# Entirely Benign, Appropriate Things That Make You Seethe **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102 "2021-05-28T17:16:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/102 "2021-06-05T21:26:20Z")
At a distance to me it is a happy sound- but not too close when the cries hurt my ear drums. Say more when it it almost background noise. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/103 "2021-06-05T21:29:08Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > Here’s what you are _ **supposed** _ to do. Grab your bag and tray as soon as it’s out, and _take it elsewhere,_ like the plentitude of benches in the specifically-designated ‘recombobulation area. I do not like to walk places in my stocking feet with my pants around my ankles, _thank you very much_. I am gonna put my shoes and belt on, then make sure everything is there (lots of valuable stuff gets left behind there) then I will wander over and repack my bags, etc at that area. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/104 "2021-06-05T22:42:19Z")
That’s what is so maddening, I heard the father over there chewing them out, over and over, ‘do NOT yell out about drowning in ‘fun’, unless think you are really in trouble.’…lot of good that did, they KEPT DOING IT anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/105 "2021-06-05T23:14:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I do not like to walk places in my stocking feet with my pants around my ankles, _thank you very much_ . I don’t understand why you opt to fly with ill-fitting clothes then. If all your valuables were secured _before_ you get to the queue, it’s a quick and easy grab-and-go while you hold up yer pants. Granted, this comes with experience: pack your wallet, watch, belt, and non-essentials (i.e. everything but your boarding pass and ID) into your luggage _ahead of the bottleneck_ to send through the scanner–recombobulate that stuff later _away from the bottleneck_. I can dig the immediate shoe-recombobulation, but even with that, everyone else in socks is moving along. Tripler I used to have lots of air miles, and then COVID hit. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/106 "2021-06-05T23:33:10Z")
For me, there’s always tension between my desire to get through security with a minimum level of inconvenience, and my desire to pack as light as possible by wearing my bulky stuff. If I’m going to need boots on this trip, for instance, I’m not wasting half my carryon space on them while I wear my compact, easily packed slip-on shoes. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2021, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/107 "2021-06-06T11:03:28Z")
Some people never seem to _learn_. We are not frequent flyers by any means, but after the first experience post 9/11, we learned to tailor our approach to airport security for minimum delay and inconvenience. In the UK, we have a lot more experience with roundabouts/traffic circles/circuses/gyratories than many non-European countries, but drivers here still make the same mistakes described above. The worst is the “mini-roundabout”. Imagine two roads of equal importance crossing. Mostly, the local authority will arbitrarily make one straight through and put ‘Give Way’ signs on the other. In the last few years, in an effort to smooth traffic flow, the alternative has been to paint an “island” in the middle of the crossing and put “Give Way” on all four approaches. For the most part, it works well. When you approach, you give way to any vehicle on your right and have priority over any on your left (reverse left/right if you drive on the right). the dilemma is what happens when four cars all arrive together which happens more often than you might expect. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/108 "2021-06-06T17:28:16Z")
Between what you and @bob_2 are saying, I can empathize. About half of my travel involves destinations where I’ll wear jeans and safety-toed boots on the production floor. My boots are comfy to wear day-to-day, but are obnoxiously too big to pack, so I wear them on the plane. Despite protestations from TSA Agents on the Pre-Check line, I _always_ slip them off (takes less than five seconds) and put them through the scanner (they invariably trigger “extra assistance” if I wear them through the scanners). Slipping them back on, untied, takes less than five seconds, and I drag my bag in one hand, boarding pass and ID in the other, to recombobulate myself _away from the bottleneck_ or “off the ‘X’”. I just don’t have enough hands to carry everything, so I’ll slip on the boots and trudge away. Now I realize I’m starting to argue against my original position, but let me clarify: _take the absolute minimum time_ go get ‘situated,’ and **recombobulate somewhere else.** We’ve all had almost 20 years to figure this out. Tripler Seethe over. Keep it movin’ people. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/109 "2021-06-06T19:39:51Z")
Oh, I thought of something else. I rented a house for about four years and I didn’t want to smoke in it. (Yes, I have since quit completely. It was a bad thing.) There was a small porch at the back door and so I would place a chair there to sit in. All was well for about a year, but then the backyard neighbor put in an above-ground pool. I would go out and sit in the chair and almost IMMEDIATELY the neighbor’s daughter would come out to use the pool. She usually brought three or four friends and they all looked to be about 13 or 14 years old. So, I can either go back inside my house or I can be the 60-year-old perv sitting there staring at the kids playing in the pool. The mother would come out every so often and just stand there glaring at me across the backyards, as if thinking, “I know what you’re doing.” Frankly, I’m surprised she didn’t call the police and make some sort o complaint, but I was going to be damned if I was going to give up the use of my back porch. (The porch was inset next to a brick wall and I really had no choice but to sit facing the back door, the wall, or the pool.) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/110 "2021-06-06T21:48:29Z")
Here’s one that drives me crazy at the grocery store. People who use their shopping cart as a walker. You know, the ones leaning heavily on the handle as they shuffle along, and I’m trying to get around them but they’re blocking the whole aisle. I understand, they’ve probably got health issues and may not want to use the electric scooter-cart, but jeez just get outta my way! ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/111 "2021-06-07T00:10:04Z")
My neighborhood has become more noisy over the past twenty years. Neighbors who were quiet old folks have left and young folks who like loud cars and loud music have moved in. The guy across the street revs his black Mustang for fifteen minutes before leaving in the morning. There is a traffic light right on the corner, and I hear boom cars stopping there all day and all night. Each individual car isn’t a problem, they are listening to their loud music in their vehicle and moving on, but it’s definitely a “no individual snowflake feels responsible for the avalanche” problem. And there is some house in the neighborhood that has super loud parties on some weekends, far enough away that the music is carried on the wind and as vibrations, but I can never find out where it is–there’s just a directionless “BwoooOOOOooommmmm BwoooOOOOoooommmm” bass going on somewhere, and it’s a noise that cannot be blocked out by headphones. Last night it was at 2am. I think I’m just turning into a grumpy old man. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/112 "2021-06-07T04:14:22Z")
People who look at expiration/best-by dates. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/113 "2021-06-07T04:45:40Z")
??? Why does this bother you? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/114 "2021-06-07T05:14:26Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Here’s one that drives me crazy at the grocery store. People who use their shopping cart as a walker. You know, the ones leaning heavily on the handle as they shuffle along, and I’m trying to get around them but they’re blocking the whole aisle. I understand, they’ve probably got health issues and may not want to use the electric scooter-cart, but jeez just get outta my way! I have to use the shopping cart as a walker. Otherwise I couldn’t grocery shop. But I do not lean heavily on the cart, and I do not shuffle, and I NEVER block the aisle from others. The people I see blocking the aisle are able-bodied people facing the shelves with their cart behind them, on the other side of the aisle. > [@jtur88](#): > > People who look at expiration/best-by dates. That’s really a hot topic for you, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/115 "2021-06-07T10:53:14Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > ??? > > Why does this bother you? Because they are doing it in my kitchen ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/116 "2021-06-07T14:33:49Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Because they are doing it in my kitchen Ahh, well then you don’t sound weird. My wife does that, and I hate it, too. Now, makes sense if if it says SELLBY **FEB2014** , but a week ago? It’s not like mustard is going to experience a change in quantum state: PERFECT **MAY2021** /POISONOUS **JUN2021** You must love the Geico commercial with the couple who bought a nice house “…but we have Aunts”. One of which is going through their fridge: “Expired. Expired. Expiiired…” ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/117 "2021-06-07T15:50:17Z")
That drives me bonkers, too. I have no good reason to be annoyed, they can do what they want, but for some stupid reason it bothers me. I actually don’t mind the infirm folks doing it so much, it’s the perfectly healthy ones leaning over on the cart. Geez, stand the hell up, ya slob! > [@panache45](#): > > The people I see blocking the aisle are able-bodied people facing the shelves with their cart behind them, on the other side of the aisle. …And then there’s this. And the ones blocking a stretch of the meat or produce because they have their cart with them when there’s plenty of space to park it out of the way and go get your meat or veggies, then bring them back to the cart. (If everybody did things the way I do, the world would be a better place./s) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/118 "2021-06-07T16:52:35Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > I actually don’t mind the infirm folks doing it so much, it’s the perfectly healthy ones leaning over on the cart. Geez, stand the hell up, ya slob! How can you tell that they’re perfectly healthy? – I agree that it’s possible to lean on the cart and still stay in one’s lane. But some people can’t move fast for reasons that aren’t visible; and I also haven’t noticed that slow-moving people are more likely to strew themselves and their cart across the aisle than anybody else. > [@Jumpbass](#): > > the ones blocking a stretch of the meat or produce because they have their cart with them when there’s plenty of space to park it out of the way and go get your meat or veggies, In every grocery store I’ve ever been in, parking the cart “out of the way” of the meat or veggies would mean parking it where it’s blocking something else. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/119 "2021-06-07T16:54:02Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Our next-door neighbor is a car guy - I think he races - so he spends a fair bit of time futzing with his car. Translation: _REVVING_ the engine repeatedly. He doesn’t do it at unreasonable hours, but when the windows are open and I’m inside reading or watching TV, I really don’t want to hear his engine. Do you live next to me? Our neighbor is a retired mechanic. He was telling us very excitedly before he retired about the space he reserved in his friend’s garage to rehab old muscle cars. Apparently those plans fell through and now he rehabs old muscle cars in his driveway. Very loudly. It sounds like a speedway and the smell of exhaust drifts into the house, so I have to keep the windows closed while he’s at it. My mom keeps encouraging me to complain to the HOA about it, but if if it were more than an annoyance I’d put on my big girl pants and talk to him in person. Also, it’s his property and he’s been an otherwise incredible neighbor to us. If only I could cut the fuel line without anyone noticing… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/120 "2021-06-07T18:08:48Z")
> [@digs](#): > > You must love the Geico commercial with the couple who bought a nice house “…but we have Aunts”. One of which is going through their fridge: “Expired. Expired. Expiiired…” And then there’s me. Brother is visiting, takes out some milk, assumes it is fine because it is still in the fridge. Me: “Noooooooo! DON’T OPEN THE MILK!” ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102/121 "2021-06-07T19:24:18Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > But some new neighbors just moved in. And they like to hang out in their sunroom sometimes. Which is entirely appropriate behavior, but it makes me sad all the same. Get some opaque window film. You can probably get it at your local hardware store. You can also order it on Amazon. Just do the one window that you share with your neighbor. Or just wear you undies, if they look it’s their fault. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entirely-benign-appropriate-things-that-make-you-seethe/943102.md?page=7)