# 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:** 143
**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 30, 2026, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2841 "2026-03-30T21:47:37Z")
There must be a spy camera at our house… ---
**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:** [March 31, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2842 "2026-03-31T00:21:05Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > There is a certain member of our household who interprets the “best if used by” or “sell by” date on a grocery item to mean that if the product is used even one millisecond past that date, that it will cause certain death. It makes me crazy to see this person grab something from the refrigerator, look at the date, and then throw it away… You can use that for your own amusement. Give them a carton of milk five minutes before it expires and watch them try to chug it down. ---
**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 31, 2026, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2843 "2026-03-31T00:30:19Z")
Somebody must have said mattress to Mr. Lambert. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2844 "2026-03-31T03:39:49Z")
My Mom was like that. 03/31/26 and it’s April 1st, No Good! On the other hand I have a BiL who worked itt the grocery business all his life and he pays no attention to dates. “I let the product tell me it’s bad” he says. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2845 "2026-03-31T03:57:33Z")
If they are like the one in my household they won’t take the chance, in fact they will throw away things 2 or 3 days before they expire, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2846 "2026-03-31T10:44:13Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > There is a certain member of our household who interprets the “best if used by” or “sell by” date on a grocery item to mean that if the product is used even one millisecond past that date, that it will cause certain death. My wife is like that. Eggs seem to be her biggest bug-a-boo. 👻 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2847 "2026-04-02T14:41:18Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Is it because the trailer to the film called it “the greatest love story of all time”? > Is it because so many people mistake it for a romance? > Is it because its intensive focus on two miserable and horrible people glorifies misery and horribleness regardless of its actual intent? > Is it because the author dared to call such an ugly, narcissistic, obsessive mess of a relationship _love_? > > There’s no explanation that justifies the depth of my rage. > > But it probably has something to do with how much I love romance and how much I hated this book for not being a romance. It’s the anti-romance and therefore anathema to me. Fuck _Wuthering Heights._ Even if it gets more people into reading classic literature, it’s not worth it. Chiming in a month later only because this reminded me of some strong feelings I had/have around this book. I read this in college, and loved it. It’s been around 20 years since I last read it so the story/details are hazy at this point, but I loved the writing, atmosphere, and the flawed awfulness of everyone. People trying to find happiness who don’t see that their own obsessiveness about ‘love’ has bound them to suffering. Or something. But it was impossible to have a discussion about it with classmates, who all seemed to feel like it was just a tragic love story. Heathcliff _swoon_! Poor Catherine! The book is not a Romeo and Juliet story, but it seems that that’s what lots of folks get out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2848 "2026-04-02T14:49:53Z")
This morning I experienced one of my many frustrations on the road: people who don’t pack in at red lights (or other stops). One of the intersections on my way to work involves two traffic lights, with maybe 5 cars worth of space between them. It’s a busy intersection, with people regularly running red lights, blocking the intersection in one direction or another, and otherwise being Bad Drivers™. This morning the farther light was red, and the near light turned green. The cars in front of me moved through the closer intersection and queued up at the far red light. There was easily room for my car, plus maybe even 1/2 another car. However, the driver in front of me came to a complete stop with a half a car length or more between them and the person in front. So now I, who assumed they would continue to drive those 10 empty feet and stop 1-2 feet from the car in front of them like a normal person, am the asshole who is halfway blocking the intersection. At least I wasn’t the biggest asshole, which is the person behind me who pulled into the intersection behind me and completely blocked it. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2849 "2026-04-02T14:52:16Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Heathcliff _swoon_! Poor Catherine! Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2850 "2026-04-02T15:05:19Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > This morning I experienced one of my many frustrations on the road: people who don’t pack in at red lights (or other stops). YES. I hate when I want to get in the left turn lane (which is empty!) but I’m stopped shy by one car length by the traffic backed up in the through lane and there’s a raised median, so I can’t go around the blockage. And I can see that there’s at least two cars that have almost a full car length of space in front of them. So I get to watch the (empty) left turn lane get the green, then yellow, then red. and THEN I get to enter the left turn lane once the self-centered drivers in front of me get their light. I know they aren’t doing it on purpose. They just have not been educated to think about their effect on those around them. Still pisses me off. ESPECIALLY since I know that those assholes have surely been on the receiving end of this scenario and should have applied the experience to their own driving. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2851 "2026-04-02T15:44:36Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Chiming in a month later only because this reminded me of some strong feelings I had/have around this book. > > I read this in college, and loved it. It’s been around 20 years since I last read it so the story/details are hazy at this point, but I loved the writing, atmosphere, and the flawed awfulness of everyone. Well said. I loved the novel, it’s absolutely brilliant. But, yeah, it’s a “love story” sort of like the recent _Nosferatu_ remake is. Which is to say, not really, or at least not a typical one (to say the least). ---
**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:** [April 2, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2852 "2026-04-02T17:02:13Z")
Double post… I meant to edit but accidentally created a duplicate post. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2853 "2026-04-02T17:03:15Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I hate when I want to get in the left turn lane (which is empty!) but I’m stopped shy by one car length by the traffic backed up in the through lane and there’s a raised median, so I can’t go around the blockage. A while back I was queued up at a red light with a motorcycle in front of me. I pulled up as close to the motorcycle as I could, but unfortunately I was stopped in such a place where my car was blocking access to the left turn lane and I couldn’t pull forward any farther. The car behind me kept honking, because presumably they couldn’t see the motorcycle in front of me and assumed I had just stopped way farther back than I needed to and was being an asshole and blocking the left turn lane for no reason, but I really wasn’t. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2854 "2026-04-06T20:54:41Z")
I just received a package from DigiKey. A few years ago, they started to ship in custom-printed bubble-pack mailers. It’s a plastic envelope with a self-seal flap. The flap has a pre-cut tab, presumably for tearing the flap open, but - **it never works**. _ **Never** _. The tab always rips right at the end of the perforations. Infuriating! [![](https://i.postimg.cc/hGcwTv84/IMG-4428.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/hGcwTv84/IMG-4428.jpg) [![](https://i.postimg.cc/PqTcYJb8/IMG-4429.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/PqTcYJb8/IMG-4429.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2855 "2026-04-06T23:58:59Z")
Watching PBS News Hour. Two of my favorite commentators are on every Monday: Amy Walter and Tamara Keith. While speaking with anchor Jeff Bennett today, Amy twice referred to the current Iran War as “the war in Iraq” and either nobody noticed or they didn’t want to correct her. I am sure she just misspoke. But if a Republican had made such an error, it would have been all over the news. I can’t articulate exactly why this infuriates me. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2026, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2856 "2026-04-07T03:25:47Z")
The people at airport gates who place their bags on the chairs next to them and leave them there even when the area starts getting crowded and other people have no place to sit. Have a little common courtesy, assholes! ---
**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:** [April 7, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2857 "2026-04-07T12:32:58Z")
I’ve been tapped to collect cash payments from people in our organization. We have many locations in different cities. So yesterday a courier brought me an interoffice envelope, with cash inside, and a post-it with someone’s first name on it. That’s it! 😡 It just angers me that people can be so fucking stupid. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2026, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2858 "2026-04-07T12:35:56Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’ve been tapped to collect cash payments from people in our organization. Without meaning to pry (although that’s exactly what I’m doing), what exactly is happening within your organization which causes people to send cash to another employee? ---
**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:** [April 7, 2026, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2859 "2026-04-07T12:46:21Z")
Lab Week T-shirts. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2860 "2026-04-07T12:49:02Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Without meaning to pry (although that’s exactly what I’m doing), what exactly is happening within your organization which causes people to send cash to another employee? I have to do the same. If someone uses their organization-issued credit card to buy something that includes taxes (or accidentally buy something unapproved), I (and others in my role) am handed physical cash money. I then fill out a form, stuff it in an envelope with the cash, and carry it to the office that handles that kind of thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=142) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=144)