As far as I’m concerned unannounced visits are very rude. It’s like the visitor is thinking Oh, whatever they’re doing it can’t be as important as entertaining me! So, you would show up unannounced, and then when you get no answer actually yell Hey! it’s Me! and think that she’s the one with bad manners? Huh.
A probably unpopular opinion that I have is that the Athenian practice of ostracism-- in which any citizen could be expelled for 10 years based on a popular vote-- could have some applications in modern communities. For instance, on a message board, concern trolls, rules lawyers, and well meaning know nothings who add little other than unfounded opinions or search engine vomit could be banned despite never having broken the letter of the rules.
Another unpopular pet idea of mine is that Australian Aborigines should be given a de facto monopoly of some segment of the economy. The one I like is the propagation and distribution of marijuana.
Derrrrrrrrrrrr. I got confused about which thread this was, sorry.
The strangers who want to engage me are almost always wanting money from me. They aren’t trying to build community, they are trying to separate me from my money. If I want to be a part of a community, then I do stuff like volunteer, or participate in live theater, or go to community events. And I actually do this, and I’ve found people who I enjoy interacting with. I particularly enjoy volunteering at the library, because not only do I feel like I’m doing some good, and finding new friends, I’m getting book recommendations. It’s FANTASTIC.
I don’t have flatmates/housemates. I do have a husband, who tells me when he’s ordered something. And, as I said, for the most part the delivery person doesn’t deliver the package, instead, the delivery person simply affixes a note saying “Sorry we missed you!” on the door. They usually don’t even ring the doorbell! This isn’t just my experience, either. I’ve griped about this before, and others have also found this to be true.
This is exactly my take on it. The people who drop by assume that I cannot amuse myself without their help. Actually, yes, I can. In fact, I would vastly prefer the company of my computer or a book to most of the people who like to drop by (they are my inlaws). Nowadays, most people have no excuse for not calling, unless they are someplace without cell phone coverage.
People who find it necessary to blow their cars horn when they are leaving someone’s house. They know you are going, deadshits. The rest of the street doesn’t need to know.
People should find out if the recipient even likes unannounced visits! I always make it clear that I do not like them, after a coworker showed up at my house one day. Her and I were getting along really well and were pretty decent friends for coworkers so apparently she thought it would be Ok to ring my damn doorbell on the weekend and come visiting. Needless to say, I did not let her in my house. She went away, her feelings all hurt. Should have asked before you invited yourself over.
Maybe she was taking a shit. Maybe she was taking a nap. Maybe she was having happysexyfuntime.
Sweet jesus, do people really drop by unannounced like that, and are people really OK with it? If I find time today, I think I might set up a poll. (Work is kinda blowing up on me, so if someone wants to beat me to the punch I won’t be insulted.)
How’s this for mundane:
We make, serve, and drink coffee for ourselves in my class. We have lots of coffee stir sticks. We have a spoon which we use for putting the ground coffee in the coffee maker.
What shits me is when people use the nice clean ground-coffee spoon to stir their coffee, dirtying the spoon instead of using the provided stir sticks!
Yeah, I’m weird.
Hallmark movies.
Why the FUCK did I watch that two hours of glurge this afternoon? I went through a whole roll of dunny paper (ran out of tissues) and now my eyes are all puffy and sore as well.
In my defence, it is a miserable Saturday arvo with no compelling reason to leave the house, so I figured it would be a good chance to rekindle my sloth-skills. But geeeeez, never, ever again.
(The sunnies are a cover for my red-rimmed eyes). 
I get this a lot when I’m in the grocery store or at Publix. Folks will walk slowly but in such a manner that it blocks an entire aisle or it’s impossible to scoot around them because they amble from side to side. I just want to get past you so that I can walk at my normal pace instead of shuffling like one of the undead. :mad:
I hate it too, and for the same reason that I dislike when folks break the rules and aren’t punished for it. It’s like the person who does it feels that they are so much better than everyone else that they feel free to potentially endanger the lives of every other person in the store should a major fire occur.
Speaking of car-related annoyances:
It annoys me when I go to the pharmacy, and idiots leave their cars right in front of the store (a no-parking zone) instead of bothering to find a parking spot (and parking spots are usually available in the parking lot if you actually take the time to look.) These people exploit a loophole where you’re apparently allowed to leave your car in a no-parking zone if someone is still inside the car. So the driver leaves his/her car in the no-parking zone and goes into the store, and a passenger stays inside the car. Some of these people even leave their motors running too, which is against the law if you do it for too long.
Like it’s such an inconvenience to spend a few minutes finding a proper parking space and then walking all the way across the parking lot to the store. :mad:
I’m not sure I understand this…are there specific parking areas for your carts outside the produce area in your part of the world, or do people just leave their carts anywhere, willy-nilly, and then wander around Produce trying to balance the cherry tomatoes and the bag of onions in one hand while selecting peaches with the other? Why wouldn’t you have your cart with you while you select your produce? I really loved one military grocery store that had a cart-parking area (with lines!) near the deli counter. That was wonderful…you parked your cart, took a number and then were able to wander up and down the deli case, checking out what you wanted to order, without being blocked by the carts of others! Now, in the real world, I can’t get near enough the case to see what’s on special or what might be new, because everyone’s cart is in the way!
My pet peeve is people who insist on blocking traffic in a parking lot while they laboriously back themselves into a space. Pull in nose first like everyone else! It takes only a second! Backing out in easier than backing in, because you are backing out into a huge empty space, not a narrow channel between cars! I park in a very busy paid parking lot outside a casino and mall. There are six shuttle buses that are constantly circling, picking people up at their cars and ferrying them to the main building. It’s a big long lot, the shuttle is included in your fee, and the general rule is to drive in and park where you see the shuttle waiting to pick up. If there are empty spots along the way, great…you can either walk up the hill or wait for the shuttle’s return trip and hop on. In the last few weeks, some newbies to our lot have taking to either A) waiting for someone to get in their car and exit so they can have their close-in space, thereby blocking a line of cars and shuttles trying to get in, or B)blocking the traffic lane by pulling past a spot, trying to back in, realizing they aren’t straight, wiggling back and forth while they line their car up, backing in to the space and then pulling back out one more time to straighten up again, and then opening their door into mine as we both try to get in or out of our cars at the same time. Don’t even get me started about the grocery store backer-inners who then have to squeeze their cart deep in between the parked cars to get at their trunk to load their stuff. If you pulled in nose first your trunk would be right out there on the aisle where you could reach it! You wouldn’t have to try to wedge your cart in a tight space between four cars!