I will try to put things on here that personally annoy me that most others
aren't annoyed by. Some of these items will be not bother most people, but that's
why it's my list. Please don't be offended if you are on the list as I admit
to being a little odd in what I find annoying. Newest items are on top. I will
rank the severity of each from 1 to 5 the level of annoyance and color code
as well. 1 indicates that item barely registers and often I won't even notice
the annoyance to be annoyed and 5 indicates that I have to restrain myself from
getting violent and my blood pressure increases greatly due to the annoyance.
IF NEEDED, ANNOYANCES CONTINUE HERE!
Last update:
05/04/2006
*Note:
starting with #204, all new entries appended to the end and
will be dated; #1-#203 from 11/2004 to 12/2005 in reverse order*
When I record a hockey game that is on my NHL Center Ice satellite package
on my DVR, the channel the game is on shuts down as soon as the game is finished,
presumably to save on bandwidth. The problem is that this causes the recording
to stop. After the recording stops, you know how long the game was by the
length of the recording. Indicating how long the game lasts gives clues as
to whether a game went into overtime or shoot-out and I have to go to trouble
to avoid looking at the remaining time so that I don't know when the game
will end. I've complained to DISH network and they don't care because they
don't understand sports and are more concerned squeezing in 10 shopping channels
than improving the viewers' experience. This is especially an issue in playoffs
when the games can go multiple OTs. If a game starts
at 4 and I see at 6:30 the recording light is off, I know it didn't go into
overtime ruining some of my enjoyment as I'll know near the end the other
team will not comeback and tie it up. Severity:
5
There's a lot of restaurants around where I work that have hardly any people
in them during prime time and many times, they are new establishments and
I don't know why they don't promote their spots more. They might have a great
place, but they need to offer some coupons on the street for free appetizers
or a free can of soda to get the ball rolling. Their lack of marketing acumen
bothers me. Severity: 2
The yellow Lance Armstrong bracelets or similar items or varying colors.
I don't know if the purpose is to brag that you donated money to a worthy
cause or to brag that you are against cancer and to make others feel bad for
being FOR cancer if they don't wear one. But whatever the reason may be, I
think it foolish. Severity:
2
British English's use of "s" where US English uses "z",
such as in "civilisation". It looks wrong and is distracting to
me. Severity: 1
My PG&E bill being higher than it should given that I have no washer/dryer,
no dishwasher, and use the heat sparingly. I think it's mostly due to below
annoyance. Severity: 3
The inefficiency of my 1987 refrigerator. It seems to always be running
(and the lights dim when it starts up) even when it's cold in the apartment
and I know it's costing me a lot in wasted electricity but the landlord won't
replace it and I am not willing to go through the hassle of sabotage it completely
to force them to get me a new one, though I am within my rights if I did so.
Severity: 4
The automatic-flushing urinal in my swim club locker room. Sometimes it
doesn't flush when the previous person steps away and so you go up to it and
someone else's urine is sitting there and it's gross and then sometimes it
flushing while you are pissing causing some splash which is also gross. Severity:
3
Taking the elevator to my floor in the building I work in. I work on the
top floor and only 2 of the 6 elevators goes to it because it's half a floor.
One is the freight elevator and the other in a regular one that you either
have to luck out to have going up, or you have to press the down button to
summon to make it think you want to go to the basement (which the same 2 also
only go to). Taking the freight elevator makes people look at you like you
are scum because it says "no passengers" and even though we have
an exemption, it still makes me feel bad and then sometimes the person gets
in still with you and then after it closes realizes it's the freight and then
is mad that you caused them to get in it and also there's sometimes custodians
with smelly trash or guys moving big furniture in this one. The regular one
that you summon with the down button is annoying because if someone gets in
with you, you have to explain that they have to hold down the button to their
floor until the elevator accepts that you want to go up, not down and then
explain why I pressed the down button regarding the unique fact of our floor.
It just has gotten old. Severity:
2
People that use exclamation points in emails indiscriminately forcing me
to reply with one or feel that I will make the person feel bad that I am not
as excited as they are to communicate with me. Furthermore, if everybody did
this, it would cause punctuation inflation whereby you'd be forced to use
exclamation points all the time to avoid looking like you don't care about
something at all, even if you aren't truly excited about a sentence which
is the purpose of the EP. Severity:
1
In the morning during the week, usually I take a crap right when waking
up. Then I take a shower and have some hot chocolate and get dressed and then
often have to take another crap, yet it's only 25 minutes or so after the
first crap and it pisses me off that my body is being inefficient in it's
disposal of waste by not being able to save it all up for one instance. Severity:
2
In old movies and Star Trek, when they make the lens fuzzy when showing
a closeup of a seductive woman or some guy looking at a woman. It's dumb.
Severity: 2
In sports, the unbalanced schedule now popular in baseball and hockey which
has teams playing way more games against their division opponents than the
rest of the league. As a sports fan, I would rather see a diverse range of
opponents rather than seeing the same division rivals over and over. The leagues
think this is what the public wants to generate excitement in playoff races,
but it's a travesty to have to watch the A's play Seattle 30 times while games
against Boston and New York are cut. Severity:
4
In Microsoft Outlook, when I close an email with an attachment open, it
always warns me with a sudden popup message about the dangers of changes not
being saved and I'm sick and tired of it. Severity:
4
In Microsoft Outlook, when I want to print an email but don't need the whole
long thing, I can't seem to specify an individual page or range to print.
It only allows me to select Even or Odd which is stupid. Severity:
2
Nosepicking in public when it's obvious others can see you doing it. I understand
that it's necessary to occasionally clean house, but when people do so in
public view, to me it's an insult to others that these public-pickers feel
no embarrassment.Severity:
3
Radio ads that are disguised as regular programming by using on-air personalities
talking in normal conversational tones to trick people into listening to the
ad. Severity: 3
A major US bank's "Keep the Change" program which funnels money
from your checking account to some savings account paying shamefully low interest
rates by rounding up the charge for all debit card purchases helping people
to "save" money by just moving money from one account to another
in tiny bits. The fact that people think this is a good idea annoys me because
I find it so irrational. Severity:
5
People the go to the voting booth without knowing what they are going to
vote on. I bring my picks with me to speed the process, but even without one,
you should know the issues and not make the decisions at the last minute based
on the short description on the form. An exception is granted for people who
normally don't vote, but are doing so in a particular election because of
one particular issue they feel strongly about and so don't care about the
other issues. Though I disagree with that mindset, I can understand it and
that does not annoy me. Severity:
1
People that vote by mail without a compelling reason such as being old,
disabled, or on vacation.. I don't like the isolation it allows people to
have from their fellow citizens in the democratic process. Severity:
1
In ice hockey, the referee is always getting in the way in the offensive
zone of the guys trying to make moves to score. They need to get out of the
way or get in a spot that doesn't hinder the players' movement. I think it
started when the NHL went to the two referee system, which I like, but then
enabled the refs to stay deep in the zone more. Severity:
3
People that refuse to ever do personal funds transfers electronically. There
is no reason for people to send checks to each other any more and it's much
easier than having to wait to have the correct amount of cash to pay the person
back, especially if you both have a Bank of America account and can do the
instant transfer between accounts. Severity:
2
This guy at my work that never has any cash when we go out to eat. I don't
understand why anyone would always have no cash. Even if you pay with a card
for everything, it still doesn't hurt to have $40 or so in your wallet just
in case a place doesn't take cash or you need to make a quick exchange of
funds with someone. Severity:
2
The term "podcast". All it is in information in an audio format.
Why does it need to be associated with mp3 players in general or specifically
with Ipods? I listen to them on my computer at home. It's not a pod, but it
still works somehow. Severity:
2
People that are suckered into getting sparkling water at the suggestion
of the waiter. Their lack of conviction in their right to free water is part
of the cause of the annoyance below. Severity:
2
In restaurants, when the waiter asks if you want anything to drink and you
say water and he or she asks you to specify bottled or regular. If I wanted
some $10 sparkling designer water, I'd have asked for it. Trying to make the
table feel ashamed to be drinking tap water from the melted snow of the Sierras,
some of the cleanest municipal water in the world, is not only insulting,
but stupid. Severity: 3
At my corner store, they turn all the cartons of milk around in order to
discourage customers from getting the milk with the furthest out expiration
date because it makes it more of an effort to check the dates. I have news
for you Napoli Market: I'm going to do it anyway because I want my milk to
last and all it's doing is making me dissatisfied so that I normally buy my
milk elsewhere now. Severity:
2
People that refer to some restaurant, bar, lounge or something like at as
a "space" such as "it's a very nice space." It's such
pretentious hipster talk. Severity:
1
People that make a big deal about changing time zones when traveling. Usually
occurs with people from coming from east cost to west. It's only 3 hours,
yet they repeatedly enjoy telling everyone around them what time their body
is on like they are performing some heroic feat for being able to cope with
it. Grow up you babies and deal with it! Severity:
2
People that wear vests for warmth. I don't understand the purpose for wearing
something with no arms. If it's cold enough for your torso to be chilled,
why not just wear a full sweater or coat? Severity:
1
These people that do "water aerobics" at my pool. All they do
is bounce up and down in the water and it's just pathetic. If they were old,
disabled, or extremely fat, I could accept it as this might be the only physical
activity that they could perform, but these people are fill none of these
categories and it annoys me that they can so publicly embarrass themselves
with lame exercises. Severity:
3
This one guy at my pool that sits in the hot tub for about an hour, then
swims for 10 minutes sadly, then goes back in the hot tub again. It's just
sad and he's there every day after work and it annoys me to see him. Severity:
3
People at work that say "I'll shoot you an e-mail" or some other
item that they pledge to shoot to someone. It's a tired phrase. Severity:
1
When people say or write "the year" before speaking about 2000.
When you are talking about a year, it's always obvious you are denoting a
particular year in time and I hate to see or hear this unnecessary preface.
If I say, "Since 2000, I've been unemployed", it's pretty obvious
what I'm talking about. Why does 2000 need "the year" before it
if 2001 does not? Severity:
3
Any entity that charges a fee to pay a bill electronically. For instance,
to pay a parking ticket in San Francisco, you can pay online with a credit
card, but they charge a $2.75 fee. It annoys me that they charge for this
since they are saving money by not having to process a check and getting the
money faster, but they charge you for it. Same with paying taxes electronically.
Even though I hate writing checks, I will never pay a service fee for paying
electronically. Severity:
3
People with alarms that do some crazy blue flashing when parked. It's so
lame to think that a thief that wants that car is going to be scared of the
blinking strobe. Practically all cars have alarms anyway, with or without
lights. Severity: 2
Standing behind someone on a computer using an application that I am very
familiar with and seeing them do things inefficiently. It just kills me to
see someone take so long to highlight the necessary Excel cells with the mouse
when they easily could have hit "end" followed by control-down!
Severity: 4
Bums that try to get people to pay them for "finding" them parking
spots on the street in crowded parts of town. I really don't like when they
use intimidation to get money from people since many will think the bum will
mess with their car if they don't pay. I see it all the time on Pacific a
block or two east of Columbus and even though I'm on my bike, it makes me
mad. Severity: 3
People that complain about my annoyances. It annoys me because I've already
disclaimed that I have a lot of odd irritations that I realize are a bit odd
and it's my personal list and I don't think it's offensive for me to honestly
state what annoys me. Severity:
2
When you have multiple Internet Explorer windows open and one isn't responding
so you end the task for that particular IE session and it closes all of them.
Why the hell are they all linked if they are opened separately? Microsoft,
poor design. Severity:
3
When people send out emails and include themselves in the address list.
The sent email is in the Sent folder so there is no purpose in doing that.
This is a waste of email space and is foolish, in my opinion. Severity:
1
In Portland, public notices like those instructing you to give up the front
bus seats use the phrase "honored citizens" instead of "senior
citizens". They are taking an already-euphamized phrase that replaced
"the elderly" and making it even cheesier. Severity:
2
People that put on their shoes with them already tied, squeezing their feet
in and weakening the back of the shoe. Severity:
1
Putting that chili pepper stuff on pizza. I don't see a need for it. Severity:
1
Putting Parmesan cheese on pizza. The food is basically all cheese and yet
some people feel a need to add more. Why? Severity:
2
Dental flossing in a public place like an airport gate area. Gross. Severity:
3
When the Congress passes some law that limits federal funding to a state
or municipality if they do something they don't like. For instance, states
are free to set any drinking age they want, but if it's under 21, they get
no transportation funding as the law now stands. So, instead of going about
a legitimate process of trying to enact a constitutional amendment to make
a national drinking age, they try some easy backdoor method to enact change
via blackmail. The same thing is going on right now regarding property seizure
for private development via the eminent domain statute in the constitution.
Though I am against such seizures, I don't like the way that some lawmakers
are trying to fight it, using this backdoor blackmail method rather than embarking
on an amendment that will clarify the constitution in these matters. Severity:
4
People chewing on ice cubes. It's annoying to listen to and serves no purpose.
Severity: 2
I acknowledge I'm a bit mean with this one, but old women that swim slow
at my pool during prime time hours annoy me. These people have all the time
in the world. The least they can do is swim at hours when the working folk
don't use the pool. And they swim so slow, it's a waste of a lane and they
can't stay straight so you can't share their lane.
Go knit some Afghans like a good old granny! Severity:
2
When there's a news story about someone that was killed during a robbery
and they mention how the robber only got some small amount of money as a means
of making people even more upset over the incident. It's like we're supposed
to be more outraged over the killing because the guy only got $10 off the
victim, whereas if he had a nice wad of money, at least the killing is a little
more justifiable. Severity:
3
These stupid decals of ribbons I'm seeing all over that place on the rear
of people's cars supporting various causes, usually "our troops".
I haven't seen a car accessory craze like this since the "Baby on Board"
signs and suction cup Garfield insanity of the 80's. It's so dumb that people
see others with this on thier car and think it's cool and want one of their
own, that it annoys me. Severity:
3
People that wear visors upside down and backwards on their head. It's a
frat-boy look that I don't like. Usually goes along with wearing sunglasses
on the back of one's head as well. Severity:
2
Unnecessary elevator door holding. I don't like it when there's a bunch
of people waiting for an elevator and the first person goes in and holds the
door for everyone. They're just trying to feel magnanimous because the electronic
eye will ensure the door doesn't shut on the people unless they are rushing
to get in at the last second. Severity:
1
BART is too loud in tunnels. It's damn near hurts my ears now with the high-pitched
screeching. I don't see other transit agencies having this noise problem.
It's unpleasant and screws your MP3 listening enjoyment. Severity:
3
Smog checks costing too much. It should be plainly obvious from smell and
visual inspection that a car is not spewing too much CO and other crap that
these tests should cost much less for cars that are clearly OK. Severity:
2
The pasty taste in my mouth after eating pretzels. I enjoy them, but I have
to wash my mouth out after eating them because the barley or malt taste lingers
and is unpleasant. Severity:
1
Spinning rims on cars. It's such a stupid waste of money, in my opinion,
that it is annoying for me to see. Severity:
1
Declawing cats. I'm not a huge animal rights person, but I just think this
is a terrible thing to a cat. Even domesticated, they ought to be allowed
an occasional hunt outside for a bird or mouse because their lives really
are not that exciting.. It's obvious to me that even indoors, they instinctively
want to extract their claws sometimes and I imagine when they can't it must
be very frustrating. If people can't handle cats with claws in their house,
they should just not have an indoor cat. This is like
someone that wants kids but doesn't like crying taking out the kids' vocal
cords. OK, maybe it's not quite that bad, but it's the same idea. Severity:
4
When someone eats two sweet things at once, like a candy bar with a coke.
It just bothers me that the two tastes are so uncomplimentary. Severity:
3
The fact that BART ticket machines won't allow you to put in multiple small-denomination
tickets to get a new one. Many people have a ton of tickets with 40 cents
to $1.50 that they can only add one of, but there is no technical reason why
the machines don't allow you to just stick in more than one to get a new ticket,
except the BART is scamming people. Severity:
2
People that won't ever lift their umbrella to avoid hitting other people
walking without one of the street. Usually women who are too worried about
their hair to allow a molecule of water to hit them are the culprits of this
annoying habit. Severity:
3
People that walk around with broken umbrellas showing no care for potentially
poking out someone's eye with the metal frame sticking out all over the place.
Severity: 4
When using the Quicken personal finance software, there is no way to turn
off the stupid opening noise. Severity:
2
Cheez-it residue on my fingers after eating them. I have to wash my hands
every time I have some. Severity:
2
People that refuse to register for free web sites like nytimes.com or latimes.com
so that they can click on a link to read a story. I like to send articles
to people that I think they will find interesting and people that refuse to
go through the small effort one time to register in return for an awesome
free news source annoy me. Severity:
3
Crazy noises heard when people turn their cell phone off. It's totally unnecessary
and stupid considering that if you are turning it off, it might be for reasons
that you don't want it to disturb you, like it did when this woman got a call
in a funeral I was at and was further embarrassed by the stupid off noise.
Severity: 3
Incorrect usage of the "smart quotes" feature in Microsoft Word.
The special feature makes those quotes that you see in books with the opening
and closing ones like “ and ”. However, these are intended to be
used to indicate speech or actual quotations of individuals, not for when
you are denoting a term (as I do with "smart quotes") or stuff like
a title of a book. Microsoft is mostly to blame for making this the default
setting, I think. Please, everyone, turn off this option
unless you write a lot of dialogue in your Word usage. Severity:
1
The usage in writing of "former" and "latter" when referring
to two objects previously mentioned in the sentence. For some reason, I always
have to stop and remember if "latter" means the one furthest back
in the sentence from the point you are at now (which would be the first object)
or the last objects mentioned in the sentence (which would be the second object,
and this is the correct one according to the rules). It just annoys me as
a term, but mainly, it's my issue. Severity:
1
In concerts, when bands alter the lyrics of their songs that contain geographic
locations to use a location where they are performing. For example, in a Doobie
Brothers live performance of "Black Water", the line "Old black
water, keep on rollin' / Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me"
they replace "Mississippi" with "Chicago" and get lame
cheers from the easily amused crowd. Severity:
3
In live recordings of Led Zeppelin, when Jimmy Page plays the guitar with
the violin bow for a inordinate amount of time, most often on "Dazed
and Confused". It's really an offensive sound that I don't enjoy hearing
for so long in the song which takes away from my enjoyment of an otherwise
awesome performance. Severity:
2
TV channels that have obtrusive logos on the screen all the time. I've accepted
the fact that every station now has to let the viewer know what channel they
are on since there are so many and TV sets don't indicate the channel they
are on like in the old days, but when the logo spins or is so big that it
actually obscures graphics or an important part of what's happening on the
screen, it's annoying. Severity:
3
In giving condolences to someone after a death, people that say "he's
in a better place." This is the ultimate cliché that makes no
sense since if it were true, death would not be a sad event as it would mean
the dead person was happier than before. Severity:
3
In movie previews, the practice of the narrator using an ominous-sounding
voice to make the movie sound serious only to "surprise" the audience
that it's really a feel-good comedy. This was clever maybe the first 50 times
it was done, but it's gotten pretty old now. Severity:
2
People leaving early from a baseball game when it's a close one and also
a fast-played one. There is no reason to do so and it makes no sense to go
to a game if you are going to leave early when it's a good close one that
isn't lagging. Severity:
3
In writing or speech, when someone uses the phrase "1/2 dozen".
This is similar to my annoyance regarding "1/2 past 12". "6"
is easier to say and if the number is approximate, you have to preface it
with "about" no matter what term you use so there is no reason to
use this offending phrase except to sound cool, which I find dumb. Severity:
2
Sapporo beer in the 6-packs says "Imported" real big on the can
but upon inspection one finds that it's brewed in and imported from CANADA.
It's obvious that they are misleading the consumer that they are buying an
exotic Japanese product and that upsets me a bit. Severity:
2
Hockey announcers and sports writers are always using the phrase "no
red line" to describe the fact that there is no 2-line offside pass rule
in college hockey or about proposing this rule in the NHL. Well, first of
all, when I watch hockey, there is a red line still at the center of the ice
and regardless of whether the 2-line pass rule is there or not, the red line
is used for icing calls, for face-offs after a goal and to start a period,
and to start a penalty shot. So I'm tired of them using this simplistic phrase
incorrectly. Severity:
1
In SF, there are certain very busy intersection that have 4 way red lights
to allow for pedestrians to walk all direction including diagonally. The allows
for efficiency so that when the lights are green, cars trying to make right
or left turns depending on the street can do so without pedestrians walking.
However, late at night (and on weekends in the financial district), there
is no need for this and it's very annoying if you are driving and all the
lights are red for no reason since there are no pedestrians out on the street.
The city should change the system during off-peak times to the usual walk/don't
walk method that allows cars to not have to wait as long since the large pedestrian
traffic, which is the reason for the current system, is not valid at these
times. Severity: 3
Magazines print the date or month on the current issue usually way in advance
of the actual day or month when it comes out. This is a scam to make the magazine
seem current for a longer period but is stupid, especially when you have a
May issue that comes out and they can't even talk about stuff that happened
in April because it was published in March. Severity:
2
My MP3 player always starts with .38 Special's Hold on Loosely when I start
it up to play my library random and I have to fast forward since I'm sick
of that song. It should start with a random song every time. Severity:
2
When I was working out on a fitness machine at my club and this guy just
beat me to the TV by the machine I was on and he's flipping the channels so
I start since I figure he'll put on the basketball game and he ends up stopping
on figure skating. I was ashamed to belong to a club where a male would turn
on figure skating for 30 minutes while the NCAA tournament was going on. Plus,
I was embarrassed that others thought maybe I was the person that chose the
channel. The damn thing was sponsored by Oil of Olay for Christ's sake! I
just couldn't imagine how any male, gay or not, could have absolutely not
a shred of pride in their manhood that they would watch this in public. At
least I was able to channel my disgust into a vigorous workout. . Severity:
3
When people spell my name with a "k" in replying to an email.
I don't care in general when my name is spelled wrong, but it just annoys
me when it's right there in the email address and someone does it. Severity:
2
In a movie theater, clapping at the end of a movie or after some big emotional
scene. It's just stupid. Severity:
4
None of the express checkout stands at Safeway are cash only. When I'm in
a hurry and only buying a small amount of stuff, I want one of these lines
so that if it's crowded, I can be assured that there will be no dilly-dallying
around when it comes time to pay up. However, they accept cards and checks
at all their express stands. Severity:
3
Putting a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. I don't want my view
harmed because some fools think it's cool to jump from there. I don't think
many people that want to kill themselves are going to not do so because their
favorite jumping spot is now blocked. Severity:
4
In an auditorium, when someone in the audience asks a question and everyone
has to turn their head to look at the person the whole time they are asking
the question. I can understand wanted to see who the person is, but is it
necessary to uncomfortably turn one's head for an extended period of time
to watch them speak? I can hear fine not seeing the person the whole time.
I refuse to turn my head and everyone turning their head makes me feel awkward.
Severity: 3
Countries with religions were people have to pray a hundred times a day.
It annoys me in how inefficient it makes their economy and then they get mad
that they are poor and can't afford the plasma flat-screen TV's that the once-a-day-or-less-praying
societies can afford. Severity:
4
The practice of stating the time with the time zone like EDT or PST depending
on if Daylight Savings Time is in effect or not. Everyone knows what time
it is in each zone. The "D" or "S" in unnecessary, so
just use PT and ET, etc. For AZ, which doesn't observe DST, you just need
to know that half the year they are on MT and the other half on PT. Severity:
2
People that use an umbrella in the snow when in the mountains. It's just
wrong. Severity: 2
People that state the time of that day like "half past 10" or
"quarter 'til 12". Just say 10:30 or 11:45. It's simpler. Severity:
2
When people drive on the freeway and don't adjust their acceleration to
account for a hill. I don't know if people are just clueless or trying to
save gas but when a hill comes, it's fairly obvious you have to accelerate
to maintain your speed, but so many people don't that it leads to back ups,
especially in the mountains. Severity:
3
After the toll plaza on the Bay Bridge, all the lanes merge and some multiple
times, yet there are no signs warning the drivers of this. While regulars
know to watch for this, non-regular bridge users might not and I always am
afraid an accident is bound to happen due to this confusion. Severity:
2
When entertainers use some awards ceremony as a place to espouse their political
views. First, they have no qualifications usually to be telling the public
what is right and secondly, using the awards acceptance to make a political
statement detracts from the true purpose which is to celebrate the arts, not
listen to some lame Hollywood windbags that get all their world affairs knowledge
from E! Severity: 4
Fiddling with the recipe for my favorite candy bar, Fast Break. I saw yesterday
it had a big "15% more" and then it little print "peanut
butter". So I looked at the net weight which is 2 oz. (the same
as before) and this tells me they are sacrificing chocolate most likely to
save money. Now, it could be they are maintaining chocolate levels and just
decreasing the nougat amount to make room for the extra PB. In any regards,
I don't like them trying to trick consumers that they are offering more value,
when in fact they are just rebalancing the ingredient percentages. Though
still, the 2 oz. weight is generous vs. other bars so I do give some props
to Hershey's for that. Severity:
1
People feeling the need to close the lid on the toilet. It adds an unnecessary
motion for the user to make when having to use it. Is it somehow offensive
to people to see the inside of the bowl? Unless it's dirty from previous use
(in which case one should clean it), I can't see how anyone could be offended
by an open toilet. And I don't think water conservation reasons are valid
either as there can't be too much evaporation unless your house is sweltering
and you don't flush for a week. Severity:
3
Unnecessary nakedness in locker rooms. How hard is it to put a towel on
to walk around? I think most men would rather not have to see other men's
privates more than necessary. Same goes for saunas and steam rooms. How much
better of an experience it is to have your schlong hanging out than having
a towel on? Not much, and your fellow men will appreciate keeping your 'nads
to yourself. Severity:
3
Every time there is some big executive speaking at my company and there
is a Q&A session, some winner always asks, "What's the one thing
that keeps you awake at night?" regarding some issue that worries the
executive. I'm sick of it and they think they are so clever wording the question
the way they do, when it really was just copying the previous 20 people that
asked this same question. Severity:
3
Unnecessary camera shaking in TV shows. I think the era of shaky camera
TV shows began with NYPD Blue, but I'm not sure. In any regard, there was
a time when I flatly refused to watch any show with the so-called "realistic"
camera technique the involves shakiness as somehow showing how genuine and
documentary/investigative reporting-like the TV show is. Well, I basically
had to give up that stance since it would preclude me watching any shows now.
However, it still annoys me when I notice it, like I did tonight on Lost.
Stop the damn shaking! Severity:
3
Not enough salt in Safeway brand frozen soft pretzel salt packet. I really
don't think I put that much on, but I seem to run out before the last pretzel
every time. There is a certain amount of waste that goes into salting your
soft pretzel since not all of it stays on the pretzel so you have to use more
than you actually need and it's stupid that the product makers are so cheap
with such an inexpensive commodity. Severity:
2
Lead in my water. When I am away for a couple days and the water hasn't
been run, the water gets lead in it from the pipes that are old and I have
to run the water for over a minute before it's safe to drink. This is annoying
since after a long drive home I'm usually thirsty for some water and have
to wait. Severity: 2
In the locker room at my swim club, people that close the door. No one can
see in unless they are at a particular special angle outside and it's not
that cold out. In return, having the door open allows the nasty stink of mildew,
dumps people have taken, and other related athletic stink to be reduced by
some fresh air. Severity:
4
How all the songs on the billboard top 40 list have to "feature"
2 or 3 other "artists". It's like the current state of music is
so crappy that they have to hedge their bets by having 5 people perform on
a song in the hopes that people will like one of them and buy the album. Example
from current singles chart at #6 (2/12/05): Lovers And Friends, Lil Jon &
The East Side Boyz Featuring Usher & Ludacris. Sad! Severity:
4
When people use an umbrella is the tiniest of drizzle that you can barely
detect. It's just water and when it's barely detectable, it's unnecessary.
Only time I will accept it is if it was previously raining hard and some people
might just have not realized they can put it down. Severity:
1
The phrase "put down" when referring to sending your kids to bed
as in "I put the kids down, now let's watch that naughty movie on Cinemax."
I know I'm not totally qualified to comment, since I have no kids, but I just
don't like the phrase. You put down a horse that breaks it's leg in the 5th
at Pimlico to end it's misery. You put down a Guerilla rebellion in a Central
American dictatorship. Kids, get tucked in or sent to bed. Saying "put
down" feels too impersonal to me when referring to kids going to bed.
Search at m-w.com for the phrase. I rest my case.
Severity: 2
Janitors wearing too much perfume/cologne/deodorant. I don't know why, but
for some reason, every time I am working late (which isn't much), and the
janitor comes by it's like WAY too much nice-smelling scent in the air. My
theory is they have to be around bad smells a lot so overcompensate by making
themselves smell good to cover the bad smells. But it's annoying in the sense
that I find the pungent odor of too much good smell bad and it lingers in
the hallway and elevator as I leave the office. Severity:
1
Having to bang on my stove to get the burner to ignite. I know in a previous
annoyance I stated how having a 1950's stove didn't bother me much, but today,
I had to bang exceptionally hard several times and was near getting gassed
before I got the burner to light so I could fry up some eggs. I know it one
day is going to cause an explosion and that would be SERIOUSLY annoying. Severity:
3
Casual Friday. While, I like the option of wearing jeans and sneakers one
day a week, it's the stupidity of it annoys me. Because it does not make sense
to allow it one day a week and not everyday. If you are going to do something
like that, it should be more like occasional dress-UP days when you are meeting
important clients or having meetings. Unless the message is that no real work
is supposed to be done Friday. For that reason, I usually don't conform to
the uniform jean/sneaker attire that makes downtown seem overrun by escapees
from a minimum security prison. Plus, I find jeans uncomfortable versus docker-type
pants. Severity: 3
In Microsoft Excel's Visual Basic editor, the mouse wheel doesn't work for
some reason. I have no idea why, but it's annoying as hell as I am use to
scrolling down a page with the mouse wheel and it never works when I'm editing
VB. Severity: 3
Government farm subsidies. Many go to large corporations. And for the smaller
fams, I don't care if farming is the way of life for some families. If the
market price for their product is too low to cover their costs, then grow
something else or make money in some other way. If you have to move to the
city, tough. Technology has made it such that we need less manpower to produce
food than was needed 100 years ago and I'm tired of having my taxes go to
farmers producing food that is not needed, just so they can keep their family
traditions alive. Severity:
5
Advertisements saying something is free, but then there is a shipping and
handling charge that sometimes isn't even specified as to the amount. If the
only way to get a product is via shipping, then I think there should be a
law requiring the shipping cost of be included in the price of the good since
it effectively is part of the price. Severity:
4
This unseen person that plays the saxophone somewhere in an apartment in
the alley in the back of mine. I wouldn't mind it normally, but this fool
has not improved very much in 5 years and plays very annoying selections,
though I am thankful that the 2 years of his/her playing just one song over
and over, the American Bandstand theme, is through. Severity:
3
TV shows that have previews of what will happen next after the commercial
break. I don't want to know what will happen since this spoils the surprise
and it's a waste of time seeing something twice. Severity:
4
Yellowing armpits of my T-shirts. I don't understand how the combination
of sweat and deodorant can so quickly make some nasty concoction of underarm
yellowness. Even washing in hot water with bleach cannot rid this yellowness.
It seems to happen rather quickly for my shirts and it is annoying in that
I have to buy new ones frequently. Severity:
5
Websites that are completely unviewable if you have Flash disabled. I disable
it because I don't like all the flashing crap on websites and thier ads distracting
me when I surf so I get pissed when some website isn't viewable at all without
having flash enabled. They should have a version of their site that doesn't
require Flash for the people that just want the information and don't care
about all the fancy stuff. Severity:
4
Hotel and rental car taxes. It's a total scam because it's aimed squarely
at visitors that don't get to vote on the taxes or the bumbling politicians
that enact them and have no idea about how high they are until they arrive
in the city. Severity:
5
Soda or other beverages in soda-like cans sold in stores that are 11.5 oz.
I make it a point to never purchase a product that the maker is trying to
scam the buyer out of 1/2 a fluid ounce because the can looks almost the same
size as a 12 oz. can. Severity:
4
Songs with the band's name in the lyrics. The most egregious band would
be Wang Chung ("Everybody have fun tonight/Everybody Wang Chung tonight").
Rappers are frequently guilty of this as well. It's just shameful to have
to advertise yourself in your song. Severity:
3
My old cordless phone had a switch called "batt save" that I used so that
when it was off the charger, it would expend no battery power when not in
use. The phone would not ring in this mode, but it didn't matter since I have
a conventional phone hooked up in my apartment that I used the ringer on.
My new cordless phone, does not have this feature, so I have to recharge it
every few days when it's off the base for a while. Severity:
3
My previous TV had a feature whereby when I hit the "mute" button, the closed-captioning
would automatically be activated. This is useful for British shows where they
use slang I don't quite catch and talk fast with accents that sometimes I
can't understand. I could go back (via DVR) and hit mute and read what they
said. My new TV requires me to go through a big menu to get the closed captioning
to activate which is a pain. Severity:
5
Censored trucker signs in the Sierras and foothills on I-80. There used
to be these yellow signs for the truckers' benefit that said stuff like "Upgrade
ahead. Crank it Up" and "Downgrade Ahead. Let 'er Drift." Well,
for some reason, they still have the signs but have blotched out with a yellow
panel of some sort the second part in trucker-speak which I always found amusing
and so it disappoints me and annoys me in that I can't see for what reason
they would see a need to remove that part of the sign. Severity:
3
Not having a dishwasher. Manual dishwashing is the one task resulting from
living in an old apartment that really annoys me. I like to save up a couple
days of dishes and so it's a real chore that I keep putting off. I don't mind
having no parking, no washer/dryer, no garbage disposer, or a 1950's stove,
but it's really annoying to not have a dishwasher. Severity:
4
At the Vietnamese place I go about once a week, they always ask if I want
a fried egg on top of my rice plate (for an extra 85 cents). I've gone to
this place about 100 times and have declined the egg every time, so I think
they can realize that I will NEVER relent and give into their strong-arm tactics
to sell me the egg add-on. Severity:
1
General's or Sesame chicken or any other fried and breaded chicken dish
in a Chinese restaurant that has very little chicken under all the breading.
I feel they are trying to scam me by making the pieces look real big, while
all I'm eating is greasy coating. Severity:
4
The fact that Superbowls are only in domes or warm-weather locations. The
true football cities with real football grass stadiums never get to host the
championship game because of the NFL being a lackey to their corporate sponsors
and so that the lame half-time performers don't have bad weather. Real football
cities like Pittsburgh and Green Bay will never get the honor, which is sad.
Severity: 5
Any fans, other than Pittsburgh Steelers fans, that wave towels in a stadium.
They were the first to do it in the 70's with the "terrible towels"
and all the other usage is just imitation and lame. Severity:
5
Canned laughter in sitcoms. There's a show on that I really like right now,
that I might actually have to stop watching, it's annoying me so much. Severity:
5
Another hated parked vehicle, this blue mini-van that is always in the same
spot every day of the year so I know the owners are doing some elaborate maneuver
with their garage and another car to always make it so they claim that space.
Bastards. Severity: 5
The phrase "Make no mistake..." prefacing some dramatic statement.
I think the Bush speech-writers are responsible for this one in some speech
he made after 911 regarding our pursuit of the bad guys and now you hear this
line all the time from all walks of life whenever someone want to impress
the listener with how important and determined the following proclamation
will be. Severity: 3
Cashiers in a store that ask you, "Will that be all?" If I want something
else, I'll ask for it or present it to you for tallying up the bill. This
question is needless. Severity:
2
The fact that I can't get a clear receptions of local TV stations in San
Francisco when I live about a mile from their headquarters. I don't care about
hills, if I'm in the city, I should be able to get a clear picture with rabbit
ears. Severity: 4
San Quentin taking up valuable land. It's home of scumbags that don't deserve
to even see the light of day, much less be occupying some of the most expensive
real estate in the country. Move this prison to some forsaken place in the
desert and use that land for some good use, like a ferry stop as proposed
by many. I don't give a crap about the prison guards having to move and the
prisoner's families having to move to visit the jailbirds. Severity:
5
The fact that it takes 20 years to execute someone. I'm all for making sure
the right decision is made, but when you have appeals about how lethal injection
is inhumane, this is something that has already been ruled upon a hundred
times so why are lawyers allowed to keep arguing it? It should not take 20
years and millions of dollars to lawyers to make sure the guy deserves to
die. It sort of defeats what I think is the main purpose of executions which
is justice and a feeling of revenge that helps the grieving families of the
murder victims and the public in general when the painful event is so far
removed from the actual execution of the convict, if it ever happens at all
(since many die of old age first). Severity:
5
During NFL games, when there is a commercial before a kickoff and then another
one right after the kickoff. It makes me glad the TIVO is negating several
millions of viewed commercials a day. Severity:
5
The loud sucking noise made by airplane toilets. It just never ceases to
scare me that I'm going to get sucked down no matter how many times I use
one. It is painful to the ears as well. Severity:
3
Automatic flushing toilets. I like the automatic flushing urinals, but the
toilets make me nervous because I'm always afraid it will flush while I sitting
on it still and scare me with the loud WHOOSH that only a public toilet can
make and splashing me with water. Severity:
2
Men wearing scarves. I just don't like it. Severity:
1
Unnecessary use of tire chains. Sure, some people may be novices to driving
in the mountains, but when it hasn't snowed for 3 days, it just is plain idiotic
to get fooled by the chain installers charging $30 that you really need to
put on chains. This isn't Siberia. It doesn't matter if there is 10 feet of
snow in one day, the Caltrans snowplows can clear the roads in 3 days. Severity:
2
Unnecessary ski rack usage. People with giant SUVs and only 2 people in
the car can easily fit skis or snowboards in the back of the car. But they
insist on using a ski rack just so they can gloat to other drivers on the
road that they are hitting the slopes or returning from them. Severity:
2
People that sit all day in a ski lodge without skiing. These people are
taking up valuable chairs and tables that the real skiers need to rest and
on busy days, there aren't enough. These people should be sitting at home
reading rather than taking up space in the lodge. I had to eat my lunch in
the snow on a crowded day due in part to these people. Severity:
3
Pickle juice running into my fries when pickles slices are served on the
side as a garnish with a hamburger. Severity:
2
People talking with cell phone headsets while in a lift line skiing. This
is just wrong. Of course, I've only seen it at Mammoth which caters to the
LA crowd, as expected. Severity:
3
People the ask for pillows on planes. The purpose of a pillow is to elevate
the head when lying down. On a plane, you are far from that position. There
is no purpose for a pillow other than deluding oneself that they will somehow
be able to simulate a bed in the painful position of a coach airplane seat.
Severity: 4
Fanaticism over sweet tea in the South. When visiting there, I received
the looks that a paroled child molester gets when I declined this drink or
stated that I didn't care for it. It's tea with sugar. Whoopee. I don't get
all excited if someone visiting me doesn't like sourdough bread. Severity:
1
People not appreciating the National Weather Service weather discussion.
I often point out or e-mail people the detailed weather forecast discussion
and it seems most are not interested, even though this is the raw information
and thinking that goes behind the little "heavy snow" or "sunny"
you see in the online weather. It bothers me that people don't care to know
the detail of the weather and just want some simple brief summary rather than
knowing the full picture like the forecaster's confidence in the weather models
and the specific timing of events. Severity:
4
People that make a clicking noise with their mouth after pausing in speech
while they are thinking of what to say next. It's like they feel a need to
make some sound effect for their brain working in order to prove that that
they really aren't just spacing out. Severity:
1
Casinos paying 6 to 5 for blackjack. It's the latest trend on the Las Vegas
Strip to lower the payoff for a blackjack for low limit games, which I feel
is both discriminatory and illegal and it pisses me off that these casinos
feel a need to tilt an already favorable game to the house even more so with
such a chintzy tactic. Severity:
5
People who lick their fingers before turning a page of a magazine or book.
It's nasty and unnecessary. Only exception is for librarians older than 70
with glasses with chains on them. Severity:
2
Bankrupt airlines continuing to operate for so long after multiple bankruptcies.
These companies are pathetic, yet they keep them running and continue to lose
money for years. Pull the plug on these loser companies. Severity:
5
BofA ATMs not remembering that I speak English. Every time I use an ATM,
it asks if I want English or Spanish. I can't imagine why they can't program
it such that it asks the user this question only one time, then assigns a
value to my ATM card and has the system remember my language preference each
subsequent time. Severity:
3
When people say "PIN Number" regarding their secret code for their
ATM card or something. The "Number" is redundant since the "N"
in "PIN" already denotes that term. Severity:
1
Potato chips are too salty. And I cannot for the life of me find a low salt
variety. Only no-salt which is too extreme. Severity:
4
People (usually men) that bring reading matter with them when they use the
toilet. I don't understand this habit because when I'm on the toilet, unless
I have a case of food poisoning there is no time for reading. I'm too busy
doing my business and then getting out of the cramped and/or smelly area as
quickly as possible. Why are people basking in the joy of taking a crap by
prolonging the experience with reading matter? I can't imagine people need
a lot of time to take a crap, so I know they are just sitting there reading
for no reason. There's really got to some sick Freudian reason why people
like to sit on a toilet with their pants down reading when there is no need
to do so to perform the function of crapping. The only exception I give is
if a guy has a real annoying wife or family or something and the bathroom
is his only sanctuary. Severity:
3
People that buy their Xmas trees with 10 days or less to go before Xmas.
I see people with trees on their car roofs with a week to go before Dec. 25th
and it annoys me. Even though I don't celebrate the holiday, it bothers me
that people waste a tree for only 10 or less days of usage before the big
day. If you are going to have a tree, get it early so you can decorate it
at a leisurely pace and celebrate the season for longer and get more money's
worth out of it! Severity:
3
The continued existence of the penny. It's been devalued enough that we
should be rounding everything to the nearest 5 cents like they do in New Zealand.
Fortunately, a lot of stores already are nice enough to round your change
or the price themselves, but it needs to be done by law so everyone will do
it and the cash register automatically calculates the rounded price. Things
can still sell for 1 cent, but the final bill will be rounded. I don't think
many people buy 1 item at 1 cent these days. They might buy 101 paper clips
at 3 cent each, but in that case, you wouldn't round till the end so the buyer
would pay $3.05. Severity:
4
NASCAR on the radio. Now, I think auto racing is dumb to begin with, but
I can see how some people might like watching it live or on TV. But when I
heard a race being broadcast over the radio while driving in the South, I
was astounded at the stupidity of how anyone could enjoy listening to announcers
talk about cars going around in a circle and it annoys me to know that there
are radio frequencies being wasted carrying this stuff. Severity:
1
People displaying rainbows in their window or some other way on their dwelling.
I don't have a problem with someone being proud they are gay, but as with
my political bumper sticker annoyance, I feel these rainbow people are just
trying to brag about their lifestyle to others and think they are cool for
being gay. It's ok to come out of the closet, but why the need to show your
sexual preference to everyone that doesn't even care or know you? Maybe it's
some signal to other gay's that your apartment is a safe haven in case of
emergencies. Severity:
1
My mom's refusal to ever leave dirty dishes in the sink. When there are
dirty dishes from guests or just from regular use, she has to do them before
the night ends or before leaving the house or doing any other activity. It
annoys me because there is no harm leaving them for later and relaxing a bit
or doing something else that is more important at the moment. Severity:
5
Too many dogs in San Francisco. It's just incredible how many damn dogs
there are being walked all the time around my place. First, I don't like dogs
much. But it's really the fact that there's so many in an urban environment
that bothers me. Because they piss and it stinks up the sidewalks since there's
nowhere for it to go and I constantly am having to avoid fresh dog piss when
I walk. I think the dog is the new status symbol of urban dwellers or something
and people feel obligated to have one so they can show it off around the neighborhood.
Severity: 5
The shoe companies discontinuing styles of sneakers too fast. Every time,
I find a pair I like, it's never around when I need a new pair a few months
later. Don't these companies realize that maybe someone likes a style and
wants to get it again, especially given that they liked it the first time?
I can't imagine most people feel they have to get a new style of shoe every
time they are ready for a new pair. Severity:
3
The law that says you must curb your wheels when parking on a hill. It's
got to be from a bygone era when cars had bad breaks in the 1920's. There
is no way a car could become a runaway if the emergency break is up in this
day and age. But they still ticket for it and I'm always worrying I forgot
to do it. I also got a ticket for this when I first moved to San Francisco
since I never knew about the law. In addition, if you park extremely close
to the curb, you sometimes can't turn the wheels enough to curb them and that
you have to adjust what otherwise would have been an outstanding parking job.
Severity: 2
This giant 70's Cadillac that's always parked on the street by my apartment.
It's right in front of the owner's apartment where I see him through the window
smoking and drinking wine as he admires his beloved boat of a car that he
never drives, yet takes up 2 valuable spaces on the street. The guy washes
it a lot too. I curse that car and the guy every time I pass it. Severity:
5
Anyone not liking Seinfeld. Because I can't comprehend how. There's other
shows I really like that I can understand how it might not be another person's
cup of tea, but with Seinfeld, I just don't see how anyone can't find it brilliant.
Severity: 5
Shorts are too long. I seriously cannot find shorts that are truly short.
I'm not looking for tight 70s roller skater show-off-your-thigh shorts. I
just ask that shorts end 3 or 4 inches above the knees. Is that too much to
ask? The hommies have infiltrated fashion to the point where I get old navy
shorts with a sticker saying "shorter length" yet they still go
past my knees. It's a sad state of affairs. Severity:
5
At Safeway, when the checker tries to pronounce my name from looking at
the receipt. First of all, even if they got it right, should I really feel
like I'm getting the personal touch from someone that has never seen me before,
but is just reading my name off a printout? Secondly, they always say it like
a question, worried that they pronounced it wrong and I don't care so I always
so "that's right" to make them feel good because it's so stupid.
If they can't be sure of how to say it, they shouldn't say anything at all.
I'd feel perfectly honored with a generic "Sir." Severity:
2
Related to below, other unnecessary uses of mayo/ranch dressing. Dipping
stuff like fries and buffalo wings in mayo/dressing is just another indication
of our society's penchant for excess. Severity:
3
Putting mayonnaise on a cheeseburger. You already have grease from the patty.
Then you have the melted cheese for additional grease. Why do people feel
a need for more grease from mayo? Without cheese, I accept that the mayo may
be needed to make keep the burger from being too dry. Severity:
1
In movies or TV, when someone is using a computer and it makes all these
fake electronic noises while typing or looking up fingerprints or a database.
I guess the movie audience needs some noise stimulation to maintain their
attention, but I find it annoying in that it's totally inaccurate and treats
the audience like little kids. Only exception I'll make is for War Games.
Severity: 1
Cheap toothpicks at restaurants. In addition to the fact that they break
off in your teeth and are ineffective at removing food particles, it drives
me crazy how stupid of a business decision it is for a restaurant to be so
chintzy on such a cheap item to risk having the customer end his visit on
a sour note and maybe never return again. Severity:
4
The pronunciation of "Greenwich", the street which I live on.
It's commonly pronounced as "Gren-ich." However, I never realized
this till I was fairly old. Therefore, I'm always worried when I'm giving
my address to someone to visit or to mail me something, they won't understand
the word if I pronounce it that way. So I usually err on the side of just
saying it just like it looks (which is an acceptable variation in the dictionary)
but then this makes me look sort of ignorant to the person if they do indeed
know that the usually way of saying it is "Gren-ich." It's a real
dilly of a dilemma and it annoys me having to deal with it. Severity:
4
Taking the Fifth. I can't stand when people do it, and I can't stand that
guys don't have to testify at their own trial and I have yet to hear a good
reason for why this protection from self-incrimination still exists today.
(Note: Expect a musing on this matter coming shortly)
Severity: 5
Related to below, anyone that doesn't wear sunglasses when it is sunny.
The UV and visible rays of a bright sun are not good for one's eyes and it's
obviously uncomfortable when you see these people squinting and shielding
their face with a hand or a newspaper. Why can't they just buy some $5 sunglasses
at Walgreens? Do they feel they aren't cool enough to wear shades? Annoyed
people want to know. Severity:
4
People that ski without goggles. It's just crazy because the sun is so bright
in the high elevations and the reflection off the snow adds to the glare.
In addition, the cold wind in your eyes has to effect anyone going even with
just a little speed. Very large sunglasses, I can accept, but the people with
small glasses trying to be cool, or those with none at all, are fools that
annoy me. Severity: 3
When person on a ski lift wants to put the safety bar down. There is no
way someone is going to fall off one of these for any reason other than if
the entire lift collapsed, in which case the bar won't be of much help. The
only two exceptions I give is if there is a little kid on the lift or if there
are the built in footrests which require the bar to be down to utilize. Severity:
4
People that are cold when I'm a comfortable temperature. I know it is illogical
to be annoyed because a person's body temperature or temperature preference
differs from my own, but still, it annoys me. Severity:
3
When an almost-popped kernel of hot-air-popped popcorn is in the bowl, then
explodes and freaks me out. I hate that. Severity:
2
The fact that salt has such trouble sticking to hot-air-popped popcorn.
Severity: 2
The smell of butter-flavored microwave popcorn. It's a disgusting smell
that goes everywhere and lingers for hours. Severity:
5
People that don't use the revolving door when there is one to enter or exit
a building. The regular door with the electric button is for handicapped people.
The efficiency of the revolving door allows for more people to enter and exit
the building at the same time, while keeping the heat/cold out of the building.
Don't be lazy, use the revolving door if it's there unless you have a good
excuse not to! Severity:
4
Women referring to a friend as "girlfriend." Just say "friend"
and we shall assume it's a female. If it's a male friend, and it matters to
the conversation (such as "I went to the football game with one of my
guy friends") then specify it. If it's a romantic interest "boyfriend"
is appropriate. But "girlfriend" is never appropriate, unless you
are a lesbian. Severity:
2
The nasty skin that forms in my mug of milk after heating it up in the microwave
for my morning hot cocoa. Severity:
2
Overuse and incorrect use of the word "pandemic" in newspaper
articles. Whatever happened to the good old "epidemic?" "Pandemic"
is a global epidemic, however it is used incorrectly when referring to concerns
of some trouble within the US or single region because it's now the trendy
term, or it's preceded by "global" which is redundant when actually
referring to a global issue. Severity:
1
Tip jars at non-tipping places. I just find it a little sad that these people
working jobs that historically are not tip-based put out a jar like some homeless
person in an attempt to make me feel guilty for keeping my change. Severity:
2
In parking lots, people that go to great effort to get a close parking space
when it's much faster to just park farther away and walk a little. Severity:
4
That boop-boop noise from people's stupid remote control lock/alarm gadgets.
In addition, I think it's ridiculous people can just use a regular key to
unlock their car. And alarms do no good since no one pays attention to them.
So, that makes the noise even more annoying to me. Severity:
4
Wheeled luggage. What upsets me is how lazy people are that they can't carry
a bag for 10 minutes or however long it takes to walk in the airport. I see
people with tiny bags wheeling and I feel it indicates the laziness of society.
Also, it's annoying even if the wheeler isn't lazy since they probably go
work out at the gym, but why not get some free excercise carrying a bag? Only
people who travel a lot and have a heavy bags do I excuse for being a luggage-wheeler.
Severity: 5
The way my friend Tony sneezes. He stifles it and it makes me upset that
he just doesn't let it out with abandon as that is what the sneeze is for,
to expel crap out of your nasal passages. Stifling sneezes is only OK if you
are in some place where it's embarrassing to sneeze loud, like a piano recital.
Severity: 3
People brushing their teeth or clipping fingernails at work. I don't know
why, but I just think this is personal hygiene that should not be done at
work. Also, I have an aversion to the smell of toothpaste for some strange
reason. Severity: 2
Similar to the annoyance below, I don't like the idea of wrapping presents
when you are giving them to someone in-person. I understand the enjoyment
of the surprise of opening a mystery gift, but it's just a waste of time and
paper and causes unnecessary trash when you can just as easily surprise the
person in some other way that doesn't involve wrapping paper. Plus, I stink
at wrapping presents. Severity:
2
Giving a greeting card to someone in-person. A greeting card is appropriate
for when you aren't in the presence of the person you are expressing your
sentiments to and need to mail it, but if you are standing there, I don't
see the point, unless it's a very funny card. But for serious cards, especially
one written by the Hallmark writers, it's totally a waste of money, paper,
and time. Severity: 3
Seeing people in a store buy large-sized bottled water for home use in locations
where the tap water is fine. It's a waste of money and creates unnecessary
trash. This is especially true in San Francisco, where the tap water comes
from the Yosemite snow melt and is among the cleanest and clearest tap water
in the world. Severity:
5
When you call up some reservation or customer service number and it's an
automated response system and they make the voice sound like it's a real person
even though it's not by having it interject little nice things like "let
me check my records" and then you hear paper shuffling or pausing or
saying "um." Either they are trying to trick me that I'm talking
to a real person, or they think making a computer talk like a person is somehow
more comforting. Either way, it's stupid. Severity:
3
Audience participation at concerts. Whether at a live concert or watching
or listening to a recorded live performance, I don't want to hear lame call
and response or singing along by the crowd, I want to here the actual performers.
Severity: 5
When highway driving and there is heavy traffic, but then the traffic starts
to thin out, people often continue to drive slow like they are in a trance
from the prior congestion; this lack of adjusting to the thinning traffic
causes the backup to continue longer and upsets me since I want to go fast
as soon as possible. Severity:
3
People that drive with only their parking lights on; if it's dark enough
that you feel you need some lights on, why not spring for the juice and turn
the full lights on? The life of the bulb is long enough that I don't think
it's really a matter of saving money, rather people want to look cool with
just the small lights on which I think is dumb. Severity:
5
That almost all orange juice now in the stores has calcium added. It affects
the taste and I don't fear not getting enough so I am forced to accept it
if I want my favorite blend, orange/tangerine. Severity:
4
People who write checks at stores that accept credit/debit cards. It holds
up the line and is completely unnecessary in this day of electronic payments.
I don't buy any excuse anyone gives me for the benefits of checkwriting, including
the popular "it helps me budget" which is bull since you can do
the same budgeting keeping track of debit card usage. Severity:
5
Political bumper stickers. Rather than trying to sway
public opinion, these are used by people just to brag to people how cultured
and enlightened they are about issues or to make other angry that are not
of their opinion. What purpose did a "Kerry/Edwards" sticker have
when it was a foregone conclusion they would win California? "Kill Your
Television" is another example of people just bragging to others how
cultured they are that they don't watch TV. Severity:
4
Web sites that require you to put the "www" before the domain
name to reach their site. It's just shoddy design. Severity:
5
Pedestrians who stand in the street while waiting for the light to change.
Is it really that important to get a 3 foot head start at the risk of getting
sideswiped? And it messes me up on my bike sometimes when I'm riding in the
slot between the car lane and the parked cars and curb and they get in my
way. Severity: 5
Bike riders with toe clips that try to balance themselves for long periods
at stop lights to avoid having to remove a foot from the clips; it's like
they are trying to impress everyone and brag about their skill when it would
be much more comfortable to just unclip and relax a bit. Severity:
5
Anyone who have used a computer for 5 years or more, yet still can't touch
type; it's so inefficient to look at the keyboard when typing, it upsets me.
Severity: 5
People using salt in a Chinese restaurant. The food is so salty already,
plus, soy sauce is more appropriate if you need to spice something up. Severity:
5
Crazy cell phone rings; it ceased to be neat a long time ago and now is
just annoying to hear everyone's favorite song every time they get a call.
Ditto for crazy noises alerting that these a voice mail waiting. Severity:
3
People that refuse to use a knife when eating a meal and cut everything
with the side of their fork, even when it's a struggle to do so. The knife
is there for a reason. Use it! Severity:
4
Couples that share an email address. It's annoying to email someone when
you don't know who is reading it when you sometimes only want to communicate
with one of the people. Severity:
1 12/22/2005
The practice mainly associated with teen or early-20s punks in which they
concur with something a second person says by saying "yeah it is"
in a tone normally associated with what one would expect to hear if the punk
actually disagreed with the second person's statement. In other words, if
the second person said, "Dude, that was a sweet wave", the punk
would say "yeah it was" in a way that sounds like the first guy
said it was a bad wave. It's dumb. Severity:
2 12/28/2005
Hearing people use the tired phrase "Back in the day..." It's
used up and now just annoying in it's overuse as it's ceased to be a novel
term. Severity: 1
1/1/06
Hearing people use the tired phrase: "...quite the...", for instance,
in "Wow, you're quite the chef tonight with gourmet meal you have made".
The ironic high-society language has ceased to become a novelty me to the
point of annoyance. Severity:
1 1/1/06
People twirling their pen or pencil with one hand by spinning it with their
thumb and using the next finger as a base. I've grown weary of this feat,
especially since I cannot do it. Mostly common among Asians, I've noticed
through the years. Severity:
1 1/17/06
At work, when I want to discuss something with people in my building, but
they always want to do it over the phone or instant messaging. It's rare to
have the ability to meet in person and it's more productive, so I get upset
that people are so used to isolating themselves do to most of our meetings
being with people in different cities that they no longer can work face to
face with someone when the opportunity is available. Severity:
3 1/17/06
This hotel on the way to work has some vent that blows this nasty garbage
smell into the street that hits me on my bike or walking and is disgusting.
I noticed it during the hotel worker strike and I think when it ended, the
hotel decided to continue the garbage policy that let it build up whereever
this nastiness is coming from. Severity:
3 1/17/06
On my DISH DVR, when I want to record a hockey game on the Center Ice package,
I am unable to alter the default times of the recording. This is an annoying
bug since, in addition, the recording stops early anyway (as mentioned in
prior annoyance). This bug causes me to be unable to record the game and then
record another show after it when I know the game will certainly be over.
Severity: 3
1/17/06
When TV shows, like 24, spend nearly 2 minutes at the beginning doing a
"Previously on ..." recap. It makes for less amount of time for
the new stuff in the current episode and for people that missed the prior
shows, tough luck. They should read a recap on the net or remember to set
their DVR or VCR next time. Severity:
3 1/17/06
When an ATM is out of money and the person in front of you doesn't say anything,
even though they just got the message. Severity:
2 1/28/2006
City governments, mostly San Francisco and Berkeley, wasting time on passing
meaningless resolutions like this
one. And it's not for political reasons I don't like it. It's just plain
stupid no matter what the topic to spend time when so much in the city is
messed up proclaiming some statement. It's similar to the bumper
sticker annoyance, but on a much grander scale. Severity: 5
2/8/2006
Anyone, especially a man, who carries around one of those little dogs in
a purse or tote bag. Terrible! Severity:
3 2/15/06
When getting fast food to-go and they often throw in 10 ketchups without
asking. It's wasteful since I don't want any ketchup and even if I did, they
give way too much. Severity:
2 2/26/2006
Trying to find out the exact starting time of a big sporting even like the
superbowl. I don't want to waste time watching all the pre-game crap and it's
hard to find any information of when the actual game starts, except by going
to sports betting sites which seem to be the only people that care. Severity:
3 4/8/06
When you are in the elevator with one other person of the same sex and you
both pause to let the other person out. I think of myself as a pretty considerate
person, yet I find that I always have to be the one to leave first or else
there will be a stalemate and no one will ever make a move. Why can't the
last person in or the closest to the door just be the one to go first? When
it's a man and a woman, this is usually a non-issue due to the conventions
of chivalry. Severity:
2 5/2/2006
Though it's in the past, I used to be annoyed at Dusty Baker, manager for
the baseball Giants, when he would flip around a toothpick in his mouth all
game and the cameras would show this as a close-up. Severity:
1 5/2/2006
I currently have had a 10% Safeway Card savings for some random reason for
a couple months and every single time I use the card, the checker announces
to me excitedly that I'm saving the 10% even though I know that since I've
been told 15 times by now. I feel obligated to look all surprised and excited
by the news because the register beeps to alert them to tell me and it must
be sort of rare since they genuinely look excited themselves. The register
should indicate that I know about the special savings and so they won't bug
me about it repeatedly.Severity:
2 5/2/2006
Airlines allowing online check-in for flights. Even though it benefits me
usually as an avid Internet user, especially on Southwest where getting that
A boarding group is important to avoid a middle seat, I don't like this practice
since the purpose of checking in is to prove that you are actually at the
airport and will be on the flight. People checking in 24 hours before can
miss the flight for a variety of reasons and then they have to call out the
people's names wondering where they are before they allow standbys on the
flight. Severity: 1
5/2/2006
In the show "Scrubs" when they have the obligatory emotional part
and start playing some reject college band song to mark the moment. It's like
they have to tell the viewer that it's now time to stop laughing and get serious
which I find insulting. Severity:
2 5/4/2006
People taking Southwest who stand in line in the "A" boarding
line. With an "A" boarding group, you are assured to get a nice
aisle or window seat. Is it really that important to be in the 5th row instead
of the 10th that one needs to create a traffic jam and stand up for an hour
in line? Severity: 3
5/4/06