# 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:** 79
**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:** [April 24, 2025, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1561 "2025-04-24T12:00:41Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > I still remember my home phone number in the small Zimbawean town where I grew up: 3915. > > I have trained my kids (and probably my ex has too) to remember her 10 digit cell number, and they know their home address. As I said above, I still remember a couple of my friends’ phone numbers from high school, 40 + years ago. We had our kids memorize my wife’s and my cell phone numbers from when they were young, although when we went to the zoo we wrote them down on their hands. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1562 "2025-04-24T12:14:21Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Do people still do that? I’m only half joking. I still remember my friends’ phone numbers from high school but I don’t remember anyone’s now. Depends on the number - some numbers I have only ever used from my cell and I don’t have them memorized. That would be some doctors, the pharmacy and some friends/relatives. Other phone numbers I have used since before cell phones existed and I have those memorized - the doctor’s office I’ve been using since 1988, other friends/relatives. I memorized phone numbers at work - but that was in large part because I didn’t use a cell phone when I was at my office. I know my cell phone number and my husband’s and the kids - but that’s a combo of needing to give them out and seeing them on the bills. Now, if I could just figure out why I still remember the phone numbers of people I haven’t called in nearly 45 years (including people who were only in my life a year or two) or the phone number I had for less than a year 35 years ago. ---
**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 24, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1563 "2025-04-24T16:07:54Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Do you know your cell number? I certainly know mine. > > And I certainly knew my phone number at work. (I retired about 8 years ago.) I do know my cell number, because if asked for my phone number that’s the one I supply 99% of the time. I don’t have my work number memorized because I use it so rarely. For calling coworkers we use Teams, which uses their actual name, not their phone number. The only people who might ever need to call me using my work phone number are people from outside the company, and in my work I don’t typically need to talk to people outside the company. The only times I might ever need to supply my work number are if I’m filling out some form that asks for it. ---
**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 24, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1564 "2025-04-24T16:16:45Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > The only people who might ever need to call me using my work phone number are people from outside the company, and in my work I don’t typically need to talk to people outside the company. I dealt with outside sales rep and others outside the company regularly, so I often gave out my work number. But if you don’t deal with external folks, then I understand why you might not know it. Put the number in a text file on your desktop! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1565 "2025-04-24T16:25:54Z")
I have to be careful when giving out my work phone number. My number is one digit different from the PD non-emergency line and one digit different from Animal Control. So I’m constantly giving out those numbers. (I’m sorry, the number you want is . . .). If I’m not careful, I’ll give out the Animal Control number because that’s the one I say the most. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1566 "2025-04-24T17:31:06Z")
The lack of a proper queue system for getting a self-checking register at Walmart will occasionally piss me off. This has happened on multiple occasions: there are _two_ rows of self-checking registers in front of me. Each row has three registers, and each is occupied. I am waiting to the back of - and _between_ - the rows, ready to snag the next one (of the six) that is free. After two to three minutes, I notice a register in the left lane is about to be free. Oh, goody! But then someone walking behind me also notices this, gets in the left lane, and instantly snags the free register. 😣 ---
**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:** [April 24, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1567 "2025-04-24T17:32:37Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I have to be careful when giving out my work phone number. My number is one digit different from the PD non-emergency line and one digit different from Animal Control. So I’m constantly giving out those numbers. (I’m sorry, the number you want is . . .). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-pzRqc022tA/maxresdefault.jpg "Hyacinth's Best "Chinese Takeaway" Moments | Keeping Up Appearances") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pzRqc022tA) ---
**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:** [April 24, 2025, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1568 "2025-04-24T17:54:22Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I still remember my friends’ phone numbers from high school but I don’t remember anyone’s now. I can still remember my grandmother’s phone number from the 50s. It was GR9-3939. The phone number we had during my childhood was VE9-7139. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2025, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1569 "2025-04-24T19:14:17Z")
That’s when I’d speak out and loudly say “Excuse me! There is a line!” The way I’ve always seen it at any store with multiple self checkouts is one line forms behind all the self checkouts, and each person goes to the next open one as the line moves up. It’s not a line for each separate register. ---
**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 24, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1570 "2025-04-24T19:50:55Z")
i HATE WHEN i TYPE A WHOLE LINE OF CONTENT AND LOOK UP ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT i HAVE CAPSLOCK ON. ETA: and this wasn’t even what I was going to complain about. It just happened and so I rewrote it to complain about it. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1571 "2025-04-25T00:17:17Z")
The Caps key is in a terrible place, IMO. It’s rarely used, and adjacent to a key that’s commonly used (Shift). I accidently hit the damn Caps key all the time. ---
**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 25, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1572 "2025-04-25T00:22:40Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The Caps key is in a terrible place, IMO. It’s rarely used, and adjacent to a key that’s commonly used (Shift). Great point. And it’s also between the Shift key and the Tab key, which is used a lot during data entry. ---
**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 25, 2025, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1573 "2025-04-25T05:18:21Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The Caps key is in a terrible place, IMO. It’s rarely used, and adjacent to a key that’s commonly used (Shift). That placement is pretty much just a legacy from old manual typewriters, where it was the Shift Lock key – It literally held down the Shift key, so it had to be right above it. There’s no reason for it to be there now, but we just don’t want to give up the old typewriter keyboard layout. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1574 "2025-04-26T15:19:12Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I don’t know why they stick, and haven’t had the energy to be bothered with close inspection. > But this happens all the time! Typically there are three or four sets of nested carts near the door at my supermarket, and it is not unusual that the first cart in at least two of the sets of carts is stuck. I think I do know why they stick - reason already given in thread. But I think it’s because we’re supposed to pull them out by the handle but (at least at Walmarts around here), they are pushed in from the other end by machine and so the basket in faces us, not the handle in. I never (or almost never) have had an issue at the smaller stores where they are in racks and the shopper grabs the handle to get one. Does that match anyone else’s experience? > [@](#): > > I wish the makers of Back to the Future would edit the film to make one minor change: correct the pronunciation of gigawatt. But leave everything else alone! I read one that both pronunciations used to be common, but I have no idea if that’s true. ---
**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 26, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1575 "2025-04-26T16:44:26Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > I never (or almost never) have had an issue at the smaller stores where they are in racks and the shopper grabs the handle to get one. Does that match anyone else’s experience? Absolutely not. At my local Kroger’s, the carts are pushed in as you describe. But I often encounter jammed carts. I believe it’s because they are ‘chained’ together while being brought in from the cart corrals in the parking lot. It’s not unusual to see 15 or 20 carts being brought in by an employee, with a strap of some sort holding them together. And I think it’s during this time that carts get jammed. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2025, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1576 "2025-04-27T17:59:25Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I accidently hit the damn Caps key all the time. I have my work PC set so that it beeps when the Caps Lock key is pressed - one tone for on, and a different tone for off. It’s useful, but the tones get to be very annoying, too. ---
**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 27, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1577 "2025-04-27T20:14:18Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Saturday evening I wanted to rent a movie from Amazon Prime Video. I thought I had some of those promotional credits from choosing “no rush” shipping on some past purchases, but Amazon said I didn’t have any credits. After doing a little digging it looks like all my credits expired on March 31. Dammit, I could have saved like $4 if I’d rented that movie two weeks ago, but now I had to pay full price, and I effectively got nothing in return for choosing the slower shipping. Why can’t Amazon send me an email to remind my that my credits are about to expire? (I know, because they don’t actually want me to use those credits). Returning to this, I just realized I could have watched that movie for free by signing up for a free trial of MGM+ and then canceling after I finished watching it. Why didn’t I think of that at the time? (Probably because I had already clicked on the rental option assuming I had promotional credits that would cover it. Once I realized I didn’t the idea to go back and sign up for the free trial didn’t occur to me). ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2025, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1578 "2025-04-28T10:51:37Z")
Mrs. Boo Kay. ---
**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:** [April 28, 2025, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1579 "2025-04-28T11:06:19Z")
Last night I had to pick up some stuff at Acme and I had an opportunity to test theories of Shopping Cart Jamming. Without lingering long enough to draw unwanted attention to myself, I tested a few carts until I found one that was jammed. The cause was already mentioned upthread: when you shove a cart into the back of the next cart in order to nest them, the back wall flips up. Then, if you continue forcing the carts together, the flipped-up back can sometimes drop down a skosh, now inside your cart. The flipped-up back of the stationary cart acts like the barb of a fish hook as your cart goes in, flipping down into your cart just enough to prevent extraction. To solve the problem, reach in and flip up the now-horizontal back section of the stationary cart enough to clear the front of your cart. It’s an interesting problem to solve, and if you put a few moments of thought to it, you will realize that they can’t simply taper the cart one way or another to prevent this. In order to prevent this there would need to be some kind of stop that would prevent letting one cart go completely inside the next…stopping it an inch shy of where the stationary cart’s back can flip down inside the new cart. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1580 "2025-04-28T14:39:38Z")
McDonalds. This has happened to both my wife and I at different locations in different cities. Me - "I’d like an egg McMuffin with regular bacon instead of sausage or Canadian bacon " McD’s - “We only have a sausage McMuffins” Me - “Do you have regular bacon?” McD’s - “Yes” Me - “Do you have an Egg McMuffin?” McD’s - “Yes” Me - “Can you put regular bacon on an Egg McMuffin?” McD’s - “Yes” Me - "Umm…What’s the problem ??? " McD’s - “Please drive forward and order” You have to _specifically_ order a Sausage McMuffin and _ **substitute** _ regular bacon for sausage, that’s how you **must** order it. Can’t order a McMuffin with bacon. Otherwise, it throws McD’s into a complete tizzy. I feel like Jack Nicolson in Five Easy Pieces. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=80)