# Stupid things that bug you, or something. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314 "2011-07-17T03:00:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/141 "2011-07-27T03:37:40Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > That gave me a good chuckle. That’s _exactly_ my sentiment. It must be uncommon, though. CVS and Walgreens are everywhere, and I never see them close, and I don’t really know how to tell them apart unless they’re on opposite corners (as they so often are). > > I’m still having trouble imaging what you’re talking about. In Michigan there are only a few scenarios: > [ul] > [li]You’re in a city, and if you veer right you hit the curb and damage your rims.[/li][li]There’s a right turn lane. You don’t veer into it; you get into it.[/li][li]There’s a right turn lane, and the through lane is also painted (with signage) indicating that you can also turn right from that lane. You can’t veer; you’d be in the right-only lane, and defeat the purpose of having two lanes from which you can make a right.[/li][li]There’s a shoulder. But driving on the shoulder is illegal, because it’s a shoulder and not a right turn lane or deceleration lane.[/li][li]In all cases you’re supposed to use a turn signal or hand signal so that people behind you know you’re turning.[/li][/ul] > But maybe I’m missing a situation in my list? There is a bike lane, and 20 feet or so before the intersection the painted line on the road separating the bike lane from the car lane becomes a broken line. In California you are supposed to pull into the bike lane (once the line is broken) and take your turn from there. You can’t make a right turn from the right lane, you have to pull into the bike lane on the right side and turn from there. Otherwise you are a dork and a menace 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/142 "2011-07-27T03:57:21Z")
At a grocery store I used to go to, there was a checker that did one annoying thing. It was like she would throw the change from her hand, one inch above mine, into mine, which I thought was rude. I couldn’t bring myself to correct her because she was always smiling and pleasant and did her job well, and I was sure she did not intend to be rude. At my current grocery sometimes one older bagger would take the paper bags I brought and nest them inside of the plastic bags. The plastic bag handles don’t extend above the edge of the paper bags making them useless. The only reason I could come up was that if it were raining or snowing, I could then put the nested bags on wet pavement if I had to. But since I load my car directly from the cart, there was never a need. And he did this in all kinds of weather anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Chipacabra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Chipacabra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chipacabra)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/143 "2011-07-27T11:18:22Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > It’s not habanero? How is it pronounced then? And what’s a turbo fish supposed to be? 🙂 > . Habanero is correct. Habañero is wrong. The fish is called turbot. It’s pronounced tur-bit or tur-butt, but people think it looks sort of french so they pronounce it turbo. Or turbeaux, maybe. Anyway, it’s not a french name and I hate them. Rawr. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/144 "2011-07-27T15:29:14Z")
What drives me crazy? Reading a report someone wrote here at work, and there are two spaces after each period. :mad: I can’t read it. I actually do a global replace (replace two spaces with one space), edit the report, and then change it back to two spaces before sending it off. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/145 "2011-07-27T16:04:10Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > What drives me crazy? Reading a report someone wrote here at work, and there are two spaces after each period. :mad: I can’t read it. I actually do a global replace (replace two spaces with one space), edit the report, and then change it back to two spaces before sending it off. Ok I’ll bite. Isn’t two spaces after a period standard? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/146 "2011-07-27T17:12:36Z")
Not any more, though old-timers like me still do it. I’ve never heard anyone say it was hard to read, though! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/147 "2011-07-27T18:43:27Z")
I hate it that in every commercial when they show someone swiping a credit / debit card, they show the card right-side up in the reader so you can read the label on the card. I know of no credit card that has the magnetic stripe on the bottom. ::tiny fist:: ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/148 "2011-07-28T00:47:54Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Nowadays servers in fast-food places gaze blankly past the counter and say “Can I help who’s next?” > > The people are in a damn line. It’s obvious who’s next. Even if there is only one person they still go “Can I help who’s next?” > > Annoys the hell outta me. At my hometown McD’s nobody is in a line. There’s just a mass of people standing around. Some are reading the menu, some are waiting on their food and some are blocking the drinks fountain or the condiments table. It makes sense to me that the counter person asks to help whoever is next: How could she possibly know who it is? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/149 "2011-07-28T15:50:29Z")
> [@RoeCocoa](#): > > I watch a lot of videos online; from video to video, the audio levels are never consistent, even when it’s a series of videos uploaded by the same person to the same host. So I’ll start the first video, and the sound is so low I can’t even hear it. I turn the volume up and re-start the video so I can hear the part I missed. The video ends and I load the next one (or it loads automatically, which is an annoyance about half the time). Only, this video had its sound mixed at **EAR-SPLITTING LEVELS** and I scramble for the mute button. Wait for the ringing to stop. Re-adjust the volume and restart the video. And then the video after that will be too quiet again. Rinse and repeat. > > I believe this is the very definition of a first-world problem. Yours reminded me: It bugs the heck out of me when the DVD’s menu screen is a different aspect ratio from the movie’s, and I have to find the remote (no, the OTHER remote) and adjust the darned aspect ratio when the movie starts. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/150 "2011-07-28T17:14:09Z")
Graduates of a school are not alums. Alums are astringent aluminum compounds used in pickles and styptic pencils. Are alumni, alumnus, alumnae, and alumna that hard to understand and use? ---
**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:** [July 28, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/151 "2011-07-28T17:37:37Z")
I finally remembered the stupid little thing that bugs me - when I go clothes shopping, and the hangers are all on top of each other on the rod instead of placed side by side so you can take one hanger off without fighting with a bunch of them. I’m also learning to hate those hangers that have the hooks on the bottoms of them - they never seem to be used, but they are extremely adept at grabbing onto other clothes items when you try to take one piece of clothing off the rod to look at it. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/152 "2011-07-30T09:40:14Z")
Stores (fast food, grocery clerks etc) who insist upon asking “how are you”? ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/153 "2011-07-30T11:21:23Z")
Soft water. You never, ever feel like you’ve really rinsed off. (And suds are left in the sink etc.) I want hard water so when I rinse my skin almost squeeks. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/154 "2011-07-30T13:14:42Z")
Waiters who want to be your best friend instead of just bringing your food unobtrusively. Many times I’ve been deeply engrossed in conversation with my lunch partner (and you can tell because we were both leaning forward with eyes locked together and talking very low… usually it’s a girlfriend and we’re discussing Relationship Issues), and a waiter/waitress/waitron has repeatedly interrupted us to refill tea, ask if we want anything else, etc. Bugs the hell out of me. And while we’re on the subject, when did it become okay to remove one person’s plate when others at the table are still eating? That bothers me. I think all the plates should be left on the table until everyone is finished. Oh yeah, and I hate the ubiquitous use of “guys” to refer to any and everyone. I know Yankees have to use it, but that’s why we in the South invented “y’all.” To have a youngish waiter or salesperson address a group of AARP-age customers as “you guys” REALLY bugs me. That’s all for now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/155 "2011-07-30T18:26:41Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > People (mostly on Facebook) who repeat the last letter of a word they want to emphasize. > > “That puppy is so CUTEEEEEE!” > > Reads as “That puppy is so CUTIE,” which sounds stupid. Is this a “thing?” I thought my niece was the only one. It makes me want to stab her in the eye. Joe ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/156 "2011-07-31T03:12:50Z")
A few computer related ones: People who turn on the “tap to click” feature on the work laptops. ARGH! You’ll excuse me if I don’t want the OS to think I’m clicking every damn time I just try to move the cursor. I guess I have too heavy a touch, or whatever, but seriously, it’s annoying as fuck, and how is it that helpful? The button is right there, literally an inch away from your finger! People who leave tons and tons of unread messages in their inbox. Luckily, I don’t have the opportunity to get bothered by this a lot, but the past two weeks I was working with another guy a lot, both of us sharing a laptop, and at times he’d have an email open in his inbox to show to me, and seeing that bright blue “546” next to his inbox, and dozens of **bold faced** subject lines made me want to smash something. How does he live with that?! I am like a sane person…if I get an email I don’t need to read, I still scroll over the subject line so that it gets marked as “read,” and then I delete it, so I never have unread messages in my inbox. Also, I delete stuff…it’s clear from all the unread messages being in the inbox and not recycle bin that he’s one of those people that “sort” their email by keeping it all in the inbox…folders exist for a reason! You can delete things for a reason! I know a lot of people think “oh, it’s just a few emails, it’s not that big a deal” but ask the IS guys at any large company how big a deal it is when you have just a few people all deciding never to delete, sort, or archive any emails. And, lastly…_don’t touch my fucking screen!!!_ Ahhhh! You can very easily point to something on the screen without having to touch it. ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/157 "2011-07-31T09:34:28Z")
> [@Troutsqueezer](#): > > Or news show advertising, telling me how it’s the most trusted newshow in Northern California, or So-and-So is the most trusted news anchor. C’mon! Who watches a news show based on trust? It’s a given, news outlets and trust don’t go in the same sentence. This, to 10x. This is one reason why I don’t like Channel 4 down here-- they not only pimp themselves as being the “Best of the Upstate” (when, IMHO, they are the absolute worst, the pits if you will), but they incessantly plug their Facebook page (which I will never mark as a “Like” on mine, no matter how many times they say “Check us out on Facebook”). They also say that “John Knows Weather”-- it’s a matter of personal opinion, IIRC, but in mine, John Cessarich does not know weather. Oh, and their promos for the morning show that starts @ 4:30?! No. I will wait a half-hour for FOX Carolina to start @ 5. Why? Because of 4’s morning meteorologist Dale Gilbert. Don’t know what it is, but that voice of his drives me up the wall. It’s 10x worse when he’s on the weekend morning newscasts. I mean, I try to get more or less through the week without hearing him, but then he (sometimes, not all the time) has the nerve to appear on the weekend, when Keisha Kirkland is supposed to be there?! Ugh. Even Alexandra Wilson (a female) of FOX Carolina is nowhere near as annoying as Dale is (in fact, to me, she’s not annoying at all). Oh, and that slogan: “Live, Local, Latebreaking” I can understand, but not “Live, Local, Breaking News.” It seems as if they’re saying that every bit of news they have is breaking news. In short: WYFF down here, because of those things, is an absolute F- in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/158 "2011-07-31T13:58:16Z")
The various legal disclaimers in ads bug me. There’s a car commercial showing various fictional characters leaving for work. There’s a ninja, a zombie and a superhero, and a few others. At one point the ninja does a backflip off the balcony, and neatly falls feet first through his car’s sunroof. There’s the usual disclaimer at the bottom of the screen that says, 'Trained stuntman. Do not attempt." Do we really need this shit? I know they have to do it, as a CYA thing, but to my way of thinking, if you’re stupid enough to think you can do a triple gainer off your balcony into your car’s sunroof, then it’s probably best that you remove yourself from the gene pool anyway. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/159 "2011-07-31T17:29:41Z")
I agree about the legal disclaimers. And one more annoyance from Mythbusters (seems to be all I complain about in this thread). They have an extreme obsession with removing all traces of advertising and trademarks from their show. I understand that they might not want to have “Coca Cola” cans present if they might be sponsored by Pepsi, but they go so far that it intrudes on the show and calls attention to itself. Why do they need to cover the nameplates of every car they smash? No, they can’t leave “Ford” on a car, can they? What terrible thing will happen? How about when an Olympic athlete appeared on the show to do some running and they covered every logo on his sports gear with colored gaffer’s tape? I find their vanilla ad-free world to be distracting. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314/160 "2011-07-31T17:42:15Z")
Waiters that try to be your friend was mentioned earlier, around here, there’s a current tendency for food packaging to pretend to be your friend. Drives me nuts. Things like listing ‘and love’ on the end of the ingredient list- just makes me think of the guy in a pizza parlour near where I used to live who got arrested for masturbating with the dough. Please, manufacturers, stop printing ‘quirky’ rubbish on packaging- it doesn’t make the product taste better, and it makes me feel a bit more dead inside every time I see it. Also, the word ‘Yummy’ should never appear on food not aimed at 6-year-old girls. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-things-that-bug-you-or-something/589314.md?page=9)