# 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:** 38
**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:** [November 25, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/741 "2024-11-25T15:03:00Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > The insurance institute for highway safety tells me that the typical driver uses high beams far less often than they should, and that high beams reduce accidents. A recent article in the AARP magazine advised that its constituents should use high beams whenever possible. I took issue with this statement. For instance, my son and his family live about 150 miles from us. When we return from a visit, the last 70 miles are on a super-two highway, which is busy during the day, but traffic decreases at night. Because of the decrease in oncoming traffic, a fair percentage of drivers flip on their high beams when there’s no oncoming traffic. But what invariably happens is, when meeting another car, they forget to flip back to low-beam until warned by the oncoming car, which I usually have to do 2 or 3 times during the hour we’re on the two-lane road. For this reason, I NEVER use my high beams on this stretch of highway. This is a thing that infuriates me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/742 "2024-11-25T15:06:06Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > To be super-nitpicky: the high beam and headlights are actually separate bulbs installed at different angles, so you do switch between both when turning on/off the high beams. I think in a lot of older cars, it was multiple filaments inside one bulb - the placement of the filaments was such that they would be reflected at different angles ---
**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:** [November 25, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/743 "2024-11-25T15:11:18Z")
We Americans know it’s always you Brits who get it wrong. That’s why we had a Revolution. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/744 "2024-11-25T15:16:28Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Oh, you’ve been shopping?!” What gave you your first clue? I mean, other than the bag with Safeway plastered on it. I used to work with a woman who would say stuff like that all the time. For instance, if you were sitting in the break room reading a book, she wouldn’t ask _what_ you were reading, she’d say “Oh, reading a book?” One of my coworkers dubbed her “The New Master of the Obvious”. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/745 "2024-11-25T15:21:09Z")
It’s chit chat. Would you rather talk about the weather? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/746 "2024-11-25T15:23:49Z")
It comes up. I don’t do chitchat if I can possibly avoid it, mainly because I’m not good at it and feel no obligation to engage in it. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/747 "2024-11-25T15:26:46Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s chit chat. Indeed. Occasionally, my wife moves from the bed to the living room couch, for part of the night, if she can’t sleep. I go downstairs in the morning and see the remnants of couch sleeping. When my wife gets up, I say “Did you sleep downstairs last night?” and she give me the “master of the obvious” comment. Hello! I’m making conversation! It’s an opening for you to tell me about your difficulty sleeping, and for me to then empathize with your sleeping difficulties. It’s better than “You didn’t put away your pillows from last night.” ---
**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:** [November 25, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/748 "2024-11-25T15:26:55Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think in a lot of older cars, it was multiple filaments inside one bulb - the placement of the filaments was such that they would be reflected at different angles Yes, you’re right, I was just going from how the lights are arranged in my current car. Now I remember that former cars of mine had multi-filament bulbs. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/749 "2024-11-25T15:55:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > > > by pushing the little button to the left of the brake pedal with your foot > > Lol, 🤪 😆 > > I remember that. Me too! – to the left of the clutch pedal. A car with that setup was probably what used to be called a “standard” shift. > [@Mangetout](#): > > Yeah, on an unlit, rural road, high beams are a good thing - you can see more of the road ahead You’re also far more likely to see a deer (or in some parts of the country elk) in time to avoid it, or at least to hit it at a much slower speed. Or, for that matter, a cat or dog or lots of other creatures; or a pedestrian or bicyclist or tractor or buggy running without lights or with insufficient lights; or the rare but not impossible cow or horse etc. loose in the road. Yes, if your high beams are blinding any of those you should dim them as soon as you see whoever you’re blinding – but it can matter a very great deal that you saw them before you dimmed the lights. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > when @Mangetout said “dipping the high beams” i knew immediately what he meant, without needing to Google. Yeah, I just guessed from context; and apparently guessed correctly. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2024, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/750 "2024-11-25T16:03:46Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > For this reason, I NEVER use my high beams on this stretch of highway. It seems to me that you should use your high beams, and just be mindful about dipping/dimming them. You are much less likely to hit a deer (it whatever hazards are on your roads) if you do that. And the new card that do it automatically when they sense an oncoming vehicle are terrific. Although i don’t know if they work for pedestrians and dogs. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > But out on the burbs, i often encounter pedestrians on the road at night. Mostly they are walking their dogs. Some are standing around chatting with someone. But the way, i also encounter pedestrians who appear to be going someplace, but that’s mostly during the day. At night it’s mostly dog walkers and, for whatever reason, people just standing there shooting the breeze. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/751 "2024-11-25T16:21:04Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > A recent article in the AARP magazine advised that its constituents should use high beams whenever possible. I took issue with this statement. I might take issue, depending on what they meant by “whenever possible”. If I’m driving in an area that’s not well lit, I’ll use the high beams if I can. But I don’t use the high beams on brightly lit roads/streets even if there isn’t any other traffic for a mile in either direction. It’s possible to use the high beams then, but not necessary since the places I’m talking about are so brightly lit that it’s fairly common for people to not realize their headlights are off altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/752 "2024-11-25T16:22:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I don’t do chitchat if I can possibly avoid it, mainly because I’m not good at it and feel no obligation to engage in it. Pro-tip: as soon as the chitchat starts, look pained, and say, “Sorry, I’m trying really hard not to fart, and I have to concentrate.” Works everywhere, but especially in an elevator. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/753 "2024-11-25T16:33:52Z")
And sadly true at my age. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/754 "2024-11-25T18:03:12Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Pro-tip: as soon as the chitchat starts, look pained, and say, “Sorry, I’m trying really hard not to fart, and I have to concentrate.” Works everywhere, but especially in an elevator. I don’t mind chitchat. But I’m very hard of hearing. I’ve spent 18k on hearing aids. But I don’t wear them all the time. Just when I’m with my wife really. For work meetings I’ve got headsets and use CC. But chitchat can be hard for me, and the other person. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/755 "2024-11-25T18:28:31Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > For instance, if you were sitting in the break room reading a book, she wouldn’t ask _what_ you were reading, she’d say “Oh, reading a book?” Sorry, can’t resist: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EQNQqwFK-OM/hqdefault.jpg "Dinner at Eight - Last scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQNQqwFK-OM) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/756 "2024-11-25T18:32:24Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It’s possible to use the high beams then, but not necessary since the places I’m talking about are so brightly lit that it’s fairly common for people to not realize their headlights are off altogether. Yeah, where I live, it’s mostly so bright I could probably drive with my headlights off with no loss of vision…for me. All the talk of little villages is making me think of Miss Marple tottering around St. Mary Mead. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/757 "2024-11-25T18:40:08Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > You’re also far more likely to see a deer (or in some parts of the country elk) in time to avoid it, or at least to hit it at a much slower speed. Or, for that matter, a cat or dog or lots of other creatures; or a pedestrian or bicyclist or tractor or buggy running without lights or with insufficient lights; or the rare but not impossible cow or horse etc. loose in the road. Yes, if your high beams are blinding any of those you should dim them as soon as you see whoever you’re blinding – but it can matter a very great deal that you saw them before you dimmed the lights. Agreed; high beams are great for seeing things, but as soon as you realise those things have eyes, you should dip the beam. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/758 "2024-11-26T05:50:19Z")
When I was learning to drive, the high-beam switch was called the dip-switch… Apparently my experience was different than most here? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/759 "2024-11-26T07:45:28Z")
I haven’t managed to find an example, but I have a clear (possibly false) memory of seeing a car where the headlight control was labelled with the text ‘Dip/Dazzle’ This might have been on a car that was already out of production back in the 70s (which is when my memory insists it saw it) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/760 "2024-11-26T12:16:55Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > When I was learning to drive, the high-beam switch was called the dip-switch I’ve only ever heard the term “dip switch” used to refer to something completely different. > **[DIP switch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIP_switch)** > > A DIP switch is a manual electric switch that is packaged with others in a group in a standard dual in-line package (DIP). The term may refer to each individual switch, or to the unit as a whole. This type of switch is designed to be used on a printed circuit board along with other electronic components and is commonly used to customize the behavior of an electronic device for specific situations. > DIP switches are an alternative to jumper blocks. Their main advantages are that they are quicker t... > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > – to the left of the clutch pedal. A car with that setup was probably what used to be called a “standard” shift. I’ve only ever driven automatics, but at least one of them (from the 1970s) had the switch for the high beams on the floor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=37) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=39)