Stupid things that instantly piss you off

[badger]

My boyfriend and I fly fish. Everywhere we go, I end up spending about half an hour at the end of the day picking up various garbage left behind by other fishers. Same when I go for the local mountain hike trail. I pick up water bottles and wrappers all the time.

Another thing that really bugs me is when people toss garbage out the car window. Like whole bags of McDonald's take out after they're done. I so wish I can pick it up and throw it back into their windows.

[Maxxxie]

Searching for BIKE BELL getting a bunch of Bell Helmets etc.

I'm not sure why that bugs me so much in light of the fact I am endlessly delighted by a search for a BROOKS SADDLE turning up a bunch of "Mel Brooks Blazing Saddles" hits.

Hee hee If you're googling, you can exclude terms from the search results by using the "-" modifier. Eg search for bike bell -helmet or brooks saddle -mel -blazing

+lots to the unrestrained dogs in utes/trucks. Ditto the random litterers.

I don't have any of my own random pet peeves to add. But I'm getting a giggle out of some of the ones that have been posted so far!

Max

[Crankin]

People who say, "Oh, but I wasn't trying to go fast. I was just riding," when you are struggling in a 20 mph headwind and feel like you are going to keel over.
Can you tell that I am in a bad mood?

[tzvia]

Phone cold-call sales are bad enough, but when I pick up the phone and the person asks for 'Mr. XXX', mispronouncing my last name, assuming the man of the house makes the decisions (and I'm not married so there is no Mr. XXX), oh boy my blood boils instantly.

It does not matter that my phone is on the 'Do Not Call Register', I am already mad by that point. So I get the name of the company, and remind the person that they are using my time and my telephony equipment for their advertising so if they call again they will be charged a fee. I then proceed to attempt to get the legal address of the firm for this purpose and the name of the caller to add to my list, and by that time they are hanging up on me. Good.

On the bike I can only say that idiots make me mad. Unsafe ones with children. I was riding out of a favorite MTB trail that unfortunately attracts weekend family outings in the first mile or so, when I came upon a family of idiots. Don't know what else to call them. Woman and man and 3 kids, around 6 through 10 years old. Two bikes, both small kids 'dirt jump' type bikes, with pegs. The two idiot adults on the bikes, the two younger kids sitting on the handlebars, weaving all over the trail because the bikes are way too small for the adults to ride safely. The kids jumping on and off as they negotiate the short steep hills. NO helmets on anyone. One kid hanging off the rear pegs. I yell 'on the left' but they have no control over the bikes, and are weaving all over, spilling kids off the bars as they go, who run back and jump back on. I slow down as I see this and yell 'on the left' again. The woman cuts to the left and forces me off the bike and the kid of the bars. Am I mad? You have one guess. I can tolerate a lot on the bike; I see a lot of dufus stuff but being stupid and unsafe with kids just gets me right off. I have to dismount- they are all over the trail which is wide enough for a truck to go through. Finally I get back on the bike and force myself around the woman who actually looks surprised as she has to stop and the kid on the bars has to jump off yet again. Good grief.

[Maxxxie]

Phone cold-call sales are bad enough..<snip>..It does not matter that my phone is on the 'Do Not Call Register', I am already mad by that point..<snip>..and by that time they are hanging up on me. Good.

Whenever I get calls from telemarketers, I make it my mission to make their experience as unpleasant as possible. I believe I'm helping to make the world a better place by making telemarketers so miserable that they leave the telemarketing industry and move onto something a) more productive and b) less irritating to the rest of the world.

How do I do this? Well, it depends on my mood. Sometimes (my preferred technique), I will pretend I am a deaf, old biddy who says things like "Ehh?? What's that, sonny? Wait, I need my hearing aid.", and I'll leave them hanging for a while whilst I bumble around trying to find my hearing aid. When I don't succeed, I'll go back and tell them they'll need to shout. I, of course, being an old biddy who can't hear, will shout back. You know, so that I can hear myself. This can provide many minutes of entertainment (for me) and frustration (for them). Most of them work for places that have a policy that they're not allowed to hang up on customers. Yay!!

One other favourite (this, I learned from a friend of a friend) is to say that I can't possibly give money to someone I don't know on a personal level. And so, the conversation will become more and more personal. Nothing's off-limits. Shoe size, colour of underwear.. it's kind of innocent at first. Then it descends to gutter level. "So... what are you wearing?". Some (particularly those calling from overseas) don't understand the nuance. But eventually the penny will drop and they'll get all flustered. I've never managed to get the conversation X-rated. For some reason, they find an excuse to end the call.

My all-time favourite, though, was when I answered the phone and the caller thought that I was a young child. First, I asked them if they were Santa Claus, and told them I'd been a good girl, and could I have a pony. They asked for mummy or daddy. I told them mummy was dead, and that daddy was in jail for killing her. They couldn't get off the phone fast enough!


Max

[OakLeaf]

I don't act rude to telemarketers. It's about the world's worst job, usually paid little more than minimum wage, staffed for the most part by people in depressed rural areas, and they have a quota to make if they want to keep their jobs.

All you have to do is say "Thanks, not interested" and hang up. You don't have to engage them. Then you can put their phone number into your spam filter (it's surprising how often calls come in from the same call center).

It is kind of strange, though, how the "do not call" list worked really well for the first few years, and now we get spam calls all the time again, hardly any less than before.

[salsabike]

I don't act rude to telemarketers. It's about the world's worst job, usually paid little more than minimum wage, staffed for the most part by people in depressed rural areas, and they have a quota to make if they want to keep their jobs.

All you have to do is say "Thanks, not interested" and hang up. You don't have to engage them. Then you can put their phone number into your spam filter (it's surprising how often calls come in from the same call center).

It is kind of strange, though, how the "do not call" list worked really well for the first few years, and now we get spam calls all the time again, hardly any less than before.

Well said, Oak. I absolutely agree. Few of those folks are doing it because it's a dream job for them--far from it.

The Do Not Call list has to be renewed by you every five years, I think. So it wouldn't hurt to look it up online, and re-input all your phone numbers.

[OakLeaf]

.... drifting away

The Do Not Call list had a sunset when it was originally enacted, but they removed it before it expired, so if you signed up once, that's all you need to do. Anyway, after our phone just buzzed this afternoon (didn't ring, because it came from a call center that's already in our spam filter), I verified that the number is on the list, and it still is.

[WindingRoad]

As a student the most annoying thing I notice is the person sitting next to me crunching corn chips or cheetos in class. It seems they inevitably cannot stop rattling the bag around either while I'm trying to hear what is being said. I totally understand getting hungry in class but I can't help it! The sound of someone crunching just sets my nerves on end. Redrum!!!

[PamNY]

I don't act rude to telemarketers. It's about the world's worst job, usually paid little more than minimum wage, staffed for the most part by people in depressed rural areas, and they have a quota to make if they want to keep their jobs.

All you have to do is say "Thanks, not interested" and hang up. You don't have to engage them.

I agree. Nothing is gained by being rude to the people who do this type of work. Besides, they've probably heard it all before.

[badger]

I was talking to my friend one day about telemarketers and she admitted she was one while going to school. She said it was AWFUL, that people were really rude, so she would tell them that she was a student trying to make a living and to put herself to school. It's a job for her and there's no reason for them to be rude to her.

What I get these days are the recorded telemarketing calls. Those I have no qualms hanging up on, but worse in that you can't tell them to take your number off their list.

[Mr. Bloom]

All you have to do is say "Thanks, not interested" and hang up.

au contraire, mon ami: The proper thing to say is "Thanks, not interested...PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM YOUR LIST"... I believe that the law still requires that they do this on request in this manner...plus it trumps any unintentional sign-up one may have made to a list through the 'net or product registration that bypasses the Do Not Call list...

[spindizzy]

As a student the most annoying thing I notice is the person sitting next to me crunching corn chips or cheetos in class. It seems they inevitably cannot stop rattling the bag around... The sound of someone crunching just sets my nerves on end. Redrum!!!

1) Like you windingroad, loud eating (crunchy items, slurpy items) and cellophane rattling makes me want to kill (It's a family trait - mom's side). My husband will now place cellophane/foil wrapped things in a bowl- but I have to leave the room when he starts crunching...DD recently confessed it also drives her mad. Cousin too- recently confessed to having the "nerve."

2) if someone slaps my butt. Though it may be made in a friendly way, it makes me insane and I've been known to immediately explode..I don't know why- but it does.

3) loud talkers -

[IFjane]

This may have already been mentioned & I did not read this entire thread, but I am sitting here in my living room listening to a dog up the road barking...and barking....and barking....he stays in a pen & if he hears the slightest thing he starts barking and will not stop. No one at his house pays any attention to him and no one ever tells him to stop. I feel bad for the poor thing & his owners piss me off because they 1. neglect the poor thing and 2. do not have enough respect for their neighbors to make the dog stop (or send him to a home where someone loved him).

[shootingstar]

2) if someone slaps my butt. Though it may be made in a friendly way, it makes me insane and I've been known to immediately explode..I don't know why- but it does.

You mean someone else other than your hubby?

I would explode too if it wasn't my dearie ...but then he doesn't at all...let's not get into further details.