Pet Peeves

[Seonid]

Drivers: Cyclists who get in the way of traffic are so annoying. Seriously, why can't they just stick to roads that have bike lanes so they don't have to get in front of a long line of cars? 

Cyclists: You're driving deadly weapons! YOU'RE the ones who have to be careful when we drive in the middle of the road! 

Drivers? Did you not hear us? BIKE LANE. DON'T DART OUT IN TRAFFIC. What part of this is so hard to understand? 

Cyclists: You need to alter your perspective! 

 

Note: Not every cyclist is like this. I know some cyclists who go out of their way to follow traffic laws and to make life easier on drivers. It's cyclists who think that riding a bike should give them carte blanche to do whatever they want that act this way. 

 

You have enough roads with bike lanes that cyclists can actually use them to get somewhere? Seriously, my city has exactly zero bike lanes. If I want to ride my bike legally (ie - not on the sidewalk) I have to ride in the road. And if I want to make a legal left turn, I have to get into the left turn lane, with all of the attendant joy and delight that brings.

 

So I guess that makes my pet peeve not having bike lanes.

[Sunbird]

Speaking of traffic... I get really annoyed at pedestrians who walk across an intersection when the traffic light has green left-turn arrows for opposite sides of the intersection. Is the Walk signal on? No? Then STAY OUT OF THE ROAD.

[Orlion Blight]

Speaking of traffic... I get really annoyed at pedestrians who walk across an intersection when the traffic light has green left-turn arrows for opposite sides of the intersection. Is the Walk signal on? No? Then STAY OUT OF THE ROAD.

I've known people who are proud about not checking for traffic or not stopping because it would break their rhythm.

As an anxious driver, I disapproves of such behavior.

[Delightful]

Proud of not looking??? Are they also proud of their heads being attached??

Edited June 5, 2016 by Delightful

[Mistrunner]

I'm not sure if this exactly counts as a pet peeve, but it certainly bothers me when I have absolutely no idea what to say. And that happens a lot.

 

Especially when I don't know people all that well, I have problems giving responses. People say things, obviously expecting me to say something back, and all I can do is an awkward laugh/smile, thumbs-up (note to self: never visit the Middle East), or nondescript variation upon "hm". This is very bad when people entrust me with the deepest parts of their souls and all I can respond with is "huh."

 

This is compounded with the fact that I can't maintain eye contact for longer than a millisecond. I stare at the floor a lot.

 

I suppose this can be summarized with the sentence "I have no social skills." 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

I'm not sure if this exactly counts as a pet peeve, but it certainly bothers me when I have absolutely no idea what to say. And that happens a lot.

 

Especially when I don't know people all that well, I have problems giving responses. People say things, obviously expecting me to say something back, and all I can do is an awkward laugh/smile, thumbs-up (note to self: never visit the Middle East), or nondescript variation upon "hm". This is very bad when people entrust me with the deepest parts of their souls and all I can respond with is "huh."

 

This is compounded with the fact that I can't maintain eye contact for longer than a millisecond. I stare at the floor a lot.

 

I suppose this can be summarized with the sentence "I have no social skills." 

 

So you have a face like mine. A face that changes everything you say, no matter how noncommittal, into this: 

 

 

Though I've found that when people do start telling me all their secrets, they don't usually want advice or a long response. They just want someone to lend an ear and let them get those secrets off their chest. I'll listen, nod, offer sympathy where needed, and mostly just let them talk. 

 

In a broader sense, that's actually the secret to being considered a good conversationalist. My granddad would reportedly just sit and listen to people talk, hardly saying a word, and everyone would say what a great conversationalist he was. I've found that a good portion of social skills isn't always knowing what to say; it's knowing how to listen in a way that makes people feel like they're being heard. 

[Orlion Blight]

I'm not sure if this exactly counts as a pet peeve, but it certainly bothers me when I have absolutely no idea what to say. And that happens a lot.

Especially when I don't know people all that well, I have problems giving responses. People say things, obviously expecting me to say something back, and all I can do is an awkward laugh/smile, thumbs-up (note to self: never visit the Middle East), or nondescript variation upon "hm". This is very bad when people entrust me with the deepest parts of their souls and all I can respond with is "huh."

This is compounded with the fact that I can't maintain eye contact for longer than a millisecond. I stare at the floor a lot.

I suppose this can be summarized with the sentence "I have no social skills."

People usually don't know what to do in such situations, making you part of the majority!

Usually, you can get through such events by saying variations on "How awful!" If bad and "wow, that's neat!"if good.

Excuse yourself with an explanation about aggressive toe fungus, and you're interacting suitably with society!

My gripe for today has to do with my local library: the only events it does for adults are nights when people fill in coloring books or teach the remaining Neanderthals about this new fangled technology known as a computer.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

People usually don't know what to do in such situations, making you part of the majority!

Usually, you can get through such events by saying variations on "How awful!" If bad and "wow, that's neat!"if good.

Excuse yourself with an explanation about aggressive toe fungus, and you're interacting suitably with society!

My gripe for today has to do with my local library: the only events it does for adults are nights when people fill in coloring books or teach the remaining Neanderthals about this new fangled technology known as a computer.

 

Oh, man, I could tell you some stories about library patrons and computers. I've had people come in needing help printing a document, not knowing how to click a mouse or use a keyboard, and it really hurts the staff on busy days, or days when the print release station is malfunctioning and the staff has to manually release every job from the desk. 

[Sunbird]

My gripe for today has to do with my local library: the only events it does for adults are nights when people fill in coloring books or teach the remaining Neanderthals about this new fangled technology known as a computer.

 

Oh man, this made me laugh so hard. Kinda reminded me of this post I saw on Facebook:

 

 

My gripe for today is pop-up ads.

 

Also, Twi, do you have to deal with those people who come in looking for a specific book and they're like, "I don't remember the title or the author or what it was about, but I think the cover was blue... Do you know the book I'm talking about?"

Edited June 6, 2016 by Sunbird

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Oh man, this made me laugh so hard. Kinda reminded me of this post I saw on Facebook:

 

 

My gripe for today is pop-up ads.

 

Also, Twi, do you have to deal with those people who come in looking for a specific book and they're like, "I don't remember the title or the author or what it was about, but I think the cover was blue... Do you know the book I'm talking about?"

 

Relevant:

 

 

Not yet, but I did have to deal with a patron a few days ago who printed off 52 separate jobs. I tried to show them how to release them, but this patron hedged and dragged their feet until I finally agreed to print them off myself. Fifty. Two. Jobs. The computer system doesn't automatically add together the total number of pages to be printed, so I had to go through and look at each job, determine that each one was only a single page (you couldn't have added a few of those together? opened a Word doc and copy-pasted?) and then do the math to determine how much they owed. Then I had to go through and release the jobs a handful at a time, so as not to overwhelm the printer and cause this patron to lose some of their work. 

 

I was not pleased. 

Edited June 6, 2016 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Nashan’Elin]

I'm not sure if this exactly counts as a pet peeve, but it certainly bothers me when I have absolutely no idea what to say. And that happens a lot.

 

Especially when I don't know people all that well, I have problems giving responses. People say things, obviously expecting me to say something back, and all I can do is an awkward laugh/smile, thumbs-up (note to self: never visit the Middle East), or nondescript variation upon "hm". This is very bad when people entrust me with the deepest parts of their souls and all I can respond with is "huh."

 

This is compounded with the fact that I can't maintain eye contact for longer than a millisecond. I stare at the floor a lot.

 

I suppose this can be summarized with the sentence "I have no social skills." 

Mistrunner! Stop describing my life!

[Mestiv]

My gripe for today has to do with my local library: the only events it does for adults are nights when people fill in coloring books or teach the remaining Neanderthals about this new fangled technology known as a computer.

 

This is really not a nice way to talk about computer illiterate people :/ My 80 years old grandpa once approached my desk, asked me "Is this this thing called Internet?" while pointing at a printer. It may seem funny at first, but just think about it, how was he supposed to know? He didn't see a computer before he was 70 years old, no wonder he doesn't know what is what. I tried to explain what Internet is to him and he tried to understand. I'm not sure he got it, but after some time he asked me to find some information about something on the Internet. I felt proud that despite his old age he wanted to try and use new technology to find some information.

 

Other, younger people maybe were risen in a family that couldn't afford a computer? Maybe they migrated from a poor country where computers weren't common? You shouldn't call someone who's willing to learn a Neanderthal :/

 

[Oversleep]

Yeah, I'm with Mestiv here. How would these people know how to use computers? They first appeared when they were already old, so they didn't need to use them to work or anything. For them it's that magic box that appeared lately (in the last decade or decade and half) and took over the world. For us it's something we grew up with.

Some of them are really amazed that they can just press some buttons and do a video chat with their grandkids half a country away. Remember what the world was when they were the age we were introduced to computers. For you, computers were there for the most of your life. For them, the electricity wasn't always there. (I suppose)

Edited June 6, 2016 by Oversleep

[ThirdGen]

This is really not a nice way to talk about computer illiterate people :/ My 80 years old grandpa once approached my desk, asked me "Is this this thing called Internet?" while pointing at a printer. It may seem funny at first, but just think about it, how was he supposed to know? He didn't see a computer before he was 70 years old, no wonder he doesn't know what is what. I tried to explain what Internet is to him and he tried to understand. I'm not sure he got it, but after some time he asked me to find some information about something on the Internet. I felt proud that despite his old age he wanted to try and use new technology to find some information.

 

Other, younger people maybe were risen in a family that couldn't afford a computer? Maybe they migrated from a poor country where computers weren't common? You shouldn't call someone who's willing to learn a Neanderthal :/

 

 

If they're willing to learn, that's fantastic.  The ones who are proudly ignorant ("I don't mess with that stuff, huh-huh.") are the ones I do not have sympathy for.  They've had 30 years, give or take, to get remotely acquainted with some form of computer somewhere. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Coworker: Oh, you're reading quietly in the back room on your break? LOOK AT THIS CHILD'S DRAWING I FOUND ISN'T IT NEAT.

Guy in staff break room: The only way to enjoy a sandwich is with an open mouth and loudly smacking lips.

Guess who's taking their break in the Fiction section today, hoping no one with a question recognizes her as staff?

[Sunbird]

Coworker: Oh, you're reading quietly in the back room on your break? LOOK AT THIS CHILD'S DRAWING I FOUND ISN'T IT NEAT.

Guy in staff break room: The only way to enjoy a sandwich is with an open mouth and loudly smacking lips.

Guess who's taking their break in the Fiction section today, hoping no one with a question recognizes her as staff?

 

Ugh. Been there a million times.

And as for people chewing like cows...

 

 

I'm not even exaggerating.

 

Also, I went and saw X-Men: Apocalypse in the theater today, and there was this guy down on one of the more front-ish rows who decided it was a good idea to take out his smartphone in the middle of the movie and blind everyone behind him with his 100-kilowatt glowing screen in the dark theater. I felt like getting a 1-watt laser pointer and shining it in his eyes.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

 

Ugh. Been there a million times.

And as for people chewing like cows...

 

 

I'm not even exaggerating.

 

Also, I went and saw X-Men: Apocalypse in the theater today, and there was this guy down on one of the more front-ish rows who decided it was a good idea to take out his smartphone in the middle of the movie and blind everyone behind him with his 100-kilowatt glowing screen in the dark theater. I felt like getting a 1-watt laser pointer and shining it in his eyes.

 

That song is my life.  

 

And yes, that image is highly accurate. In addition to what I said before, the coworker who interrupted me while I was reading also seems to think that lip-smacking improves memory and concentration, because if she gets focused on a task, she will mutter to herself and make annoying noises with her mouth. While standing at the front desk. Where I can't plug in my headphones. Sometimes I'll plug one ear, but that doesn't work when I'm helping a patron and need both hands to type. 

[Delightful]

Twi, you don't talk to yourself when you're thinking?

 

I do. All the time...

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Twi, you don't talk to yourself when you're thinking?

 

I do. All the time...

 

Oh, I do. I just don't make smacking noises. 

[Orlion Blight]

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.

The phrase "living the dream."

[Sunbird]

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.

The phrase "living the dream."

 

Heh. Dreams are too weird to want to actually live one. CS Lewis nailed it with that scene in Voyage of the Dawn Treader where the ship encounters a place where "dreams come true." Srsly creepy.

[Sunbird]

Ok, nobody's posted here in a few days, so I'll share something else that bugs me. I sort the library's mail about once a week, and I get irritated when we get shipments of books that are packaged in like ten layers of cardboard and 50 ft of tape. Do you not want me to be able to open your package? Srsly, stop wasting my time with Fort Knox in a box.

[Oversleep]

Ok, nobody's posted here in a few days, so I'll share something else that bugs me. I sort the library's mail about once a week, and I get irritated when we get shipments of books that are packaged in like ten layers of cardboard and 50 ft of tape. Do you not want me to be able to open your package? Srsly, stop wasting my time with Fort Knox in a box.

If you have paperknife, it shouldn't be any problem to be opened. Also, better safe than sorry.

As somebody who spent last summer in a job that involved packing things  (I am now a master of the tape, cardboard, stretch and paperknife) I can tell you that proper packaging is crucial. If only you knew what delivery people do with things... *brrr*.

[+Slowswift]

Unless the lawyer in question is the protagonist or a friend of the protagonist, every attorney I've seen so far on TV is either a complete jerk or bordering on obstruction-of-justice levels of unhelpful. I find this annoying.

[Mistrunner]

People who fish for compliments. The ones who always have to share 200 selfies a day and caption them "im so ugly lol".

Just. Stahp.