In our last group blog, we shared with you, our dear readers some of our favorite travel memories. This time, we're giving equal time to some of those pesky sources of Mayhem in our lives - our pet peeves.
Rules of the grocery aisle, buddy …
Mary Kay Roth
Inane, I know. Honestly, I don’t know why this annoys me so much.
But when someone blocks the grocery store aisle with their cart, my blood pressure rises a notch or two.
Rules of the road, buddy. Basic grocery store etiquette.
There was actually a theory that went viral a few years ago theorizing an individual’s moral character could be determined by whether they chose to return a shopping cart to its designated spot – or not.
No way. I would base moral fiber on blocking the aisle.
– I at least imagine they are self-centered creatures unaware of anyone else.
And there’s no good solution. I’ve tried clearing my throat. Hint, hint. Asking them politely to move their cart. However, a grocery store road hog almost inevitably wears earphones.
So, these days I generally just slide their cart to the side. And quietly move on. (“Oink, oink.”)
***
Its or It's?
by Marilyn Moore
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It’s a little
thing. But it drives me crazy. It’s or its?
That pesky apostrophe…. Most of us learned in some English class at some time that an apostrophe is used for two purposes, either to show possession or to indicate a contraction. And that rule works nearly 100% of the time. Mary’s car wasn’t damaged in the hailstorm. The apostrophe in Mary’s indicates possession; Mary owns the car. The apostrophe in wasn’t indicates a contraction, was not.
But the exception, oh, the exception. The only time it’s is the appropriate form to use is to indicate a contraction, it’s for it is or it has, as in, “It’s been a rainy month of May.” Its, all by itself, with no apostrophe, indicates possession, as in, “The car still belongs to its original owner, purchased some forty years ago.”
I realize that autocorrect will get this incorrect some of the time; it’s happened to me, sometimes after pressing Publish or sending the email. How embarrassing! And I recognize it’s not a big deal to probably most of the reading world. Still, it rankles my proofreader’s heart, especially when the error is in a published work, like a newspaper or a novel. Or a huge sale sign in a window. Or on a billboard….
I also recognize I live a pretty privileged life if this is life’s annoyance that most irritates me.
***
A
Quandry...
By Mary
Reiman
Is there etiquette for texting?
Two questions: Who has the last word in a text conversation? And how many abbreviations should I be using?I send a text message asking a question. A reply arrives.
Do I acknowledge that reply
or do I simply stop the conversation?
I have the answer to my
question, but is it rude to not say THX (Thank You)?
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Should the conversation stop
now? Or do I send a smiley face? If so, a thumbs up appears.
Is that the end? YNK (You never know). Definitely IDK (I Don’t Know). It’s a quandry...
***
Pet peeves and broken cheese
By
JoAnne Young
We all have lots of peeves, those small things that show up just often enough to annoy us. When they become pets, we just have to yap about them ... which in turn may agitate someone else.
I find that many of my peeves are ones that originate with me. Like the Northern Lights that everyone in Lincoln seemed to see but me, despite how I spent hours on a Saturday and Sunday night driving northward, my eyes on the horizon, and never saw them, n.e.v.e.r. “Look, is that them? That glow, is it greenish or is that just the city lights? Aren’t they supposed to be bright and brilliant? Oh, well.”
I’m annoyed by the gravel that finds its way into my shoes, those itty-bitty rocks that bug me with every step. But I keep walking on the same gravel paths.
It irritates me when I get sucked into watching Instagram reels on my phone. I could be reading Mary Oliver poems or sleeping or writing letters or meditating. But no, I’m watching cats push things off counters and chickens dance and parents crack eggs on their kids’ foreheads and David and Moira: “The next step is to fold in the cheese.” "What does that mean? What does fold in the cheese mean?”
I'll stop now. Best of peeves to you all!
***
By Penny Costello
There are plenty of things that will leave me feeling
peevish. It’s hard to nail it down to one top pet peeve. So, I’ll briefly share
two that are certainly close, if not at the top of my list. Second from the top
are those drivers who do not signal their intentions to exit a roundabout. Is
it that hard to use your turn signal to communicate to other drivers where you’re
headed? Do I really need to sit here at a full stop wondering what you’re
thinking until you decide which way you’re going??? I guess one good thing that
has come from my irritation is that I have developed a very consistent habit of
using my turn signal when I’m leaving the roundabout. So, I suppose I
should thank those noncommunicative nitwits for helping me to become a better
driver. Maybe later…
Another thing that puts me in a major peeve is when I’m
reading posts on social media, and very often when I peruse the comments,
someone will pose a question or comment that clearly shows they didn’t bother to read any of the other
comments in the thread, because if they had, they would see that their question
had been answered or their sentiment duplicated in the comments posted above theirs.
Come on! The comments thread is the social media equivalent of
a conversation. Read the comments and participate in the conversation! Seeing
your question that was answered before you posted it, or your duplicated comment just says to me that your time is too
important to invest in fully participating in the conversation, but all the
rest of us will surely be enriched by reading what you have to say, even when we’ve
read it two, three, or five times already further up in the thread.
Okay. Enough of my peeving. Thanks for ‘listening’ (and, yes, it can be used as a verb. Look it up.)
***
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@5 Women Mayhem
You may be the kindest folks in our community. (But I already knew that!) Reading about your peeves was a great way to begin the week! if these are peeves ~ There's hope in the world!
ReplyDeleteMy peeve is misuse of their, they’re and there, along with it’s/its.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all of your voices.
ReplyDeleteCan you please write about the number of folks in Lincoln holding their phones, chatting while driving, and not driving well? Most often I note that they are driving a car made in the last 4 years, which means there is hands-free technology in said vehicle, but they aren't using it! 🤔
ReplyDelete