Thursday, September 16, 2004

Ten Things That Drive Me Crazy

Everybody has been doing assignments and lists and whatnot.  I've been in a rather testy mood the last few days, so I thought I would share with everyone this list of things that drive me nuts (or would if I wasn't already nuts...)

  • Laundry products that come with an oversized lid to use for measuring the amount you need…then you find out that way down inside the cap, where you can barely see it (and forget seeing it at all if you’re over forty) is the "fill line." So, as the soap company undoubtedly planned, you have been using twice as much of the product as you need, therefore having to buy it twice as often as necessary.
  • Those, "Can you hear me now?" Verizon Wireless commercials…since most of the time the answer to that question on MY Verizon phone is, "What? I can’t hear you. Stand still…"
  • Customers who walk up to my counter, point at one of my pastries, and ask: "Are those any good?"
  • "Full service" gas stations (we don’t have self-service gas here in Oregon) where they make you get out of the car and go into the building to pay for your gas. (Undoubtedly to increase their chances of selling you some of their incredibly overpriced merchandise in the convenience store…)
  • When all the crap that my husband stashes on his sun visor in his car pelts down on my head when I pull the visor down to use it…causing me the double traffic challenge of trying to fend off falling pamphlets while being blinded by the sun.
  • Hairballs. ‘Nuf said.
  • Hairspray, make-up, hand lotion, or some other messy fluid leaking all over everything else in my overnight bag.
  • Campground showers (or hotel showers, or ANY showers) that go from scalding to freezing to scalding again, without ever finding a bearable temperature in between.
  • Drivers on the winding roads to the coast, who slow downto 35 mph for every curve, hill, and bump in the road on the two-lane, floor the gas pedal to 75 mph the minute the road widens to four lanes to permit cars to pass them…and then literally SLAM on their brakes as soon as the passing lane comes to an end.

And, last but not least, my ULTIMATE pet peeve...  (Drumroll, please.......)

  • The forgotten art of the use of the apostrophe in the English language. Apostrophes show possession. They show contraction. They ARE NOT used in the formation of plural words. And of course, the exception that makes the rule---the word "its" as in, "Belonging to it," does NOT have an apostrophe. "It’s" means, "It is…" They taught us this in grade school grammar class… In fact, first through eighth grades USED to be referred to as "grammar school." I'm afraid it's no accident that this term has gone by the wayside...

14 comments:

  1. excellent list!

    sorry to hear you're feeling testy, but can see how the items you've listed could be contributing to that feeling. i'm shocked that there is no self-serv gas pumping in oregon. i had no idea self-serv wasn't in all the states. in addition to the apostrophe thing, the general disinterest in spelling words correctly makes me nuts. i call companies/businesses, etc. when i see incorrect spellings on their signs...some indicate appreciation and will fix the error (like a church i called last december to tell them their sign had christmas spelled wrong!), but most act like i'm just nuts. the attitude is generally as long as i could figure out what the word is supposed to be, why does it matter to me?

    it just does.

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  2. Oh God Lisa, where do I start?

    1.   Text speak on mobile phones.  Loathe and despise it.  My niece even writes her emails that way.  No wonder young people can't spell.

    2.   Shop names, brand names etc., that purposely mispell words such as foto. No wonder young people can't spell.

    3.   Sales people turning up at my door or telephoning me and ignoring the fact that I am saying no!

    4.   Hair in the plughole...ugh!

    5.   Hospital programmes being televised at mealtimes.  Breakfast, lunch or dinner, they're always cutting someone open.

    6.   People who think they own the roads.

    7.   Speed camera's.

    8.   Speeding fines.

    9.   Parking attendants.

    10. Parking fines.

    11. The constant thud of loud music, either from parties in the street or passing cars.  How do people here themselves think?  

    12. And of course my number 1 pet hate....Pigs!!!  :-D

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  3. Um, Lisa, have you been reading my journal so long that you're turning into ME???  Love this.  I think my favorite is the customers who walk up and ask "Are those any good?"  Good God that must drive you crazy!

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  4. LOL I couldn't BELIEVE what was involved in buying gas in Oregon!  What an ordeal -- talk about a full-employment law!  Three people involved in filling one little tank (not including me)!

    The apostrophe thing drive's me nut's, too.  Usually I keep my mouth shut; I am a terrible typist and it sometimes take's me day's to get one of my journal entry's cleaned up, so I try not to be too judgmental.   Its too bad that so few people know what to do with a grammar book and it's rules.

    I tell my 8th and 9th graders that proper use of the apostrophe will have great bearing on their employability one day.  Unfortunately I'm lying since it's almost a lost art.  I'm afraid that an apostrophe rant sounds like our own English teachers' rants over the use of the word "hopefully."  

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  5. Good gosh, I forgot that you mentioned that during lunch the other day!   I am going to check my use of apostrophes in my journal right now!  I'd hate to lose you as a friend over repeatedly causing you irritation with your ultimate pet peeve!  LOL

    And....I love Oregon's gas stations.  Compared to here, they're wonderful! (Hey...check out those apostropes, will ya?)  LOL, Lisa

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  6. Wow, no self-service?  I think I've only used a full service gas station once in my whole life, and I was almost out of gas so I didn't dare take the time to look for a self-service station!

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  7. Ooohh what a rant! Let's see. I hate the word "Let's" Is it a real word? Am I using it wrong? I mean "Let us" but I'm too lazy to write it out. While I'm at it I also hate "used" and "supposed." I never know when I should use the past tense. And, to make matters worse, I hated grammar classes. Mapping sentences and what-not. I must really drive you crazy. LOL :-) ---Robbie

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  8. "Are these any good?"  Good God that's rich.  You could become the pastry Nazi over that one and just say "Not for you they're not -  NEXT!"  Very nice rants.  I am particular in agreement over the Pig one.  Specifically, how about women who refuse to behave like human beings in public restrooms?  Ew.  Just eew.

    http://www.millicentfrastley.blogspot.com

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  9. Hey, have you read that book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves?"  It's a best seller--very amusing book about punctuation, and they do cover apostrophes and commas.  I'm sure you'd enjoy it.  I enjoy people who care about apostrophes.  lol

    PS.  I don't know why I haven't been receiving the alerts when you update. :-/  

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  10. I think your ultimate is my ultimate.  I am seriously considering taking some journals off my list because my blood pressure rises so-o-o-o high.  How tough is that rule to remember?  dang it!  I ranted way back:

    http://journals.aol.com/mae120866/1stPersonPOV/entries/508

    and again, in entry 520-- by request!

    ~~mumsy

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  11. You were Catholic educated, it makes a difference.  I am grammar and spelling challenged, and my syntax is terrible...but I think I am pretty good with an apostrophe.  ...sigh!

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  12. Hi Lisa,
    I love this entry! And the Verizon commercial is one of the most irritating ones out there. Then you have everybody repeating it, like it suppose to be funny.....not! Errrrr. Also the thing about pointing to your pastries-"Are those good?". Wouldn't you like to say just once, "Uh no, actually I work my a-- off for hours and hours just so they tast like crap." We have those kind of intelligent people that come into the restauraunt too and say things like "Is the coffee hot?" or "What's prime rib?". I actually told a lady once that prime rib was chicken.....she believed me.

    Thanks for the great entry in your journal,
    Gayla

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  13. I haven't managed to teach the apostrophe thing to the girls.Its and It's always confused me...but I usually get it right. How about the apostrophe outside, for plurals? Like the girls' toys (meaning belonging to more than one girl).

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  14. We have full service gas in NJ too, no self serve allowed by law.......but I've never been to a gas station in this state that makes you get out of your car to pay! That would drive me nuts!

    ~jerseygirl
    http://journals.aol.com/cneinhorn/WonderGirl  

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