's a constant sound of thunder in the air, then LOGICALLY it's about to rain! Why then do people ask me, "Look at those clouds. Do you think it's gonna rain?"?
3- People who hire me for whatever reason and then refuse to pay for the most outrageous reasons. If I get hired to design a webpage, do some logo work or create some jewelry or figurines for someone, I expect to get paid for it. So why do people insist on finding excuses for not paying me? The most recent example was one client stating that since he didn't use some artwork I created, among other projects I did, that he didn't feel he should pay me. I pointed out that despite the fact that he didn't use it, I still did the work and that I had to get paid. After a little back and forth he finally decided to pay me, but not before telling me he was taking the project to a print shop. Sure go ahead. Now not only are you going to have to wait LONGER to get the job done, you are now going to have to pay a lot more for the job that was already done.
4- As readers of my previous posts will know by now, I have a major issue with the way some people dress nowadays. Woman that I call 5-3 women. Women with an ass 5 sizes too big in pants 3 sizes too small. And they have the audacity to think they're sexy! well, I can't fault them for their overwhelming self-confidence.
And how about the guys wearing their pants below their butts? Do I really need to know what kind of underwear, if any, you're wearing? I can tolerate it a bit if it's a hot chick with an exposed g-string, but sometimes too much is too much.
5- Stores and gas stations that demand that you buy a minimum of $10 before they accept your ATM card. I just want to buy a friggin' bag of Doritos and a diet Coke. Why should I be forced to buy $8 more of stuff I neither need nor want?! Or how about when you buy gas and the tank fills up before reaching the prepaid amount? Do they give you back change? Not everyone. Most require you to buy more stuff you don't need.
Finally, politicians, unemployment offices, traffic jams, Michael Jackson coverage, Lindsay Lohen drama, SPAM telling how to increase my penis size (really?), the frequent emails and letters from some dudes in Nigeria telling me I've inherited millions, the dogs and cats using my backyard as their personal toilet bowl.....
You know, I could go on and on, but I think you get my point. The world in general tends to drive me nuts. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only person alive that sees the black hole we, as a species, are falling into. My only hope is that someone, somewhere, reads my blog and a lightbulb goes off over their head.
Hope that someone is you.
