# Things that infuriate you well beyond their actual importance **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 4, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712 "2024-09-04T02:18:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/181 "2024-09-07T16:27:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > they don’t call weed 'skunkweek" for nothing. Toke up in private please- or at least with friends since they legalized it here in CA you don’t have to buy any to get a buzz just go outside when the wind blows on the weekend and some evenings…its all over town … did you hear the US Open had problems with it cause people were blazing in the adjacent park so much the tennis players smelled it? one of the commentators sniffed "well we are in queens after all " ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/182 "2024-09-07T16:27:26Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I bet they’re the same drivers that know their offramp is coming up but sit in the #1 lane then realize, “I’m passing my offramp. Only one thing to do …” These are the same people that butt in lines. They absolutely MUST be first. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/183 "2024-09-07T16:30:31Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Another rant. Passing lanes in the mountains. I drive the speed limit. Or adjust to traffic. But in Colorado anyway, they create a passing lane but have the right lane close down. But there are turnouts that the slow drivers are required to use if holding up traffic. Which they never use. I drove down from Estes to Loveland one night never getting above 40mph due to a slowass that refused to use the turnouts and lack of passing lanes going dounhill on the 34. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/184 "2024-09-07T16:33:28Z")
> [@robby](#): > > like if the person behind you reacts to your merge by tapping on their brakes thereby causing a slowdown that ripples backwards I would never merge if it was going to make the person tap their brakes. I’m talking hundreds of yards of room. We should all come to a dead stop at the merge point in that situation? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/185 "2024-09-07T16:48:36Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > CDOT screws this up again and again. It should be the passing lane that must merge into the travel lane. The person chose to pass. Do it. Connecticut does something similar to this. On a highway with two lanes in each direction they will sometimes create a third lane to the far right that says “SLOW VEHICLES ONLY” in areas that have an extended uphill section. It’s really for large trucks that can’t maintain their speed going uphill. However, hardly anyone uses them for their intended purpose. The slow vehicles just stay in the same lane they were in previously (now the middle lane) as their speed drops to 10-15 mph below the speed limit. Combined with the idiots parked in the left lane and not actively passing, you now encourage people to pass in the one open lane to the far right. Which is very unsafe, of course. I never do this, because it is ingrained in me to never pass on the right (much less in a designated slow lane), but lots of other people do. I think the solution to these problems is to make and enforce the traffic laws they use on the German Autobahns: (1) No passing on the right—period, with no exceptions; and (2) no driving in the left lane unless you are actively passing another vehicle. You are also supposed to complete the passing operation as soon as feasible and get back into the right lane, especially if someone is trying to pass you. Violating any of these on the Autobahn can result in hefty fines. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/186 "2024-09-07T16:51:53Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I would never merge if it was going to make the person tap their brakes. I’m talking hundreds of yards of room. With that much room it really doesn’t matter what you do. You are essentially alone on the highway at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/187 "2024-09-07T16:52:09Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > If I see a sign that says wait until the merge point, that’s fine. A busy highway that I drive occasionally recently replaced a couple of bridges, causing lane closures in both westbound and eastbound lanes. Well before the merge point (I believe the first sign was 3 miles before) there were signs advising motorists of the upcoming lane closure but which also stated to ‘Use zipper merge at merge point’ and ‘Use two lanes of traffic until merge point’, or similar words to that effect. It seemed to work, at least when I drove it. Traffic, which is always heavy on that stretch of road, slowed down, but I never experienced a stoppage. I compare that to a bridge replacement we encountered last year on I-40 east of Gallup, NM. The actual one-lane stretch was no more than 1/4 mile, but traffic was stop-and-go for at least 10 miles before the lane closure. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/188 "2024-09-07T17:00:44Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Well before the merge point (I believe the first sign was 3 miles before) there were signs advising motorists of the upcoming lane closure but which also stated to ‘Use zipper merge at merge point’ and ‘Use two lanes of traffic until merge point’, or similar words to that effect. It seemed to work, at least when I drove it. Traffic, which is always heavy on that stretch of road, slowed down, but I never experienced a stoppage. > > I compare that to a bridge replacement we encountered last year on I-40 east of Gallup, NM. The actual one-lane stretch was no more than 1/4 mile, but traffic was stop-and-go for at least 10 miles before the lane closure. Exactly. Traffic engineers used to assume that people would use both lanes to the extent possible out of self-interest, but were foiled by well-meaning people who merged well before the merge point. (Or worse, by holier-than-thou people who actually try to _block the lane_ in advance of the merge point to stop people from supposedly cheating.) So traffic engineers are now trying to create the desired merge behavior with signage—at least in some areas. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/189 "2024-09-07T17:16:28Z")
> [@robby](#): > > So traffic engineers are now trying to create the desired merge behavior with signage—at least in some areas. And people should merge when the sign says to. Or when you safely can. The models that have been built do not have enough variables. In other words, there is not always a need for a zipper merge at the merge point. Ohh. I have another one. Sort of same subject. Construction crews that leave their signs up about … whatever. And whatever is no longer an issue. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/190 "2024-09-07T17:24:18Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Ohh. I have another one. Sort of same subject. Construction crews that leave their signs up about … whatever. And whatever is no longer an issue. I work for a water and sewer utility and we have dozens of construction projects going on simultaneously all over the place, enough to have designated traffic control personnel to ensure that motorists are not being detoured from one construction zone into another. Anyway, we always make our contractors either take down or cover their signs at the end of the workday. However, sometimes signs have to be left in place if something is still in the roadway, such as a steel plate in the road, milled pavement, or barricades blocking off a lane overnight. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/191 "2024-09-07T17:55:23Z")
All right, another. Automatic phone systems that want you to start by entering your phone number (I guess they don’t have caller ID) but they won’t let you, until they’ve finished saying every last thing they want to say at you. If I’m forced to deal with a robot, can’t it please at least be a robot who freaking LISTENS? Here’s how it goes: _Hi,_ [BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _thanks for calling Safeway …._ [BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _At the NE corner of \_\_\_\_\_\_ and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, in \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ …_ BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _Para continuar en espanol, oprima nueve._ [BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _Just to let you know:_ [BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _you can stay up to date on your Covid vaccines._ [BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _Make an appointment online, or stop by your Safeway pharmacy._ [BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _For pickup orders, please enter the phone number_ [BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _that you used when you placed the order._ [BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _If you don’t have it,_ [BRINY STARTS ENTERING PHONE NUMBER] _say “I don’t have it.”_ [BRINY ENTERS PHONE NUMBER] … [SYSTEM FINALLY ALLOWS KEYPAD INTERFACE] … [ELECTRONIC “THINKING” SOUNDS, LIKE A STAR TREK COMPUTER FROM THE 1960s…] … _I’m sorry, I don’t recognize the phone number you entered. Please try again._ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/192 "2024-09-07T20:07:27Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > That’s what the system should do. Unless you’ve tried it, we don’t know for sure. My wife works there- Ralphs- and she told me that is what happens, and what she will do if she has the time. > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > My family has learned to not only leave the house, but depart for another country whenever I have to navigate stupid interfaces on websites. Using Kaiser to get an appointment used to be easy. Now, if you answer the dozen questions wrong, you can only get a phone appointment. > [@elbows](#): > > You can piss right off! Shut your damn car off! Worse are truckers. Mind you, at a truck stop, fine, but not where people are living. My other rant is people who pull into the left turn lane, and leave a gap or two cars in front of them. Go ahead. get closer, leave room for others. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/193 "2024-09-07T20:30:27Z")
I do internet repair for one of the larger providers and so I help people install or delete programs, even though it’s technically not part of our support. Just once, ONCE, when that confirmation pops up, “Are you sure you want to do this?”, DO IT!! I asked you to do something for a reason, it ALWAYS asks for that confirmation, so DO IT! ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/194 "2024-09-07T20:34:43Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > It still gripes me when people use “literally” incorrectly. I don’t care if the dictionary amended it to also mean “really.” Those people think it makes them sound smarter _and it doesn’t._ They don’t think it makes them smarter, they think it’s an intensifier. Of course they are literally wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/195 "2024-09-07T22:26:27Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > If I’m forced to deal with a robot, can’t it please at least be a robot who freaking LISTENS? Sorry. What? > [@DrDeth](#): > > My wife works there- Ralphs- and she told me that is what happens, and what she will do if she has the time. Excellent. I test software, and that’s the sort of unusual situation that often reveals problems. Good for Ralphs for getting it right. > [@caligulathegod](#): > > Just once, ONCE, when that confirmation pops up, “Are you sure you want to do this?”, DO IT!! I asked you to do something for a reason, it ALWAYS asks for that confirmation, so DO IT! Microsoft Windows used to do this when deleting a file. The problem was, you’d get the message every time. It became just a troublesome bottleneck, especially if deleting multiple files at the same time; “delete”, “yes”, delete", “yes”… The thing is, you don’t notice you’re deleting the wrong file at the time you’re doing it, you notice a day or a month later when you need the file and it isn’t there. Thus was born the Recycle Bin, so you could recover the needed file. Your case may be a little different, since installing and deleting programs is a rarer operation than doing so with individual files. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/196 "2024-09-07T22:53:01Z")
It’s pretty much any operation. Like doing a Network Reset on Windows. Even deleting an app on a Roku so it can be reinstalled. People just turn their brains off when you are directing them on the computer or streaming devices. You can tell them we are looking for something specific in their TV settings, like “networks”, and they will mindlessly read what they see to you and go right past it ignoring that they’ve just read to you the word “networks”. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/197 "2024-09-09T10:49:05Z")
I love a cold milk tea with boba, but I’m sensitive to caffeine nowadays. I could get away with drinking one if I have it before about 11 a.m., but nearly all boba tea joints don’t open until noon. Why does an establishment that vends caffeine only operate in the p.m.? Argh. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/198 "2024-09-09T10:54:28Z")
Because their target customer is in school in the morning on weekdays and wakes up at noon on weekends and during school vacation. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2024, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/199 "2024-09-09T11:25:13Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@minor7flat5](#): > > > > Heck, there are people in this world who do not even know what a Pop Tart is, but I trust that the main point was not lost. > > Here’s one, I had to google it (and no thanks, I won’t taste them, they look horrible). But I knew before googling what style of phone use you meant. [tangent] A Pop Tart is mostly pie crust–like on a store-bought pie–with a miserly thin fruity filling and an even thinner layer of icing on top. Kids like them, and they are pretty handy to grab if you miss the alarm clock and need to fly out the door without a proper breakfast. I doubt many people actually toast them. Pop Tarts had their 15 seconds of cinematic fame in the movie Pulp Fiction at the precise moment when Bruce Willis as “Butch” shoots John Travolta’s “Vincent” character, a moment in which Butch actually did toast his Pop Tarts. [/tangent] ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/200 "2024-09-09T11:45:29Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Well before the merge point (I believe the first sign was 3 miles before) there were signs advising motorists of the upcoming lane closure but which also stated to ‘Use zipper merge at merge point’ and ‘Use two lanes of traffic until merge point’, or similar words to that effect. It seemed to work, at least when I drove it. Traffic, which is always heavy on that stretch of road, slowed down, but I never experienced a stoppage. This is good signage. I don’t care whether “merge as soon as possible” or “zipper merge” is theoretically better in ideal situations when everyone is following the same rules. Because what really gums up traffic is when different motorists are playing by different rules. The people writing the signs should be explicit. Also, the majority of “merges” that i do aren’t suitable for the zipper method, because they don’t have a unique place to merge and no lane is going away. They are merges into the right lane to exit a highway. But there’s more traffic trying to exit than the local roads can comfortably absorb, so the right lane gets backed up. There may even be a light that is often red for the people exiting. People who wait too long to merge into the right lane and then try to squeeze in are slowing down the travel lane (lane two) of people who aren’t trying to exit. People make honest mistakes. But people also cut in line. And both of those drivers are showing down thru traffic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=11)