# Pet Peeves only you have **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 7, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001 "2018-04-07T21:32:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/243 "2018-04-19T14:20:19Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > It’s bad enough in America, geesh! Must be regional, then, or the types of restaurants we frequent. In middle-of-the-road places, I always feel like I’m being rushed out! Several times I remember the server coming to our table, check in hands to ask “is there anything else I can get you?” assuming I’m ready to leave, only to have me send them back for another beer or cordial. Outside of urban areas, I might find it a bit more “relaxed,” but I never remember feeling like I couldn’t find a server when I wanted to leave. As for England, my recollection was that service was fairly prompt there, as well. It varies by where in Europe you are and the eating culture. ---
**Author:** ![EdelweissPirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EdelweissPirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdelweissPirate)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/244 "2018-04-20T01:40:11Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > My peeve is colleagues whose offices are disaster sites. I’m OCD about my office for both myself and my students. I think towering stacks of messy papers and no gestures toward making their spaces pleasant sends a bad message[…] Jennshark, this sounds like I’m just complaining about your pet peeve, but I’m I promise this isn’t a personal attack. I’m not even saying you’re the kind of person I’m talking about. But: People with your pet peeve _are_ my pet peeve. I hate it when OCD neat freaks confuse their compulsion with virtue. I’m messy, and I wish I weren’t, but it’s not fully within my control[sup]1[/sup]. (I’m not a hoarder, though). I keep my desk and other spaces neat enough to work in, but that’s not nearly neat enough for some people I’ve worked with. What really irritates me is that it’s not their space. It’s not really shared space. It’s my space, and I work effectively this way. More power to the neat-desk faction. Really. But while their spaces are always tidy and attractive, let’s not pretend that’s because they choose to keep them that way. They’re _compelled_ to[sup]2[/sup], and any other environment would be intolerable for them. (Lots of people with neat desks don’t have OCD, of course. Those people are making a choice to keep their desks clean, even though it may be an easy, low-effort choice for them). A closely-related peeve is morning people who mistake their preference for virtue. I’m not a morning person. I’m most productive from about noon through 10 PM. It’s actually a pain, as it doesn’t overlap very much with standard 9-5 working hours. But it’s the way I’m wired, and it’s neither inherently good nor inherently bad. Some morning people occasionally tease me for being bleary-eyed at 8:30 AM and usually follow up with something like, “why, I’ve been in the office since 7:00, and that was after going to the gym at 4:30 this morning!” Crikey. I don’t make fun of you for “knocking off early” at 4:00 PM, even though I’m going to continue working until after you’re asleep. You like to get up early and go to bed early. I like to get up late and go to bed late. Can’t we all just get along? On the flip side, I try not to do this sort of thing to other people (though I probably fail in ways of which I’m not aware). For example, I’m a really good speller; it comes naturally to me. I know lots of smart people who are terrible spellers. When I discover that someone is an awful speller, I have to consciously remind myself that bad spellers are not inherently lazy or stupid. Once I’ve made that discovery about a person, it’s pretty easy for me to get over it. My first reaction to bad spelling is horror, I admit. But I remind myself that my facility with spelling doesn’t come from years of diligent effort…I just find it easy. So my good spelling isn’t a mark of virtue any more than someone else’s bad spelling is a mark of failure. [sup]1[/sup] I have a learning disability called [dysgraphia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgraphia), which affects, among other things, spatial organization. [sup]2[/sup] Interestingly, hoarding behavior itself is often a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder. So the battle of neat freaks vs. hoarders, it’s really a family feud: OCD vs. OCD. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/245 "2018-04-20T01:43:37Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > No passably good wine–i.e. anything better than dumping a half shot of 190-proof grain alcohol in a cup of Welch’s grape juice–can be fully appreciated when drunk from a tumbler, mug, or collectible jelly glass. Wineglasses are tapered at the top to funnel the aroma towards your nose, the senses of taste and smell being intimately connected. I agree the stem isn’t needed, but although stemless wineglasses are are easy enough to get, stemware is seen by many as more traditionally appropriate. > > On the subject of restaurants, servers, and wine: If we order a bottle, we’ll pour it into our glasses, thank you very much. The server doesn’t need to rush over and top up our glasses after the first couple of sips. Fully appreciated, maybe. It certainly is enhanced by proper stemware. OTOH, seeing Paul Draper taste out of a Dixie cup, and be just fine about it (as well as hitting a fly in the air with spit from about six feet away), really took a lot of the steam out of my prior insistence on Riedel-ing All The Things. EDIT: Not sure if mentioned already, but GET OFF YOUR FUCKING PHONES WHILE DRIVING. NOW. I’d rather drive with drunks. Seriously. They’re at least just trying to get home, IME, and are trying their impaired best to do so. The idiots focusing on their smartphones. not so much. It’s just so goddamn dangerous to be that distracted at the controls of a 2-3 ton death machine going 90 feet per second. And with driving being probably the most dangerous activity any of us do. EDIT^2. Maybe it’s not just me who feels this way. Sorry. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/246 "2018-04-20T04:20:20Z")
> [@EdelweissPirate](#): > > It’s my space, and I work effectively this way. Our “Creative Department” was full of messy desks. But none half so crowded as the Purposely Non-Creative “Production Manager” who was tasked with making the department run efficiently. I couldn’t believe she could do that with her waist-high stacks of papers ALL OVER her office. On every inch of her desk, on chairs, on the floor… Until I needed an estimate from months ago from an obscure prop guy. My jaw dropped as she said “OroSync? That’s Brian Sinkevitz’s company, right?”, wended her way through the maze of stacks, knelt down and quickly pulled a manilla folder from Three Feet Down, Fifth Stack From The Wall: “This what you’re looking for?” I could tell she was enjoying my stunned expression. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/247 "2018-04-20T04:48:17Z")
Large notebooks of coupons. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/248 "2018-04-20T05:39:12Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > The wooden paddles remind me of going to the movies as a child, where I used them with those little cups of ice cream. My favorite was the vanilla with the chocolate syrup swirl. Yes, that was kinda tasty. They still sell those, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/249 "2018-04-20T06:47:22Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > One thing drives me crazy, but everyone else seems to tolerate or not notice > > When I’m done eating at a restaurant, I want to be able to request the check and pay. However, in many places, especially upscale or snootier places (I notice it most in NYC and Europe), I get great service from the moment I enter until the last plate is removed. At that point, the server disappears and refuses to make eye contact. They run around the restaurant doing all kinds of stupid stuff, but don’t even give me a chance to request the check. I don’t mind a 2 hour meal, I don’t mind a 5 hour meal, but for gods sake, when the meal is over, it’s over. I want to leave. Just got back from Europe, where we had two or three extremely bad experiences with this. I’m talking 20 or 30 minutes, which we would rather spend walking around the city than waiting to pay. You’d think the restaurant would want to get paid so you can leave and they can reset your table for the next party. I don’t face the problem you describe on a regular basis, but I do try to remember to have cash in all the appropriate denominations so that I can pay the bill with it and walk out immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/250 "2018-04-20T06:48:24Z")
It’s not how much frozen food you can fit in your trunk that matters. It’s how much you can fit in your freezer. No, I’m not thinking of anyone in particular. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/251 "2018-04-20T06:49:35Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’ve mentioned several times on these boards about my absolutely abhorrence for those little wooden paddles people eat ice cream with. They make me shudder. If I see someone using them, I either have to move or stop what I’m doing and get them a real spoon. Do you mean they actually still make those things out of wood, and not plastic? That in itself is quite remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/252 "2018-04-20T08:14:18Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Clearly he meant vowel sound, unless you think the “h” in honor is a vowel or the “u” in unicorn is a consonant. > > People use “an” with ‘history’? Only if the term “people” is being used in such a way as to include even barbarians, morons, and ignoramuses. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/253 "2018-04-20T10:02:01Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Clearly he meant vowel sound, unless you think the “h” in honor is a vowel or the “u” in unicorn is a consonant. > > People use “an” with ‘history’? I’ve heard “an historical…”, where the “h” mostly silent, but I’ve never heard “an history”. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/254 "2018-04-20T10:13:33Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > It’s not how much frozen food you can fit in your trunk that matters. It’s how much you can fit in your freezer. > > No, I’m not thinking of anyone in particular. (Raises hands, chilled by unexpected encounters with a 20 lb bag of ice that I’ve just used to cover overflow frozen food in an ice chest, and nods sadly.) “Hey, guess what we’re eating for the next few days!?” ---
**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:** [April 20, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/255 "2018-04-20T12:31:52Z")
> [@EdelweissPirate](#): > > … > A closely-related peeve is morning people who mistake their preference for virtue. I’m not a morning person. I’m most productive from about noon through 10 PM. It’s actually a pain, as it doesn’t overlap very much with standard 9-5 working hours. But it’s the way I’m wired, and it’s neither inherently good nor inherently bad. > > Some morning people occasionally tease me for being bleary-eyed at 8:30 AM and usually follow up with something like, “why, I’ve been in the office since 7:00, and that was after going to the gym at 4:30 this morning!” > > Crikey. I don’t make fun of you for “knocking off early” at 4:00 PM, even though I’m going to continue working until after you’re asleep. You like to get up early and go to bed early. I like to get up late and go to bed late. Can’t we all just get along? > > On the flip side, I try not to do this sort of thing to other people (though I probably fail in ways of which I’m not aware). For example, I’m a really good speller; it comes naturally to me. I know lots of smart people who are terrible spellers. When I discover that someone is an awful speller, I have to consciously remind myself that bad spellers are not inherently lazy or stupid. Once I’ve made that discovery about a person, it’s pretty easy for me to get over it. > > My first reaction to bad spelling is horror, I admit. But I remind myself that my facility with spelling doesn’t come from years of diligent effort…I just find it easy. So my good spelling isn’t a mark of virtue any more than someone else’s bad spelling is a mark of failure… I like the cut of your jib. I totally agree about the confusion of compulsion with virtue. I enjoy running, and I do mention it more than I should. However, when it comes up in discussion, I’m quick to explain that it really is just a habit, formed over several weeks after an unwelcome medical test result, and fueled over the years by the nagging feeling of guilt (did I get my miles in this week?) I tell them it’s the only good habit I have ever acquired. Also, I’m reasonable at it but not particularly good, but that’s enough for me. And my wife and I are both night people, seemingly surrounded by the superior morning people who chirp “But how can you live like that? Half of the day is gone!” It’s annoying, but like many things we learn to tolerate minor annoyances like this better as we age. I’m just happy that she and I are on the same wavelength. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/256 "2018-04-20T13:22:22Z")
This is one that I am definitely in the minority on: I dislike the term rescue when referring to a pet. It just smacks of sanctimony. I’ve had pets my whole life and they always were either from some kind of shelter or a stray, but there’s noting heroic about it. I get why they market the term “rescue” it makes getting a dog from a shelter or similar source more attractive to people looking for a pet, but I really don’t like the term. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/257 "2018-04-20T14:53:21Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > This is one that I am definitely in the minority on: I dislike the term rescue when referring to a pet. It just smacks of sanctimony. I’ve had pets my whole life and they always were either from some kind of shelter or a stray, but there’s noting heroic about it. I get why they market the term “rescue” it makes getting a dog from a shelter or similar source more attractive to people looking for a pet, but I really don’t like the term. Volunteer for an organization that pulls animals out of hoarder’s homes, puppy mills or abusive situations and you’ll gain an appreciation for the term rescue. It’s not sanctimonious at all in those contexts but simply factual. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/258 "2018-04-20T17:00:17Z")
> [@betterlifethroughchemistry](#): > > This drives me crazy and fortunately does not happen often, but there is one cashier at our local grocery store who likes to give a running commentary as he scans each item…he finally stopped with me after looking up one time to find me glaring at him…what I buy and why is none of your damn business, just do your job… > > I’ve also noticed stores are prompting the cashiers to say, “Did you find everything you were looking for today?” The times I’ve answered honestly have only resulted in confusion on the part of the cashiers and has never yielded the items that were not in stock, so now I just answer, “It doesn’t matter…” Grrr… You could try responding with “I was looking for the checkout with the moody cashier who doesn’t try to engage me with small talk, but looks like I missed again.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/259 "2018-04-20T17:07:43Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > Volunteer for an organization that pulls animals out of hoarder’s homes, puppy mills or abusive situations and you’ll gain an appreciation for the term rescue. It’s not sanctimonious at all in those contexts but simply factual. Even getting a stray off the streets is a “rescue” IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/260 "2018-04-20T17:24:07Z")
I realize it’s irrational, but I get annoyed at people who sit at the red light in the “turn only” lane with their blinker on. Oh really? You are going left?? In the left lane?? The one with the big painted arrow on the street (that ain’t graffiti)? The one with the green arrow light?? You are going left, in this lane??? You don’t say ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/261 "2018-04-20T17:25:24Z")
Why would you get annoyed at that? If they have their blinker on, less chance they are going to just go straight because they are morons. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/262 "2018-04-20T17:35:12Z")
More to the point, they’re _more_ likely to be in the habit of using the turn signals for intersections that don’t have dedicated turn lanes, and for lane changes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=14)