# Public behavior that just \*pisses you off\* (not ranty enough for The Pit) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052 "2010-10-22T23:34:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/221 "2010-10-28T19:41:34Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Yes, there is a happy medium. For the most part, my daughter was a pretty good kid. But having her in a harness, and either I held the other end of the leash, or she was securely fastened in the grocery cart, helped prevent her occasional flying banshee moments. Because EVERY toddler is going to have a moment when s/he’s obsessed with The Shiny, and Must Have It. It also helps to get the kid used to the idea that s/he must stay close to the parent at all times, and not wander off. And it helps the parent to know just what is likely to attract his/her pwecious widdle angel. > > I had a well-mannered toddler. Partly this is because I was lucky enough to have a good-natured child, but partly it was because I paid attention to her, and took precautions. She only had to tell me ONCE that she needed to use the bathroom, and I’d take her to the bathroom, I wouldn’t tell her to hold it. Little kids are doing well if they can tell you they need to go now, they don’t have the control or the bladder capacity to hold it yet. I expected her to act like a kid, not a miniature adult. Both of us were less frustrated that way. > > Oh, by the way…I had just injected my insulin, and put my needles in my purse in that scenario. I’m pretty sure that’s what the kid was going after. I don’t have any infectious diseases, but those needles are quite sharp, and can inflict a painful jab or slash. I would then say to you that even though you felt more comfortable with it, you didn’t _need_ the harness. I think it’s fine when a toddler has a flying banshee moment because hey, they’re toddlers. My beef is with the parents who have SO little authority over their little demon spawn that the leash is an absolute necessity. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/222 "2010-10-28T20:00:51Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Oh, boy, and don’t _even_ get me started on the asshats that empty their freakin’ car ashtrays into the parking lot! Of course, that’s not as bad as the mega-asshats who change their baby’s diaper on the back seat of the car and leave the dirty diaper in the parking lot! :eek::mad: > Here’s a clue for those dickheads: I’ve never been in the parking lot of a public store where there were not public _trash receptacles_ available! That is thoroughly disgusting. That’s why plastic grocery bags were created - instant trashbag, so it doesn’t matter whether there’s a bin handy or not. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/223 "2010-10-28T20:05:17Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > That is thoroughly disgusting. That’s why plastic grocery bags were created - instant trashbag, so it doesn’t matter whether there’s a bin handy or not. True. When my kids were diaper age, I always, always stowed a few used grocery bags in their diaper bag, for this very reason. There is _no_ excuse for throwing that on the ground! ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/224 "2010-10-28T22:53:54Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > I can’t link it, because Youtube is blocked at my workplace, but you should check out the song “Pregnant women are smug” on Youtube. It cracked me up, at least. FTW. I’m 8 months pregnant and this cracked me up. It’s way too on-the-nose. I hope my friends and colleagues don’t all despise me. _ugh_ Sometimes, when something is kicking you from the inside, it’s hard to think about anything else. :smack: As far as the whole pulling-straight-through-a-parking-spot-instead-of-backing-out debate… I love to pull straight through if I can clearly see that no one is in the way. But if I pulled straight through as someone was pulling into that spot, and we collided, I’m pretty sure that I would be legally at fault, because I’d be crossing those solid white lines. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/225 "2010-10-28T23:32:41Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I’ve been known to get out of my vehicle at red lights, pick up cigarette butts, and throw them back in the offender’s vehicle, with the admonition “you dropped this”. I’ve called police and waited until they got there and wrote a ticket when I’ve seen people dump trash from their vehicle in a parking lot. I also once got a teen-aged visitor from the UK a ticket for throwing a lit cigarette on the ground in Bryce Canyon… in July… right next to a FIRE HAZARD! WARNING! sign. That one got me applause and a thank you from the ranger. 🙂 Yaay **Snowboarder Bo!** I’ve been tempted do do this, but didn’t have the nerve. I have told pedestrians when they “accidentally” dropped their cigarette butts on the sidewalk, and have been given a look like I had 3 heads. “Excuse me, you dropped something.” “Um, yeah, that’s my cigarette butt.” :rolleyes: > [@Steophan](#): > > It really, really isn’t - you expect people to hold on to a cigarette stub? Oh, and I don’t even smoke anymore, I just respect other people’s right to. Especially outside, where it harms no-one. I’ll see YOU, Steophan, in The Pit. One of my peeves is people with (sometimes multiple) strollers using them as shopping carts. The kids are off frolicking around the mall/store while the parent(s) pile all of THEIR stuff into the stroller. Yet another :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/226 "2010-10-29T00:00:56Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Because they’ve never heard of vibrators? In my neighborhood, it’s usually guys. And they’re smug little jerks, too. On one wonderful occasion, I had some dude tell me, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.” To which one can only respond: “If it’s that loud, you must be compensating for something.” One guy parked his car in front of my house, then went to a party down the street and left his stereo blasting. My windows were shaking. I could not hear my TV. When I called the cops, party guests from the party watched while the police looked around the vehicle and made ready to tow it. Not until the cops showed up on the doorstep to ask if the owner was a party guest did someone inform said guest. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/227 "2010-10-29T06:51:42Z")
**margin** , I can think of several ways a guy could use a vibrator. Just sayin’. My experience is that people who have the music at certain levels are, indeed, compensating for something: deafness. A company where I used to work bought a factory; the old company’s legally-required medical checkups were the minimum required by law, the new one got you checked for everything except head lice. The two dudes who were told they had “mild to severe” hearing loss being in their mid-20s and late-30s were also the two dudes who couldn’t tote luggage in their cars, as that part had been taken over by their Mega Bass Of Doom arrangements. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/228 "2010-10-29T13:44:13Z")
What about people who park at bus stops with the excuse “I’m only going to be here a minute.” I lean against their driver’s side door so when they come back I can say “I’m only going to be here till the bus comes.” ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/229 "2010-10-29T17:20:00Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > This. For me, it really boils down to "people who think they are the only people in the universe A lot of this thread is about what my wife and I call “the Center of the Universe Problem.” ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/230 "2010-10-29T17:23:08Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > **margin** , I can think of several ways a guy could use a vibrator. Just sayin’. > > My experience is that people who have the music at certain levels are, indeed, compensating for something: deafness. A company where I used to work bought a factory; the old company’s legally-required medical checkups were the minimum required by law, the new one got you checked for everything except head lice. The two dudes who were told they had “mild to severe” hearing loss being in their mid-20s and late-30s were also the two dudes who couldn’t tote luggage in their cars, as that part had been taken over by their Mega Bass Of Doom arrangements. I’m sure these guys would think vibrators are an insult to their dubious manhood. Some of these guys have kids in the car with them. Noise at that level does damage your ears. Those kids don’t have a chance. They’ll be deaf before they graduate from high school. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/231 "2010-10-29T17:55:43Z")
People from the building next door have guests that park their car in the 1-lane driveway to the building’s parking spaces. The cops never did anything; on a Friday night they have much more lucrative things to do, like hand out underages. So I finally parked my car in the driveway - blocking them in. I checked back 20 minutes later, still there. So clearly he wasn’t just “popping in”. They left a note begging me to leave. Finally he parked his car in the back and had to walk home. But I bet he never parks his car in front of or in a driveway again… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/232 "2010-10-29T17:59:45Z")
> [@margin](#): > > I’m sure these guys would think vibrators are an insult to their dubious manhood. > > Some of these guys have kids in the car with them. Noise at that level does damage your ears. Those kids don’t have a chance. They’ll be deaf before they graduate from high school. And once they get out of the overly-loud car, they crank up the overly-loud iPod - deaf before high school graduation isn’t much of an exaggeration. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/233 "2010-10-29T18:06:08Z")
The most ironic thing of all is knocking on somebody’s door to ask them to turn down the stereo and then get yelled at…for yelling at them. Because their music is so loud there’s no other option. ``` The thing about people with loud stereo people is that they're just selfish. Dude, I can hear you down the block---or in one case, *three blocks* all I can think of is you need hearing aids, a Pos-T-Vac, and Viagra. No, I don't care that the day ends in Y. Or whatever excuses you make. *You do this every damned day.* ``` ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/234 "2010-10-29T21:01:28Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > I get peeved at people who go to a bookstore and treat it like a library, or their bedroom. I’m always seeing someone all splayed out in the aisle, reading a book and/or yakking on their cell phone, etc. Look, hippie, if you’re going to put your patchouli-reeking hands on a new book, fucking pay for it, and get your fucking dead lazy ass out of the aisle. I agree with you that I hate having to step over people in a book store; usually a polite “excuse me” takes care of the problem for me. However it doesn’t bother me that they’re there. If the book store didn’t want people to sit around and read their books in store then they wouldn’t put sofas and chairs in them. The fact that sometimes there are more readers than sitting areas… well the book store should put in more sofas I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/235 "2010-10-29T21:33:46Z")
I don’t think this one has been mentioned yet… People who put their kids on the phone! I don’t want to talk to your kid. I really don’t. My own son did this to me with my granddaughter even; and he KNOWS how I feel about it. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/236 "2010-10-30T02:29:11Z")
> [@margin](#): > > In my neighborhood, it’s usually guys. And they’re smug little jerks, too. On one wonderful occasion, I had some dude tell me, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.” There’s a moron that drives around in my area with that motto lettered onto the back window of his pickup (you knew it was a pickup, right?). The sign is fairly professional looking, except it reads, thusly: “If its too loud, your too old”. I’m still trying to get a picture of it. ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/237 "2010-10-31T02:34:51Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I would then say to you that even though you felt more comfortable with it, you didn’t _need_ the harness. I think it’s fine when a toddler has a flying banshee moment because hey, they’re toddlers. My beef is with the parents who have SO little authority over their little demon spawn that the leash is an absolute necessity. I’m trying to remember the name of that little boy that was enticed away from his mother’s side by 2 older boys. James Bulgar? I’ve seen the video clip & his mother lost sight of her boy for less than 30 seconds. Its heartrending to watch the mother’s then frantic search - when you know what happened to that poor child. If James had been on a lead he’d probably still be alive. Just saying. Our younger child was very difficult at times. I gave up grocery shopping with him (& my husband, strange chap that he is, likes grocery shopping so that was no problem) but we did have to go other places. & for the sake of my sanity I wanted to go out! My boy actually liked his lead. I used to sing “Rawhide” while we were walking. 😛 I’d also have my daughter & up to 2 other children & a dog with me. It was necessary for everyone’s safety. I work in a grocery store (& I’ve only seen one other child behave as badly as my boy did in the 6 years I’ve been there) What bugs me; People who don’t make their children sit properly in the trolley. The floor is concrete. If they won’t sit make them walk. Its distressing to everyone when the children fall out or make the trolley topple over. Worse, people who let their children ride under the trolleys People who let their children run or wear those rollerskates that look like shoes into the supermarket People who steal from the bulk bins - especially if they give the stuff to the kids. I could go on… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/238 "2010-10-31T08:33:17Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > 1. Cyclists. It’s not your fault. You guys are good at following rules, stay in your own little lane and everything. But jesus christ you give me the willies every time I pass you. You are inches away from death, don’t you realize that? Inches!!! Yes, I do. The way people drive worries me but i do like being out on my bicycle especially while the weather permits. Once it snows I’ll be in a car. ---
**Author:** ![Serge\_Ashtear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Serge\_Ashtear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serge_Ashtear)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/239 "2010-10-31T09:10:47Z")
- Smokers on train platforms and at bus stops (Sure, light up a cigarette in the middle of a small crowd. Never mind the people that are allergic and/or can’t stand the stinking smell…) - People who do the tongue-dance in public. I once saw a couple with locked lips at Westmoreland Station as several Red Line trains departed. Apparently the last thing on their minds was catching the train, even though they were at a **train station**. - People blasting music with excessive bass. Makes me think that they don’t “measure up” and are trying to make up for it by acting like douchebags… - People who think they own the road because they are in a car. Just because I can’t afford to drive and often cycle to places I need to go does not mean I have any less right to the road than you do. It’s even in a little thing called ‘the law’. I am not going to vacate the right lane, no matter how much you honk. Pass me like a sane person would. It’s not like I am sleeping on an air mattress in the middle of Coit Road. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052/240 "2010-10-31T12:49:28Z")
People, usually elderly, who come up to you and ask why you’re not standing/removing your hat/being quiet for the National Anthem. Also, people who hear you say “Oh, God” or “goddamn” and then tell you not to take the Lord’s name in vain. I’d like to say to both of these types of people: mind your own GODDAMN business. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-behavior-that-just-pisses-you-off-not-ranty-enough-for-the-pit/558052.md?page=13)