# Things You Do That Irritate Your Friends **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468 "2008-10-04T18:53:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/21 "2008-10-06T02:15:24Z")
> [@nevermore](#): > > I don’t answer my phone about half the time (for various reasons), and I refuse to set up my voicemail, because I HATE IT. They still make good old fashioned answering machines. You can pick one up for $20. I never answer the phone. I screen all my calls through the machine. I can hear them as they leave the message. If it is someone I want to talk to, I pick up. If I’m busy or don’t want to talk or it’s a telemarketer, I let them leave a message. A lot more useful to me than voicemail. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/22 "2008-10-06T02:19:23Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > I also get the redass from coworkers when I figure something out or streamline a process–what is up with that, anyway? I don’t get this one either. Some of my biggest on-going working environment problems (when I worked IT) were created when I innocently suggested ways to reduce processing time or streamline processes. When someone gives me a suggestion like that, I’m always “Hey, cool!” and I remember it as a positive learning experience. But way too many people act like you’ve pissed in their coffee over such things. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/23 "2008-10-06T05:02:24Z")
I make women cry. I can’t give a straight answer. (But then I feel that no one ever actually asks questions that can be satisfied with a simple answer). So my favorite answers are “sort of”, “kind of”, and “maybe”. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/24 "2008-10-06T14:08:04Z")
I don’t play coy. If you ask me if I need help in the kitchen, and I say, “No, thank you,” that is not a secret code word for “Yes, please come in and stand right behind me while I play with sharp knives and take hot pans out of the oven.” If you offer me a piece of cake, I will say either “yes” or “no,” which, surprisingly, means “yes” or no." If I offer _you_ a piece of cake and you say “no,” I will say “OK.” I will not say, “Oh, please, you must have some, I baked it myself, it’s sooo good, just a little piece, it’s low-fat, you’ll hurt my feelings if you don’t have any, I don’t want to have all these leftovers, I thought you liked my cooking, it’s just going to go to waste.” If you want to play a game, there’s Monopoly and Scrabble in the closet. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/25 "2008-10-06T16:11:26Z")
> [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](#): > > How so? About its healthiness or quality? I mean, I tease friends about eating “gross” stuff (like tomatoes…yeck) all the time. Some folks at work do this. I and a couple of Asian guys here are more likely to bring in banh mi or noodles or curry rather than sandwiches, and a couple of the older secretaries must comment on how “weird” and “yucky” our food choices are. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/26 "2008-10-06T19:31:30Z")
[ul] [li]I correct their grammar.[/li][li]I quote Shakespeare & Chaucer. Not a little, but a lot. (I’ve been known to have an entire conversation where everything I said was a quotation from Shakespeare.) (Okay, I also quote extensively from _Better Off Dead_–“Man, now that’s a real shame, folks be throwin’ away a perfectly good white boy” and _Radio Days_–“Hahk. I heah the cannons woah. Woah. I heah the cannons woah.” Okay. You get the picture. [/li][li]If I don’t feel like going out, I don’t go out, even if they’re all trying to lay a guilt trip on me about it.[/li][li]I tend to find a lot of things funny that most people don’t, which is why I’m the only one in the theatre laughing at odd lines here and there.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![BrknButterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BrknButterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrknButterfly)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/27 "2008-10-07T03:24:39Z")
I’m blunt and refuse to sugar coat anything with my friends. Don’t want to hear exactly what I think, then don’t ask. I talk to loud. People tell me to whisper and I try… my voice just doesn’t get the concept. No matter how much I try to get the paper in the recycle bin under my desk, a bunch always ends on the floor. Oh I’m sure there is more… I just can’t think of them. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/28 "2008-10-07T04:55:41Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Some folks at work do this. I and a couple of Asian guys here are more likely to bring in banh mi or noodles or curry rather than sandwiches, and a couple of the older secretaries must comment on how “weird” and “yucky” our food choices are. To clarify (so I won’t be judged negatively), it’s a two-way battle. My friends find my preferences equally unpleasant. Obviously they have no taste. ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/29 "2008-10-07T05:23:03Z")
> [@Some\_FNG](#): > > Speak out when remaining silent is the better option. Me, too, especially when I’m tired (which seems to be a lot lately). My daughter & family (daughter, son-in-law, and grandson Angelboy) are staying until they get back on their feet. Tensions occasionally run high, so I’ve been biting my tongue quite a bit lately. Love, Phil ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/30 "2008-10-07T05:26:56Z")
I tend to give WAAAY too much information about myself to my friends. They probably don’t want to know everything about me but I can’t help it. My boyfriend is much worse about this kind of thing than I am so we tend to say very inappropriate things and only realize it afterwards. I talk very loudly. I have a partial hearing loss and I can’t really hear myself so I have to be shushed by the people around me, though in all fairness I am getting better about this as time goes on. I am a solver. It is difficult for me to have people tell me what is wrong in their lives and just sympathize, I always have to offer solutions to their problems. I have to bite my tongue sometimes to keep from doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Demonica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Demonica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demonica)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468/31 "2008-10-07T17:13:33Z")
> [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](#): > > Low-self esteem, ironically. Me , too. I’m sure they get tired of my self-doubt and I try not to advertise it. But…they know. I have a 38 year old body (39 on Thursday…urk!), a 22 year old mind, and the sense of humor of a 14 year old boy. Farts? Bwahahhaha! I’m sure my neverending stream of jokes once I have a few gets old, and some are pretty gross. But I don’t care. Gotta be me! I’m bad about calling people back. I hate talking on the phone. Email or facebook, please! I’m 15 minutes early for everything in my life, and I expect punctuality from others. It grates on me to wait for the same people over, and over, and over… **Sigmagirl** : and what you said. Exactly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-irritate-your-friends/466468.md?page=1)