# 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:** 111
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2025, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2201 "2025-10-06T02:08:01Z")
No gate. No restricted access. Come and go as you please. Some businesses around with their own parking lots. Suburban I guess. Not downtown. Plenty of parking. Never been a problem. In the back parking lot that I can see from my 3 floor hotel window, I see at least 40 empty parking places. And 5 cars. The front lot may be 50% full. They are just making a buck. That’s fine. Just don’t make me work to pay you money. **THAT pisses me off.** ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2202 "2025-10-07T17:11:33Z")
Infuriates and causes me to furrow my brow and scratch my head: Like countless others I’m sure, I’ve been getting bombarded by mailings, post cards, voicemails/spam calls, even phony checks by offers from real estate investors ( and I imagine private equity maggots are heavily involved ) to buy my house. I keep wondering, just who these offers are really aimed at? I mean, it’s not as though someone would be able to score a cash payment, and then turn around and get the deal of the century when purchasing their next home. After all, everybody needs to live _some_where. Are they ( these firms ) hoping to: - Turn owners into renters? - people downsizing? - People not long for the world financing their final days in expensive facilities? - Homeowners in such distress in desperate need for cash _right now_ even if equity is low? ( or lower yet due to repair costs charges factored in by these firms ) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2203 "2025-10-07T17:25:40Z")
I can think of one situation where that “We’ll buy your house right now, as is” might make sense. It occurred to me when my wife’s mother passed away a few years ago, and we started getting those little post cards. Say that you’ve recently inherited a house. You don’t intend to live in it, you’ve already got your own house. You don’t want the headaches of being a landlord, so you don’t want to rent it to someone. So you decide to sell it. You could clean it up nice, put in on the market, and sell it to someone in the traditional way. But that could take quite awhile, and in the meantime you’ve got to keep the house clean, the lawn mowed, etc. You’ve got to keep paying the heat and electric bills, and you’ve got to keep paying insurance, which is going to be more expensive if there’s no one living in it. And maybe you don’t even live in the same city. Maybe you have to do all this from 50 or 100 miles away. It might be easier, in that case, to just sell it to one of those We’ll Buy Your House companies. Sure, you could probably get more money if you sold it in the more traditional manner. But this would get it off your hands quickly, with less fuss, less headache, and you’d be done with it. Some of the other alternatives you suggest might be true occasionally. But my guess is that having inherited a house you don’t want to live in is likely the most common scenario for this kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2204 "2025-10-07T17:51:24Z")
On the subject of those “I want to buy your house!” people, one of those guys left me a voicemail saying “I’ve been looking to buy a fixer-upper, and your house caught my eye.” Honestly I was a little offended that he called my house a fixer-upper, because since I bought it I’ve spent lots of money, well, _fixing_ it – I replaced the roof, upgraded the attic insulation, replaced the windows and some doors, fixed several electrical issues, replaced the fence and gate to the backyard, replaced the HVAC system (and took advantage of the incentives to install a heat pump while I was at it), repaired the sewer line… and probably more minor stuff I didn’t think of. Ok, I put off fixing the things that are purely cosmetic, so the house might still look a little shabby – the trim could use some paint, the carpet could use replacing, and kitchen could do with a remodel (but he wouldn’t have been able to see those latter two things). But all the really important things have been fixed. But sure, I guess if your definition of “fixer upper” is “could use some cosmetic sprucing up”, then my house qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2205 "2025-10-07T17:57:53Z")
Went to use the rest room. Saw a little blob of gum in the urinal. JFC you goddamn slob. There’s a garbage can 6 feet from you and you’ll walk right past it on the way in and on the way out. But no, you have to open your mouth and spit your gum into the urinal where the lady who cleans the place up after hours has to stick her hand in there to pluck it out. Buncha savages around here. I’ll go get the stupid thing myself. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2206 "2025-10-07T19:20:39Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Went to use the rest ro A little while I went to use the rest room, two jocks were leaving, having a good time. The seat of the toilet was covered with urine- in other word- bad aim, tiny penis, and too lazy to put the seat up.. Of course in the Ladies you get :hoverers, who also pee on the seats. Also i am seeing more of a Womens rest room, and a “all genders” restroom- no mens room. . I am all for “all gender” rest rooms, but then BOTH should be that way. I had to wait 5 minutes while a woman finished up in the all gender, while the woamns room sat there unused. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2207 "2025-10-07T20:25:50Z")
I’m still getting texts from people wanting to buy my house that I sold a year and a half ago. Research is apparently not their strong suit. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2208 "2025-10-07T20:36:18Z")
It’s spam. Volume and redundancy don’t matter if enough people bite, which is almost always the case. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2209 "2025-10-10T18:29:34Z")
Yep. I hat l get numerous texts for someone who may have had my phone number 15 years ago. Mostly political. My contribution: the plethora of cheap Chinese (I assume) stuff sold on Amazon with very badly written descriptions. Come on, if you are selling in another lengthier language, hire a proof-reader who is actually fluent in it. Also sometimes one error will wind up being propagated. Those “Chinese Zodiac” placemats show your opposite is the person 6 years away from you - the Snake’s opposite is the Boar. The boar’s Opposite….. is the boar. And a silicone strap to keep your airpods from disappearing is listed everywhere as “anti-lost” when “anti-loss” makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2210 "2025-10-10T20:58:01Z")
And because the person sitting next to me starts getting antsy if I don’t stand up ---
**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:** [October 12, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2211 "2025-10-12T01:28:42Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > If you’re working the cash register, _do not_ hand me back my receipt sandwiched between my coin change and my paper money change! If you do that, you just converted a one-handed operation into a two-handed one, and I’m probably holding my purchase in the other hand, dammit! But don’t you have to hold a wallet or something with the other hand, while you put your paper money change into it? You’re using two hands if you do that. Ever since my year in Germany in the late ‘70s I have longed for high-value coins that you can actually buy things with; that would make the process of receiving change a one-hand operation. It was amazing; you could actually buy an (inexpensive) sit-down restaurant meal with a couple of 5DM coins. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2212 "2025-10-12T01:39:56Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Are they ( these firms ) hoping to: > > - Turn owners into renters? > - people downsizing? > - People not long for the world financing their final days in expensive facilities? > - Homeowners in such distress in desperate need for cash _right now_ even if equity is low? ( or lower yet due to repair costs charges factored in by these firms ) Maybe aimed at people like the neighbors down the street. They’re hoarders, and old, and their house is now unlivable. They’ve moved out and are living an hour north of here. I don’t know why they haven’t taken anyone up on the offer. One theory floated around is that they’re too embarrassed. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2025, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2213 "2025-10-12T03:05:09Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > and your cursor is not positioned where you’d type in the code once you got it. How lazy are the programmers working on their websites??? It just occurred to me that this could be intentional in order to prevent you entering the wrong code by mistake., or because the cat walked over the keyboard or whatever. It’s a way of forcing you to pay attention to what you’re typing. If this is true, I get it, but I think it’s overkill. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2214 "2025-10-12T03:51:06Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > But sure, I guess if your definition of “fixer upper” is “could use some cosmetic sprucing up”, then my house qualifies. Isn’t this exactly what they want? People flipping houses want the most return for the least money so if a minimal amount of money can get the trim done, etc., but it doesn’t take much else then it’s ideal. Not the same definition of fixer upper” as I would use, but the guy isn’t going to come right out and say he wants to flip your house. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2215 "2025-10-12T04:08:31Z")
There is a thing at work that drives me crazy. We have this sink system - that I hope I can explain adequately - that no one uses “right” - my definition of right, that is, but it is the way that makes the most sense. So here’s the thing … the water comes up to the sink in two pipes, hot and cold, and each pipe has its own tap handle to turn the feeds on and off. If those two tap handles are off, no water goes any further. Then the two pipes connect into one where the main spigot (with its own tap handle) that pours into the sink is. There is also a scouring hose attached to the top of the thing. Are we all following along? The way I look at it there is no reason to ever touch the two tap handles on the two pipes unless you need to change temperature of the water. People are constantly turning then both off and then I come by and turn the main spigot tap handle to pour some water or I grab the scouring hose and nothing comes out. So goddamned frustrating. It’s like fingernails on the chalkboard of my soul. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2216 "2025-10-12T05:41:56Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > > [@AHunter3](#): > > > > If you’re working the cash register, _do not_ hand me back my receipt sandwiched between my coin change and my paper money change! If you do that, you just converted a one-handed operation into a two-handed one, and I’m probably holding my purchase in the other hand, dammit! > > But don’t you have to hold a wallet or something with the other hand, while you put your paper money change into it? You’re using two hands if you do that. The hand holding the wallet is already tied up. I need to be able to receive and handle my change with the remaining hand. I can’t do that if you hand me a receipt sandwich. If you do that, I have to put down my wallet and use two hands to dismantle what you’ve handed me. “One-handed operation” refers to the change-handling part of the operation. If you want to include the hand holding the wallet (which is often also holding the item I purchased), giving me a receipt sandwich converts a two-handed operation into a three-handed operation. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2217 "2025-10-12T07:00:40Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I can’t do that if you hand me a receipt sandwich. Yeah, McDonald’s is good at handing back the change and receipt separately. it bugs me when I get the sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2218 "2025-10-12T12:13:18Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > It just occurred to me that this could be intentional in order to prevent you entering the wrong code by mistake. Programmers are not that smart. Or that mean. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2025, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2219 "2025-10-12T23:48:07Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Programmers are not that smart. Or that mean. I was a programmer, just saying. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2025, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2220 "2025-10-13T00:58:18Z")
I had a thought about something I was going to post here yesterday, but now I cant remember what it was… and thats sort-of infuriating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=110) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=112)