13: Current Pet Peeves

November 13, 2023

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. #nablopomo2022

Ah! Pet peeves, the little annoyances of everyday life. We all know them so well. 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?

Some pet peeves are pretty universal, some keep shifting (at least for me).

Here are five of my most recent pet peeves:

Irresponsible dog owners.

Responsible dog owner friends, talk to me. Is your dog well-trained and well-behaved when you’re out on a walk? I frequently run into (no pun intended) dog owners who just don’t have control of their dogs and feel unbothered when their dog just veers into my path to sniff my legs (or jump up). Well, let me tell you, I AM BOTHERED. I am not afraid of dogs (generally), I like dogs, but I am not prepared to jump over or swerve around unexpected obstacles, and I think it’s very rude to let your dog run loose and get close to someone like that.

Just FYI, I encounter many good dog owners with very well-behaved dogs, too, who move to the side of the sidewalk and make their dog walk to heel or sit until I have passed. Just to clarify.

People who chew with their mouths open.

It’s more common than you think. I notice it a lot. It’s rather annoying.

People who don’t say good morning (or goodbye)

I have a few colleagues who routinely ‘forget’ to say good morning when they come into the office (or say goodbye when they leave). Our office suite has a layout with cubicles and I understand that people don’t walk through the whole suite to see who – if anyone – is there, but I feel like you could just throw a “good morning” into the room (and see if you get any responses) or at least say something if you walk by someone’s cubicle, but some people don’t even do that. Is this too much to ask?

Unsolicited advice

I appreciate a good recommendation or tip, but unsolicited advice drives me nuts. Why is it that some people always feel like they need to let you know that their way is the right way and will lecture you at every (in)opportune moment?

Store baggers who don’t know how to bag

I usually have a pretty good system when it comes to bagging my own groceries and it’s hard to watch store baggers, who should be trained for this job, bag very inefficiently. They pile the heaviest things in the biggest bags, they put the eggs on the bottom of the shopping bag, or they don’t maximize the space but just throw stuff into the bag willy-nilly. On Friday, the nice gentleman at Trader Joe’s, to whom I handed a collapsible shopping basket and four canvas bags, actually asked me if I wanted him to use the basket. Ahm, yes. PLEASE!

I myself use more of a Tetris-kinda approach and have been asked many times if I have worked as a bagger before.

Your turn: share one of your current pet peeves with me!

NGS
November 13, 2023 at 11:34 am

Oh, boy. I’m one of the co-workers who doesn’t say hello or good-bye. I assume people are working and don’t want to disturb them. I also don’t want to engage in small talk that inevitably happens. So…I guess I would be annoying you on a regular basis!

Hannah is terrible when people come at her on walks, so we walk into the median or street or across the street to avoid any interaction. The bad news is that if someone sneaks up behind us (like a quiet runner or something) and I don’t notice, things can get dicey. I swear I do my best and have her under my control, but sometimes it’s harder than you might think!

My pet peeve right now is when people say the word “individual” instead of “person” as in “I work with an individual who lives in Boston.” I just hate the depersonalization of it. People are people and should be respected as such.
1. San
  November 13, 2023 at 11:47 am
  
  Haha. I’m pretty sure you’d say hello to ME, wouldn’t you? So you would only be annoying other people ;)
  
  Well, I think you’re doing the right thing by getting out of people‘s way because you know that Hannah will be not necessarily be calm… and all bets are off with people that sneak up behind you. That‘s stupid and it’s on them!
  
  Ugh, why would someone use “individual”? I also think that’s terrible depersonalizing!
Tina
November 13, 2023 at 11:49 am

I try not to be an irresponsible dog owner, but my mutt has a mind of his own sometimes. We are always on a leash and I do try to step to the side and hold him as others pass. He still hasn’t gotten the memo that he is supposed to sit until I release him. We’re working on it, but I must look like I can’t control him to others. Doesn’t everyone dislike open mouth chewers? There is just something about it that is distasteful. I haven’t really sat down and thought about my pet peeves, of which I have many. I think my biggest ones all have to do with driving. People who don’t turn on their headlights in fog or rain, people who don’t use their turn signals to let me know which direction they are moving, or even those who can’t even go the minimum speed-it’s 35 through town, not 25.
Rebecca Jo
November 13, 2023 at 12:14 pm

I used to bag as a cashier as a teenager in a grocery store – when I see how people bag sometimes, I literally will say – step over – I’ll do it LOL
Kim
November 13, 2023 at 12:50 pm

Ha, I could have written this list myself, except for the baggers (I mostly bag my own). My current pet peeve is people who have the volumes on on their phone in a public space, like the train. WHY.
1. Meike
  November 13, 2023 at 7:23 pm
  
  Yes, please keep your dogs under control. I am ok with dogs coming over to say hello but one of my kids is not. It does not help with the dog angst.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
November 13, 2023 at 1:05 pm

I’m in a mellow mood today. Nothing’s bugging me right now.
Most of the time my dog does exactly what she’s supposed to be doing while we’re walking. Once in a while she really takes a shine to someone passing by and wants to go up and sniff them – if that person wants to say hi then it’s mutual then I’ll let her go up to them, if not then she gets a shorter leash in a hurry. She also gets it in her head once in a while to walk in the middle of the street like she owns the road, irregardless of traffic, and she’s pretty crafty at pulling away from me when she wants to do that.
Elisabeth
November 13, 2023 at 1:17 pm

I mostly bag my own things, but don’t care too much I have to admit.

I have MANY pet peeves as I’ve been thinking about it this week, but I’m saving them up for a big pet peeve post of my own. Stay tuned :)

I also really, really mind when dogs jump up on me. The owners seem to always laugh and find it funny. A few months ago, a DIRTY dog jumped up on my TWICE and I was wearing a really nice white coat. The owner apologized but…not really? Like she seemed to think it was kinda funny. I was no amused. Sorry, but it really makes me cranky. No shade to all the GREAT dog owners out there because I know that is likely the majority. But a few “bad” apples can really make a nice outside experience a lot less pleasant.
Jenny
November 13, 2023 at 3:27 pm

Oh, store baggers. The most annoying this is that, even though I always bring my own bags, it’s almost like they’re determined to use their own crappy plastic bags. Like they’ll use my bags but then put one thing- like detergent- in one of their bags. Why??? It’s like they really, really want me to take some plastic bags home. My other bagger pet peeve is, I’ll bring a cooler bag and put all my cold stuff first on the belt, and they still put things in bags randomly AS IF IT’S NOT OBVIOUS that I want my cold stuff packed together in the cooler bag, ARG! You can tell I have strong feelings on this subject.
coco
November 13, 2023 at 5:07 pm

unfortunately my husband often eats with mouth open when at home. he doesn’t do it when eating with others. I learned to accept him as he is but still annoyed.
In Jakarta there are not many dogs as muslim don’t like dogs. otherwise I’d be annoyed with dogs and poops.
J
November 13, 2023 at 8:46 pm

Mulder was not the most well behaved boy, he was VERY ENTHUSIASTIC and wanted to jump on people. We, however, know that this may be acceptable dog behavior, but it is NOT acceptable human behavior, so we always kept him on a short leash. If he had ever gotten away and jumped on someone, especially a stranger, I would have been mortified. I never understand people who laugh or say “my dog is friendly”. My dog pet peeve is owners who let their dogs run around off leash. My cousin has a rescue that she got recently, who was abused and is very reactive, and when dogs come charging up to her, it could get ugly quickly. The owners say, “My dog is friendly!” but the reality is, they don’t know what your dog’s situation is, do they?

I am with you on the baggers. if I bring two bags, I would like the weight to be evenly distributed between them, don’t load one until I can’t even pick it up and then hand me an empty one to go with it. If some people want it like that and the bagger feels like they just can win because people are idiots, then ASK. “Would you prefer that I try to fit this all in one bag, or divide it up?” Not so hard.
Ernie
November 13, 2023 at 9:04 pm

Coach was actually nipped (it left a mark, is that still nipped) by our neighbor’s dog in the summer. The neighbor doesn’t keep his dog on a leash. He walks him without a leash. I think he likes to show that his dog is so perfectly trained. Well, he isn’t PERFECTLY trained now, is he? Coach was on a run and the dog bit him. or nipped at his calf.

I dislike it when people play devil’s advocate. Let me be steamed. Let me vent. No need to take the opposite side of an argument that I’m having with no one in particular.

And, of course- people who respond to ALL.
Noemi
November 13, 2023 at 9:04 pm

Oh yes. I’ll see your checking with mouth open and raise you chomping gum loudly with mouth open. No. Just no. (I LOATHE gum.)
And yes to bagging! It’s you’re literal job how can you do it so badly?! It’s been one of my favorite hold overs from the pandemic – if someone side eyes me when I bag my own groceries I just say, oh I got into the habit when I had to do it myself. Never mind that I always wanted to do it myself…
Nicole MacPherson
November 14, 2023 at 5:17 am

Rex never jumps up on everyone – he’s so big, he’d knock someone over – but if someone is walking towards us and smiles at him, he seems to know and he tries to approach for a pet. He has some kind of radar because people often want to pet him. Runners though, I never allow him to even get close because of safety. When we are in the dog park, sometimes a dog will jump on me and I hate it, even being a dog lover. Muddy paws on my pants! It’s really bad behaviour. It’s always the smaller dogs, I have to say. People with big dogs are very careful to keep them behaved, in my opinion, because others tend to find big dogs scary. Small dogs often have worse behaviour in my experience. Not all of course!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
November 14, 2023 at 6:34 am

Oh don’t get me started with the dogs.
I am afraid of dogs, worked on it and was almost cured just to get bitten by a German Shepard (going for my neck…) So I am out. No dog lover.
When there is a dog I am very anxious. When there are dogs with no leash I can’t go on.
I have started to asking dog owners who have their dog not leashed to get him saying I am afraid. Some do without questions and other start arguing that the dog won’t do anything. Sorry not believing it. It is still an animal so…
By now I can tell which dog is behaved and will listen and which ones won’t.
Sigh… more consideration would be nice.

Well the bagging thing is something we don’t have to worry about here in Germany. I do like to get my bags packed in a certain way though.
Melissa
November 14, 2023 at 12:32 pm

We don’t have baggers here, either you do your own or the cashier does it, they scan and then put it straight in the bag. For this reason my mum taught me to unload my trolley so that the items would come to the cashier in order to go into the bags in a sensible way. Mum used to get annoyed when they then reached right over to grab something out of order. When I worked in a supermarket I would bag how my mum taught me.

I’m afraid I would be one of those people who would annoy you be not saying hello. I wouldn’t want to interupt people, although it would depend on circumstances and how many people worked in the office.
Suzanne
November 14, 2023 at 6:27 pm

Ooooh I have a Pet Peeves post in my drafts folder! I need to finish it!

YES, chewing with an open mouth. Ugh ugh ugh. I cannot stand mouth noises.

And YES to baggers who can’t bag! The other day, a bagger put a tomato in the bag first. A tomato! And then started putting things on top of it! Yikes! Shouldn’t “don’t put delicate fruit on the bottom of the bag” be part of bagging 101? With lots of employee shortages, we don’t have baggers every time now, so I often bag my own groceries. And I LIKE IT.
sarah
November 15, 2023 at 4:02 am

STORE BAGGERS! Oh my goooooodness. Like, LITERALLY PART OF THE JOB, and yet.
Stephany
November 16, 2023 at 11:33 am

When I had a dog, I preferred people who ignored him, lol. He could be cantankerous at times (especially the older he got), so I didn’t want him to nip at them if he was feeling threatened. But it really drives me crazy when dogs just jump up on people. That’s an easy thing to train!

Hmm, pet peeves. People who drive with their headlights out when it’s dark is a big one for me.
Anne
November 16, 2023 at 4:05 pm

So… baggers. My favorite store, with my favorite people, employs the friendliest but, um, least skilled baggers. So I let them bag, go to the car, and redistribute everything. :) (I try to do my own so they can ‘help someone else!’ ;>)
Kristen | kristenwoolsey.com
November 17, 2023 at 6:58 am

The people on our street never pick up after their dogs and it drives me nuts! It can be very scary out on a run if someone’s dog is coming at you – a very vulnerable feeling! I also wish there were less misbehaving pets.

Ok, San, now I challenge you to write the opposite of this post and write a bunch of things that make you smile! There are so many things that can irritate us day to day, so I think it’s good to look for those little things that make us happy.