[Despondent]

A pet peeve of mine concerns courtesy. Like when everyone (me, for the most part ) works toward a common goal. then when someone with key information helps you (me) out (like, yeah, pricing's not my department. why didn't you just give it to me the first time instead of covering the area you didn't complete with a sticky-back note. time's a wastin', needs to go to printer) and you (I) say thank you. then this person responds: um-hmm (tone scoops up on the hmm) which infers "thanks to me alone everything is just fine." Makes me want to retract my gratitude.

I also used to get that a lot at the McDonald's drive-through. "thank you" "um-hmm"

[Jordan]

Slipping on ice and people acting like they did not notice that you just fell on your ass. Either help me up, or point and laugh! Lets not pretend it didn't happen.

[Chefelf]

I touched on similar pet peeves a few months back: http://www.chefelf.c...rchive.php?p=19 About courtesy that is. The ice thing is a good point as well.

[WalrusOfPlastic]

Opposites!

He.... he....

Anyway...

[looktothesky]

Cheery people...

They're the last kinds of people you wanna be with when you're in a crappy mood. At least, its very painful until they rub off on you....

[Heccubus]

People who expect you to walk around them, even though they're the ones blocking the majority of the walking space. God forbid they should move their stupid little group slightly to the side of the hall for two seconds so I can pass.

[civilian_number_two]

Ok. This is an old pet peeve, since it's been a damn long time since I last took the bus, thank you, but I'm sure the situation hasn't improved. And Chef's story brought it to mind out of the dim corners of my head.

I don't like when you get on the bus early enough on its route to be blessed with a seat, and you're enjoying the ride until it fills up, and then the socially awkward moments build up. Like, my mom didn't raise no trolls, so when a woman gets on the bus, I'm gonna stand up and offer her the seat. I appreciate that we are all emancipated, and that women are not more frail, but frankly, it's just a little bit of old-world courtesy that reminds people that they share a planet with other human beings, and I am all for it. I'm, going to do it every time, and the age of the woman plays no part in it. And no, I wouldn't get up for any man unless he was very old, but it's all a part of an ancient social code, and I don't want to challenge it.

What bugs me is the number of women who will refuse to take the seat. And the manner in which they do it is remarkable. They will look at you like you just called them a nasty expletive and/or requested sex, and they will not sit down.

So now what? Do I take the seat back? No; that would be stupid. I'd look like even more of an idiot than I already do. So I have to remain standing, and act like I didn't even want the seat. Sometimes I would say "Just take it," which naturally makes this a hostile scenario where once it was a pleasant moment of old-world courtesy. At other times I would just distance myself from the seat and leave it to fate. And naturally, it would always be another man, usually younger and unlikely to give it up to anybody, who would sit down.

What happened between the days of my childhood (when women would always remark on the nice and courteous gesture) and now? Are old-world niceties only acceptable when performed by old men and children? Is there a prevailing myth that we are going back to a pre-suffrage society? Or is this just another case of Vancouver being the last place on Earth to hold on to the exaggerated measures of Political Correctness?

How's that for making a mountain out of a molehill?

[Reader]

People who say "You Complete Me"

[Despondent]

I also hate Radio ads with lame Schwartzenegger impersonations.

AND THOSE LOUD OBNOXIOUS RADIO ADS!!!

WHAT'S THAT???

THE SHOUTING RADIO ADS!!!

YOU HEARD RIGHT!!!


(or double your luck with the likes of the following...)


TERMEENATE YOUR LEASE AT BILL BYRD KIA! DO EEEEET NNNOW!

[barend]

alright, i don't really want to get started on this topic, or it'll take hours to read...

but...

the bus seat is for no one. except, someone sooo old they can barley SIT up. but even then, why are they travelling when the working class is on it's way to work?
pregnant women? well, I'll always get up for them - it's like carrying a heavy bag you can't put down.
but I hate when a female who is like 40 expects a seat... what the hell is with that.
chivalry (as in the patrionaising guestures men make for women) is the bi-product of a male dominated society, in which we no longer live. therefore opening doors and paying for meals is like calling every german a nazi. GET OVER IT.

i mean what the hell is paying for dinner still around for, why don't i just pay her by the hour? :angry:

and so on and so on...

[WalrusOfPlastic]

Barend, it makes sense that it shouldn't be expected to be that way, but if someone wants to make a courtious gesture, meeting it with disdain, acting like you have been wronged in some way, is just stupid not to mention cruel. Now if you honestly don't want the seat, you could say, "No thanks, I'd rather stand." or something along those lines. The problem is the overwhelming amount of people in our culture who crave victimization.

[civilian_number_two]

The problem is the overwhelming amount of people in our culture who crave victimization.

Exactly. Maybe.

What irks me about the whole business is that when a little boy stands uo to offer a woman his seat, she will generally make some crack about what a gentleman he is. This naturally reinforces the behavious for later life, not to mention that it contributes to the dram of a more polite society. But when the boy grows up, and acts in exactly the same manner, he's treated with the same skepticism one might offer a door-to-door saleman.

So: for the record, ladies, this is NOT the agreement: Men do not hold open doors for you and offer you their seats in exchange for the right to look at your ass when you dress up nice. Men offer the seats, etc, because we want to be polite, and because even the most misanthropic among us yearns for a better world. We are not being pigs when we offer you these courtesies. We are being pigs when we look at your asses. And we will always do that, whether you allow us to hold the door or offer the seat or not.

(Technically, too, if you take the seat, that means less ass-looking, right? So sit down, already!)

Anyway.

This has reminded me of something that used to be a pet peeve of mine, decades ago, when I was in high school. Time was, if a girl thought you liked her, she'd be all intrigued, and act all coy around you. Being mysterious about it was the best way, I learned pretty early, to get positive attention. But if a girl KNEW you liked her, she'd act like nothing could be creepier than that, and she'd avoid you. I got through all my high school relationships by never letting on I was at all interested, and it really pissed me off that I had to act that way.

Q: are teenagers still like that? Does anyone here have any experience more recent than mine?

[Jordan]

My biggest pet peeve is how I've been unable to attract a female (one I like) for the past year.

[civilian_number_two]

My biggest pet peeve is how I've been unable to attract a female (one I like) for the past year.

Here's a tip: carry bacon in your coat pocket.

Women like bacon.

[Heccubus]

The only problem then is that you have to deal with grease. No one likes grease, it's awful. Another of my pet peeves involves idiots in their big stupid Japanese cars with big stupid paint jobs and big stupid stereos. Allow me to vent:

• Don't fucking honk at me for no reason
• Don't drive by and yell something at me
• turn your god-damned subwoofer down (you're not cool)
• Take the stupid black lights off the stupid bottom of your stupid car. They don't do anything.
• you're a stupid idiot