09.16.2010 Pet Peeves Edition

Wikipedia defines a "pet peeve" thusly:
A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to him or her, to a greater degree than others may find it.
List your top five Pet Peeves and explain why:

1. Everyone else on the road when I am driving.
Everyone else is a worse driver than I am, and tends to be unpredictable.
Everyone else scares me.

2. People who type all in caps regularly.
This happens all the time where I work, because a lot of people use a program that requires it. People should be aware that typing in all caps seems like YOU ARE YELLING. You shouldn't be yelling, especially at work. And especially not AT ME. What did I ever do to you?

3. Bad grammar in general, and in particular, people who use apostrophes incorrectly.
Apostrophes are generally used in just two instances:
a. With contractions, where you take two words and condense them into one. The apostrophe is always placed at the spot where the letter(s) has been removed.
Example: Are not = aren't
b. To show possession. If singular, place the apostrophe before the s to show singular possession. Example: A pencil belonging to Sam is Sam's. If plural possession, make the noun plural first. Then immediately use the apostrophe. Example: two boys' hats
You do not use an apostrophe when simply pluralizing anything; especially a name.
Example: "My sons are both blond" is correct, whereas "My son's are both blond" is not.
Don't even start me on people who don't know the difference between "there", "their" and "they're" ... or people who either don't use spellchecker or proofread things that they post publicly. I recently received a flier in my mailbox from one of my neighbors who has lost their cat. The flier said that the cat's owners "suspect fowl play". Unless you think your pet was abducted by chickens, it's FOUL play, people!


4. Speaking of foul - Peeve #4 is People who post on Facebook with dirty comments and/or foul language - and then complain when I "un-friend" them.
Please do not post on my Facebook about how you feel about blowjobs, how many drugs you did last weekend, or how great it turns out you are at pole-dancing. While I certainly admire your many talents, it's just TMI for my parents and young relatives, my coworkers and many others whom I have "friended" on Facebook. It's a public forum. This means you're in public. Please act accordingly.

5. People Who Have Private Cell Phone Conversations in Public. Seriously, I do NOT need to hear you argue with your husband about whether to neuter the dog, which one of you is right about this morning's argument or any of the other various personal dramas that inevitably unfold. Your private life should be just that. Private.

You can add to the list:
Drivers who don't use their turn signals.
In particular, when I am at an intersection waiting to turn, and a driver coming the opposite direction is not signaling, and I am waiting for him to come straight across before I can turn - when suddenly he turns. WTF - they obviously see you waiting for them to come across, and they let you sit there like an idiot. Either they are so rude they just do not care, they don't know how to drive, or they're completely and utterly oblivious tot he fact that anyone else is on the road with them. Either way, how is this acceptable?


People Who Have Whispered Conversations Where I Can Overhear Them. You're obviously making the effort to lower your voice for a reason: overhearing you makes me uncomfortable. Please have your private conversations somewhere ... you know ... private.

Coworkers Who Make Even the Simplest Task Into a Big Deal. Yes, there are things in your job description that suck. It is your job to deal with them. Do your damn job.