-
Porn. I like porn and built half my business when I was a freelancer on writing it. I don’t write as much as I used to anymore, but I still like it. And so does my husband.
-
Jokes at my expense (in other words, a lot of people get offended when you tease them)
-
Most things that are not politically correct, though even I have limits.
-
Healthy food at dinner parties. Yeah, I know not everyone is on a diet, but is a diet a requirement of eating healthy food?
-
Like Atomicflea, I don’t mind if people tell my child to knock it off if he’s being a pest because he should know when he’s annoying people. I do my best to be on hand when such a situation should occur, but sometimes others get to it a half second before I do. And good for them.
-
Not protecting kids’ self esteem. No, you shouldn’t berate your children over everything. And you should show them the same courtesy you’d show others. But, if my kid is doing poorly in school, he should damn well get an F - regardless of what color it’s marked in - because he’ll need to know and I’ll need to know if he’s not performing well so we can get him help if he needs it or reassess his habits.
-
Eating with your hands. I do like good, neat table manners, but eating neatly with your hands is just as possible as eating neatly with a fork. And sometimes it’s just plain necessary.
-
People speaking in other languages around me, even if I don’t understand them. I’m often shocked by how many people go to another country and get annoyed by people speaking their freaking native language in their own country. My husband’s family speaks Gujarait around me and I’m very glad they do because how the heck am I ever supposed to learn Gujarati or any other language if everyone’s speaking English?
I’ve been reading this thread trying to think of what does offend me.
I can’t think of anything that I can’t handle, so my answer is also nothing, or in the words of one Wm. Axl Rose “I don’t worry 'bout nothing no, 'cause worrys a waste of my…time”.
I used to be the only non-Jewish member of the Jewish Community Center tennis team. The guys would tell Jewish jokes, and then apologize to me. First I thought this was weird. Then I realized that I was the only one getting uncomfortable with this.
These guys made lots of jokes about the Jews controlling the media, finance, retail and the government. I don’t think they realized what a deadly serious problem this is. I grew up in a Muslim country. These conspiracy theories are no joke. They give rise to genocidal movements.
In 9 years of working at a welfare office, I am somehow no longer offended by the following:
-
Tattoos and piercings. Hell, some of my co-workers have them. One of the clerks has a beautiful tattoo on her upper arm of her late niece’s name surrounded by blue sky and clouds and stars. Well, actually, I was never really offended by tattoos so much, but sometimes I’d get scared being in the same room as someone with a gangster-style tattoo. I was terrified of saying or doing something to piss them off.
-
The occasional swear word. It still grates on me when I hear someone whose sentences consist of more than 50% cuss words, though. In the words of my former neighbor, “Will you watch your fucking language?”
-
Moms breastfeeding in public. I’ve had participants who, in the middle of a interview, upon hearing their baby cry, pick up the kid, pop a boob out, and start feeding the kid without missing a beat. I politely keep my eyes on the lady’s face and continue the interview.
-
Really really fat people. Again, I work with some of them. I wish they would care about their health more, but, being overweight myself, know I have no room to complain.
Something that never really offended me in the first place: Flamboyant gay men and butch lesbians. I knew some of each in college, including the girl who lived in J. Crew men’s clothes and smoked cigars, and the guy who danced to house music he played on his tape deck in the quad. I wish other people would realize that we are all human beings, no matter who we love.
- People cutting in front of me in a line
- Being expected to come to work during a weekend
- People stealing my pens and post-its.
- If it gets too hot or cold at work.
I thought long and hard about this too, and I also asked other people I know. Apart from an aesthetic dislike, I couldnt get anything. Why makeup needs to be put on at home, I guess we will never know…
I don’t care if someone’s putting on makeup on a train (or anywhere else) but maybe the next step from doing makeup is assumed to be something that drives me around the bend: people clipping their finger or toenails on the train. NOT acceptable.
The same here. Very little bothers me, getting annoyed just puts unnecessary strain on my heart and raises blood pressure, so why do it? I wonder if some people try to take offence at things sometimes.
Oh, hypocrisy, especially religious hypocrisy (better mention that one before someone reminds me with a well-timed link!). If you’re going to go around telling other people how to live their lives and generally making things difficult for people at least have the good grace to practice what you preach.