25: Pet Peeves

It’s time for another round of – old and new – pet peeves, my friends. Sometimes it’s good to release them into the blogosphere because it’s like venting (and it’s good to release some steam and commiserate)  and I know that there are other people out there who must feel the same. Tell me I am not the only one.

I love the word ‘pet peeve’, by the way. The German language is usually pretty creative when it comes to making up single words that describe one thing perfectly (e.g. Schadenfreude), but I have yet to find a good, one-word translation for ‘pet peeve’. Suggestions, anyone?

1. I am so, so over the social media’s algorithms that are trying to tell me that they know what I want to see in my feed. I am looking at you Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Let me tell you what I want to see: my feed in chronological order (or at least the option to choose to see it in chronological order), so that a string of images/updates actually makes sense and isn’t delivered all jumbled up (or days late!) and so that I can keep track of what I’ve already looked at. I am so confused now about the things I have seen (multiple times) and things I might have missed. This is seriously so annoying.

2. I know, I must sound like a broken record, because I probably have mentioned this particular pet peeve on this blog so many times, but I literally experience this every single day. People who think that traffic rules and basic driving functions are not for them.

It makes driving so incredibly frustrating and not to mention dangerous! People don’t use their blinker, or if they use it, they blink right and then take a left turn. Oh and don’t get me started on people who, now that the darker season is approaching, don’t turn on their headlights at night and drive around completely “invisible” to others. Yeah, that person that is honking and flashing their lights at you… that would be me. This stuff just drives me batsh*t crazy. At the end of a long workday, my patience for this crap is very, very low.  Come on, people, it’s really not that hard!

3. This is a runner’s pet peeve and unfortunately, I encounter this often on my Sunday park runs: People walk three-abreast taking up the whole walking path or they stand there with their dogs chatting with someone and they see you coming and they just won’t move to let you squeeze by them. I don’t understand. What happened to common decency and kindness to the people around you?

As a runner, you know that every step away from your running path costs extra energy and caution and making me step onto the grassy area or into the gutter is not only rude but potentially dangerous.

4. People who ask me for some help with something, I agree to help and make time to do so, and then they never get back to me about it. What’s up with that? I mean, it’s fine, it saves me some ‘extra work’, but why ask me in the first place?

5.  I get so annoyed when I find a product that I really, really like and then it gets discontinued. Argh. I mean, I don’t know if I should feel special for having such an exclusive taste or if I should feel just mad. Probably the latter. On that note, did Trader Joe’s discontinue Speculoos?? I didn’t see it on my last grocery trip and I NEED IT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

Your turn. Share one of your pet peeves with me.

  1. Traffic crap drives me bananas! Common sense and rules of the road are all a rarity these days it seems. And kindness — why is everyone so flippin rude?!

    1. That is a very good question – I think people just have their heads in the clouds.

  2. I am so with you on #1! What happened to chronological order? That’s all I want.

    1. I wish they would let us choose.

  3. I’m with on you #1 as well. I hate the IG algorithm. Sometimes I see posts that are a week old. Sooo dumb. Does anyone actually like their algorithm? I wish they would switch it back to chronological or, like you said, give you the option to default to that!

    Pet peeves I have are people being late, people clipping or filing their nails in public (it grosses me out and I hate the sound of clipping/filing), and slow walkers that walk in the middle of a side walk or skyway (we have a huge skyway system that we use to get around downtown Minneapolis and you’ll often see groups of slow walkers walking like 4 abreast – it drives me nuts!)..

    1. I was wondering that too – are there actually people who LIKE the messed up IG feed?

      People are clipping their finger nails in public where you live? WHAT?

  4. I’ve actually been reading a lot on blogs about runners being annoyed when others walk or run three abreast and it’s hard to get by. I feel like this happens to me once in awhile but I don’t really care. I’ll go around. It counts as my mileage, right??

    I don’t know what I’ll do if my underwear is ever discontinued. I feel like I should go out and just buy 200 pairs so I am set for life and never have to worry about it again. When you start watching Seinfeld, there is an episode where they discontinue the contraceptive called The Sponge and Elaine searches everywhere for it because that is what she uses. She finally finds a pharmacy that still has some and buys a whole case!

    1. I don’t mind going around when there is enough space, but if I have to step into the gutter/on the street or on the grass (which is often uneven), I feel like that’s an extra injury-risk that could be avoided.

      Haha, underwear is serious business… I guess you need to let me in on your secret: what’s the best underwear that you’d have to stock up if it got discontinued? :)

      1. I am embarrassed to say they are just vanity fair bikini briefs from Kohl’s!!! Preferably black in color. :)

        1. Pretty much all my underwear is black and from Kohls :) Ha!

  5. I can also agree on #1 it didn’t bother me that much but it starts to annoy as I think it’s increasing. I do see posts from 6 days ago… at the blogging conference I just attended the German Instagram guy was a speaker and this question came up: his answer was not promising for any change and he said if it would be chronological order we would miss even more due to the immense content being uploaded. I don’t know, I guess I wasn’t convinced

    I do have a pet peeve that always emerges this time of year. Christmas starts December 24 not a day earlier. Everything else is called advent. Drives me nuts that everyone is talking about Christmas season.

    Have a great Monday
    Tobia

    1. The algorithm is most annoying when posts are from last week, or if someone posts multiple pictures (a lot of people do the “life in the day” on Instagram) and then those come in all in the wrong order. It’s just lame if the algorithm messes this up.

      Mmh, but isn’t it called “Weihnachtszeit” and “Adventszeit” interchangeably? I’ve heard both all my life.

      1. Yes I do hear it all the time too but it actually isn’t interchangeable. If I want to be picky here: We celebrate Christmas because Jesus was born. He was born Christmas Eve so Christmas can’t start before. This is why Christmas starts 25th and last till January 5th hence 12days of Christmas. In the Christian sense the time before is called advent and is considered a preparation of the coming of Christ. I know most people do not care about that but it still bothers me…

  6. The social media algorithms are so annoying. It’s really annoying when you go off Instagram for a week and then come back and all you see are posts a week or two old! Bah. It makes no sense to me.

    One of my biggest pet peeves is people who don’t hold the door open for other people. We have an older woman who works in my company and she NEVER holds the door for people. She literally let it slam in my face the other day. LIKE WHAT. Why would anyone think that is okay?!?!

  7. I’m still mad about Instagram and not being able to see things chronologically. I would like the option. I feel like I miss SO MUCH, or a like something and then I’m like, wait, that was three days ago, WHY AM I JUST NOW SEEING IT?! Makes me crazy.

    For the most part runners in my neighborhood are friendly, and I usually wave or smile at every other runner I pass, but there are some who seem determined to look straight ahead and not acknowledge me and it’s just rude. Ditto on the walking groups who don’t let you pass – that makes me crazy!

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