The phone for me, as well.
I work in a call center.
Shopping…absolutely hate it. Particularly in large department stores. Or Wal-mart.
Just waaay too many choices. I don’t want that many choices and usually I’ll leave w/o buying anything just because I cannot pull the trigger and make a choice.
I like smaller stores just because it’s easier for me to do my business.
I work in a customer-contact position. I deal with people face to face and over the phone all day long. I have for many years. I never have any problems with working with people.
I hate making non-work phone calls of any kind. I have gone for a few weeks with medical problems, car troubles, and other things because I do NOT want to make a phone call. I wouldn’t mind going in person to set an appointment, but that seems silly, so I don’t. I never call any company for customer service if they have a website that will help. I even order pizza from Pizza Hut solely because I can do it online.
I am 28 years old, well old enough to get over this nonsense, but I can’t seem to.
I’m similar except for one thing, after “There was plenty of time” but before “I should have gone” I always seem to add “Geez I could still make it if I go now”
Here’s one of mine. At my store the way it’s situated, I can hear customers as they walk past my office window. It’s kinda fun actually, it’s a back corner where little kids and old men come to steal jelly bellys and peices of hard candy and since no one one can really see the window due to it’s odd place I can yell at them and the react as if god himself had just smited them. Fun really. Anyways, whistlers, people that wonder around in the store whistling drive me absolutly batty. In fact over the years we’ve had a few whistling employees but I put a quick stop to that. As much as in drives me insane, I can stop working for a few minutes until the customer walks away, but I’ll be damned if I 'm gonna listen to it for 40+ hours a week.
Heh. Another ‘‘me too.’’
Okay, now this thread is just making me feel neurotic.
Here’s an odd one for you: wearing a tie. I have no idea why, but whenever I have to wear a tie I start sweating profusely, breathing heavy, and get very stressed out. I don’t interview well.
I get stressed out if I have to go up to the bar to order a drink. I don’t mind being in a bar, and I don’t mind ordering if there’s table service. I just can’t handle having to go up to the bar to order.
Playing board games. I have a hard time keeping rules straight and I’m dreadful at strategy. However, several of my good friends are board game nuts and if I want to hang out with them, it often necessitates playing whatever new games they’ve picked up. I find it very stressful. Fortunately, my friend are forgiving with me, and after I’ve played the game a couple times, I’m okay.
But on poker nights I hang out in the living room watching DVDs with the kids. I’m not even going to try to play a game that involves me losing money.
Lip smacking whilst eating does it for me. For example, sitting on a bus/train with some numbnuts chewing gum with their mouth open.
People holding long and loud mobile calls on bus / train.
Actually, just people on buses and trains seems to be the issue here 
I also stress over driving, and I used to stress about the phone, too. Then I got this job, where my primary responsibility is to answer the phone! (In fact, I think I got the job because I didn’t want it, so I was very relaxed during the interview).
The first thing I had to say when answering was the name of the business, so I had a little memory trick to help me remember how to get started. The first word was “Diagnostic”, the first syllable of that is “Die”, and that’s what I wished people would do rather than call me.
By this time, I’ve made and received so many calls that all fear is gone. I wouldn’t say I enjoy it though…I’ll still send an e-mail if I can.
I hate the phone too. Nearly 4 yrs of being hooked up to a headset and taking abuse 8 hrs a day will do that.
The sad part is that it’s been well over a year now since I took my last call, and I still refuse to pick up the phone unless I know the person is calling me for a very good reason (and no, “just to say hi” is NOT a reason). If I do happen to get trapped on the phone with a friend who feels the need to blather at me, I’ll actually make excuses to get off the phone because I can feel the frustration levels rising with each additional minute.
No problem with IM chat, for some odd reason, tho.
Women.
[ul]
[li]Having to parallel park a car. Even though I’m only 37 years old and have been driving for over 20 years, I’m still as bad as an 80-year-old grandmother trying to park her 50’s-era Lincoln. I don’t do it often and fortunately I do not need to do it often. At best it’s embarrassing to me and amusing to any bystanders who watch me wear out my car’s transmission from frequent shifting into forward and reverse repeatedly while trying to work my car (a Nissan Sentra) into what turns out to be plenty of space, but from my vantage point in the car looks barely big enough to squeeze in without tapping the bumpers on the other cars. Most of the time I end up being parked crooked, two feet away from the curb and disproportionately closer to one car than the other. At worst it’s irritating to the people on the street who have wait for me to get into my desired spot while I block traffic.[/li][li]Adding to my parallel-parking stress is when I have to pay a parking meter for the privilege. I can’t just go about my business and relax since I always have to check the time every few minutes and make sure the meter’s time doesn’t run out on me before I get back to my car.[/li][li]Inflating balloons. I just know that if I keep adding more air that damn thing is just going to pop loudly right in front of my face and scare the bajeezus out of me. Inflating a tire makes me feel the same way.[/li][li]Paying my bills. I’m always afraid it’s going to be higher than I am expecting it to be, especially when it’s not a set, fixed amount each month, such as the power bill.[/li][li]Being alone with someone I don’t know, such as while riding in an elevator. It’s just me and that other person. Does he or she think I’m a dork? What if they notice I didn’t shave today? What if I have B.O. that I don’t detect? What do my clothes look like to the other person? I know I shouldn’t care what he or she thinks of me (unless she’s a hot babe), but most often the situation presents itself as a moment of awkwardness I’d rather do without. The same thing happens when I have to pair up with someone I don’t know on the ski lift.[/li][/ul]
I do the same thing and I think I’ve figured out why it happens to me at least. I am not the most direct of drivers. My routes may be slightly circuitous but they get me where I am going. My friends, however, have much better cognitive maps. They can compare where they are and where they need to be and then calculate the fastest route. If I ask them where to go, I am assured of taking what they consider to be the best route possible and can avoid that awkward question, “Why didn’t you just go this way?”
Although the OP wasn’t asking specifically about the Dope, here’s one of mine: People who post in a multi-page thread and sometimes actually say that they can’t be arsed to read the thing but they’re going to post anyway, something that might have already been posted anyway – and it has been. Chaps my hide right to dust.
I second loud public cell phone conversation, especially if I’m caught walking behind a meandering drifter.
Proselytizers, itinerant (and particular unfunny) comedians and beggars in general who ply their spiels on subway cars where you can’t get away.