# 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:** 138
**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:** [March 10, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2741 "2026-03-10T23:34:46Z")
Right? I think we had to read The Outsiders. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2742 "2026-03-10T23:40:42Z")
Huh. We were close to the same time, though not in the same state. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2743 "2026-03-11T00:42:24Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > The play was _The Crucible_ We read that one. It was fine. We also read the _Scarlett Letter_, which was fine, but I was probably only interested because there was an illicit affair with a priest. I recall liking it. I won’t revisit those books, but I wasn’t very conscious of misogyny etc back in the day so a lot of the subtext probably did not sink in. I’d probably read them very differently now. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2744 "2026-03-11T00:55:51Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > We also read the _Scarlett Letter_, which was fine, but I was probably only interested because there was an illicit affair with a priest. She cheated on Colin Jost? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2745 "2026-03-11T14:03:51Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I’m amazed by all the people here who say they had to read this book, that book or the other book in high school. I graduated in 1979. I can’t think of a single book that everyone had to read. At least not in the classes I took. There was a literature class, but I didn’t take it. The only book I remember reading as a class was _The Yearling_ in junior high, probably 8th grade. We read it in class - the dreaded, where everyone takes a turn reading out loud. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2746 "2026-03-11T14:25:54Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > But on the other side You don’t actually have to read it, of course: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kqiUGjghlzU/hqdefault.jpg "Monty Python - The Semaphore Version of Wuthering Heights") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqiUGjghlzU&t=77) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2747 "2026-03-11T15:53:21Z")
I graduated in 1981 and my high school had a strange set-up- we changed schedules every quarter, so I had 16 English classes each with a different teacher and “theme”. For most classes, the “theme” was what we would be reading. We didn’t have 10th or 11th grade English - we had British Romantic Poetry , Futurism, Journalism, Science Fiction and a bunch of other offerings. The only class I can think of where we might not have read any actual books was journalism. I can’t even understand the idea of three or four years of English courses without reading multiple books. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2748 "2026-03-11T16:52:05Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I can’t even understand the idea of three or four years of English courses without reading multiple books. This. I’m sure my daughter had to read a dozen or more books in four years of high school English. She took AP English Literature in senior year and that was a LOT of reading. I took O-levels and A-levels in English Literature back in the dark ages (1980-84). I read a lot of Hardy and Dickens, a lot of Shakespeare plays and sonnets and tons of poetry. Mostly British. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2749 "2026-03-11T17:51:16Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I can’t even understand the idea of three or four years of English courses without reading multiple books. Nor I. My experience is probably much the same as Mighty Mouse’s: and especially at A-level (specialised subjects taken at 18+), we were encouraged to "read around the subject’, especially for EngLit. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2750 "2026-03-11T18:32:37Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > She cheated on Colin Jost? I like to imagine he looked like the hot priest in _Fleabag._ > [@doreen](#): > > For most classes, the “theme” was what we would be reading. We didn’t have 10th or 11th grade English - we had British Romantic Poetry , Futurism, Journalism, Science Fiction and a bunch of other offerings. I would have loved this. Sometimes I wonder if my problem with AP English was bad teaching. Somewhat to my shame, my college admission essay was about how I wanted to be a better teacher than her. She just couldn’t engage very deeply with the text. She often did not want to come out and say, “this is a work of feminist literature” or “this is about racism,” much less engage deeply with those subjects or pose critical questions about them. She often did not provide context for what we were reading. She seemed more concerned with getting in trouble for saying the wrong thing, than, ya know, teaching. I did not have a very good high school education, which I learned pretty quickly as a freshman in college. There’s only so far intelligence can take you if you’re never given the tools to think critically. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2751 "2026-03-12T11:49:42Z")
I read NorthWest Passage for a class. My Jr. High Social Studies teacher was a cool dude, he would read Kurt Vonnegut to us. Note, this was in very conservative central Illinois. I went on to read everyone of his books, he inspired a love of reading, at least in me. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2752 "2026-03-12T21:39:27Z")
Hey! I found a new infuriation today! I got a medical bill in the mail. At the top, there’s a line that says “To pay your bill online visit (some ver long URL).” Once you got to that URL, it asks for your account number. OK, where’s the account number? I teach the bill, and finally find it. Then it asks for your “Statement ID number.” I look. And look. And Look. Finally, I find the “Stmt ID#” in tiny type all by itself below their return address. Since this bill is 100% printed on demand, there is absolutely no reason they couldn’t have both of those numbers printed directly underneath the “To pay your bill online” text. Arrgh. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2753 "2026-03-13T12:32:44Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Since this bill is 100% printed on demand, there is absolutely no reason they couldn’t have both of those numbers printed directly underneath the “To pay your bill online” text. Oh, I hate that bad design shit. What’s even more stupid is how many phone calls that generates to the company, and why somebody didn’t say “Ya know what? If we had the numbers where people will find them, we would get X amount less phone calls” ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2754 "2026-03-16T03:58:52Z")
Department of Redundancy Department fans/employees who write things like “$20 USD”. “Twenty dollars US dollars”? It’s either “$20” or “20 USD”, dammit! ---
**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:** [March 16, 2026, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2755 "2026-03-16T12:23:37Z")
At least they put the dollar sign first. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2756 "2026-03-16T12:30:49Z")
People typing ‘alot’ when they mean ‘a lot’. Yes I know language evolves and I am sure we could name historic examples where two words have become joined as one (‘another’?). I don’t care; it irritates me more than it should. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2757 "2026-03-16T12:32:36Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > in tiny type all by itself This needs a post all of it’s own. Why is the thing WE NEED TO READ EXACTLY always the smallest font on the statement? I don’t give a shit about the name of your company, or How We’re Working To Improve Our Service.” I really just need your phone number/URL and whatever statement/acct numbers are required to identify this bill. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2758 "2026-03-16T12:43:40Z")
I’ll see your “alot” and raise you “alright”. (Ironically, my tablet auto-corrected “alot” to “a lot”. So why doesn’t that always happen?) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2759 "2026-03-16T13:30:00Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > This needs a post all of it’s own Ahem, ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2760 "2026-03-16T13:48:58Z")
Autocorrect doesn’t change “alright” but it does “alot.” Alright is a word and it doesn’t look wrong to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=137) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=139)