Oh, I just thought of one: people who smoke while doing a reasonably demanding sport or physical activity. Like on my morning commute, I see other cyclists smoking as they ride their bikes, and I shit you not, once saw a jogger with a lit cigarette in his mouth.
It’s just too weird and makes my brain all assplodey!
FWIW, babies of both genders traditionally have their ears pierced soon after birth in Hindu families. The only reason I didn’t is because my brother wouldn’t let my parents do the same.
I used to smoke while playing rec-league flag football. The referees used to get mad, and anxiously scan the rulebook, and always had to let me continue when they realized it wasn’t prohibited.
This is true.
“My little boy has had to have anoperation because of cancer.”
“Oh, bless his poor little heart! I hope he heals quickly and the cancer doesn’t come back.”
See? Doesn’t mean “fuck you” at all in that context.
YES! I used to get crucified for complaining about this to friends. I guess my mistake was not being annoyed by picky eaters, it was being such a loudmouth about my contempt :o
If you tell me a story I KNOW is an urban legend, and are unswayed when I tell you its likely a frabrication, I’ve lost a bit of respect for you. Its one thing to be initially fooled, but if being presented a different side doesn’t give you a shred of skepticism, something is wrong, in my opinion.
People who have to get around in huge motorized scooters because they’re too damn fat :mad: . At my work, I have met two kinds of super obese people. Those that are really trying to regain their mobility (minority) and those who just don’t seem to give a damn. You can probably guess which type I generally have to deal with at work :dubious:
Aw, you got me started. Remember this is “stupid things,” though, not rational things or justifiable things.
I have an off-brand MP3 player, and have never had an ipod, and probably never will, mostly because I’m stubborn and contrary, and I am irrationally miffed about “ipod” becoming the generic term for an mp3 player in the first place. Yes, it needs a shorter name, I’m just irked that it was a specific brand name that won.
I also live in the Bay area and am surrounded by geeks, gadget freaks, fervent mac fan boys, and yuppies (some subset of which I am myself, which only makes me more sensitive to their mores,) and I get eye-rolley about well-to-do hipsters picking the most conspicuous ways possible to enjoy their newest toys, waiting for their neighbor at the bar to fawn “OH is that the newest IPHONE!? How do you LIKE it?” “Hold on, I’m getting a call on my IPHONE, let me turn off my IPOD for a second…”
I still find the post-punk rock-n-roll low-key matte black and metal aesthetic in electronics vastly preferable to this new high-gloss white plastic aesthetic that Apple has popularized: it rubs me the wrong way taste-wise, like white denim jeans or frosted tips. What can I say, I’m getting old and set in my ways and have no sense of fashion. So I already have a mild issue with people who would deliberately pick a white ipod over the myriad of other colors available.
Which reprises point 2 above: buying a white ipod makes it very clear that it’s an IPOD, dammit, not some knock-off brand nor heaven forfend a mere cd player that person has in his coat pocket, not only that but they’re still either using the in-box earbuds, which are certainly adequate but hardly anything to write home about, or if they had the discriminating aural preference to buy a better set, deliberately bought white replacement earbuds just to maintain conspicuousness.
So the white earbuds are simultaneously an affront to my aesthetic framework, a conspicuous status symbol, and an implication of concern with design over quality – or so the angry voice that mutters inside my head during an early-morning commute thinks, anyway. I apologize in advance to everyone who finds this a stupid thing they can think less of me for.
You are totally entitled to your rant and your opinion.
But I did want to point out that you get white earbuds no matter which color iPod you buy. I bought a black one specifically because it was more lowkey, and got white earbuds anyway. And I am too stinking cheap to buy replacement earbuds because I don’t like the color. (Yes, I know that an iPod isn’t cheap in the first place, but I am hoping it will last a long time. Quality over quantity. We’ll see.)
Feel free to lose respect for me because of my cheapness and non-discriminating aural taste, though. 
You’d be so right!
I’d bet Apple isn’t too keen on this, either. They won’t want to run the risk of losing the trademark to generic usage.
Oooh, yeah- I hate that and I could never be friends with someone that did that. If one of my current friends did that, I’d drop her like she was hot.
I find this irritating too. I have to add something I saw today that is just the worst example of this I’ve ever seen.
I’m sitting at light behind a Volvo (so they MUST be kinda sensible) SUV (Well, maybe not) and checking out what bumperstickers, etc. they have.
The only thing is a window cling in the upper right hand corner that lets you know that Blahblah Intermediate School Choir member (with a beamed note) in on board. And her name, which I originally read as:
ALEXA smudgeybit 12
I’m thinking, “Well, that’s odd. I’ve never seen a number in a kid’s name on one of those things for a choir. Maybe a team sport? Hmmm…”
So I kept looking at it and realized that it said “ALEXA’IZ”
ALEXA’IZ?
That is how you spell Alexis? Or even (maybe) Alexas? Or even <gagging slightly> Alexus? Do you WANTyour daughter to hate you?
I was able to pull up next to them at the light and I had to stare. The most normal surburban mom and daughter I’ve ever seen. Mom was smiling at whatever Alex’iz was saying.
I’ve heard some pretty ENTIRELY made up names, where I thought “well, it’s different, but it is pretty!” I’ve never seen a spelling that amazingly effed up.
I thought only Ted McGinley did that.
Is that like “jackal de ville” (puppy dog)?
re: the white iPod earbuds: I got the standard white earbuds when I bought my (aqua) iPod Nano. The round earbuds hurt my ears, so my sister’s dog chewing them up was the perfect excuse to replace them with more comfortable, not to mention cheaper, Sony earbuds with little clear aqua plastic bits to match my iPod. Not being pretentious, just didn’t want achy ears and the fact they matched was a bonus. Otherwise I don’t care what earbuds look like as long as I can hear from them and they don’t make my ears hurt.
Also, the “Moccona my Moccona” post just made me think of this guy (girl?) sitting in a hamper and occasionally calling out “Puu!” (the noise Mokona traditionally makes)
Women who wear rings on every finger and six or seven bangles/bracelets on each wrist. It just looks tacky.
People who walk around the street, shopping centre or stores stuffing food down their gullets. It’s gross to watch and they usually manage to spill crumbs or burger filling while they’re wandering around.
I thought of another one, regurgitate talking points from Fox News. It’s been shown again and again to not only slanted, but not infrequently manufactured. When someone does that, I just know we won’t have much of a future as friends.
People who claim they couldn’t live without their cell phones.
I’ll admit to some old fogey-ness re: the above. When I went through high school and college, there was no internet, only total geeks had computers at home, nobody had cell phones or iPods or Blackberry or Nintendo Wii. There wasn’t even telephone registration for college.
Now I teach at one, and the students can’t wait to get out the door on a break or when class is over so they can get on the phone as fast as they can.
How did we geezers ever survive?
In Graduate School, my associates and I carried tin cans with string.
It was a bitch in a crowd.
Poor spelling and misuse of words. I KNOW, is not always an indicator of ignorance/stupidity (hell, I do it myself from time to time, and some of the brightest, best people I know are hideous spellers and sometimes use words improperly) but it is my, somewhat irrational, bias. I read personal ads in my local weekly rags for fun (honestly…I cannot imagine hooking up with ANY of these people) and there was one last week which was otherwise very well done BUT contained the error “seeking my SOLE mate”. I literally cringed. I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt; perhaps the paper had screwed up, perhaps the guy has a shoe/foot fetish and used it properly, but MAN, what a turn off for me. Same with someone who writes “your” when they mean “you’re” or vice verce. :smack:
And I once worked with a woman who didn’t know that a whale wasn’t a fish. I must admit, I lost a LOT of respect for her when that came out. Same for the co-worker who thought Tylenol PREVENTED or CURED illness in her child. How is this degree of ignorance possible nowadays?
This too. I lived for decades w/o a cell phone, and only rarely use the one I have now. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a marvelous invention, but 1. I find the excessive use of them disgusting and 2. yes, you CAN live w/o it. Hell, the human race lived without indoor plumbing for most of its history…give me a BREAK! :rolleyes:
Another vote for poor spelling and/or grammar.
People who chew gum with their mouths open. HATE!
Women who wear a ton of makeup to the gym.
YES! That and the window sticker of Calvin peeing on Chevy/Ford/Red Sox/Yankees or anything else.
