It bugs me when...

So I was all prepared to do a post on pet peeves, but then as I was brainstorming I realized that most of these things actually mildly bug me more than being full blown pet peeves, so I altered my path a bit.

These pretty much speak for themselves, though, as usual, I have provided a little context as to where I'm coming from. Here goes nothing...

It bugs me when...

... women don't clean up their pee on the toilet seat. If you must hover so your bum doesn't touch the public seat (as most of us with a vagina do) try to aim. If you have splatter issues you just can't control, please do your part and clean up after yourself. No one wants to see that.

... people treat escalators as if they are rides at an amusement park. Union Station is not Disney World. Most of us have places to be, especially during rush hour. If you're not in a hurry and/or are too lazy to walk the steps as they are propelling you upward, do the rest of us a favor and stay to the right so I can get to where I need to be on time. Your group can stand to go single-file for the entirely of 30 seconds that you're on the escalator so you're not holding the rest of us up.

... restaurants charge for extra condiments. I paid $7 for that salad, you can certainly afford to give me an extra couple ounces of dressing to put a smile on my face. Whatever happened to the customer is always right?

... I have to wear glasses behind the computer. Which has basically become all the time. I put them on in the morning and don't take them off till I get off the train (because by the end of the day I have to have them on just to read my book on the way home). Sigh.

... I can hear someone chewing. This has always bugged me, I don't know why. It's just gross.

... people who sit next to me on the train smell funny. No, not funny, bad. I could deal with funny. I've only been a Chicagoland commuter for a month, and I'm already tired of this. Whether it's bad breath or body odor, just like elementary school I tend to find myself stuck next to the smelly kid.

That's the short list. I'm sure there's more, but I'll leave those for the second installment.

So c'mon, I know I'm not the only one out there with behaviors that irritate me, spill it. Comment lines are open: it bugs you when...

Cheers!

-A

Living for the future

We all know these people, the ones who hate their jobs to the core and who spend every day awaiting the weekend so they can start living.

Then there's that subset of people who take it a step further - the ones who live for Saturday, only to sleep most of it away, followed by a Sunday bitching that tomorrow is Monday.

Some life.

(Sorry, that was rude)

I'm not here to judge. If that's your cup of tea, enjoy it. Just don't make me drink it!

Attitudes like this are toxic, sometimes even contagious. Those of us who are trying to live out every day to the fullest have to struggle not to be swayed into this mindset when it surrounds us.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm one of the lucky ones. As I've mentioned before, I've got a day job that I truly enjoy, working with a fantastic team of incredibly smart people, a group of beyond amazing friends who I can count on for just about anything, a hobby that fills my weekends with fun and excitement, and the best friend, partner and lover a girl could ever ask for, living under the same roof.

Needless to say, I have lots of reasons to be embracing every day. But for those of you out there who can't seem to live for the moment, please, don't try to bring me down with you.

Lately I've been getting more and more Facebook and text messages from people who aren't working for one reason or another saying something to the effect of "sucks you're stuck at work! I took the day off to do X, Y, Z..."

Almost like, "ha! in your face. you're at work and I'm not."

All that makes me want to do is send them a message the next day saying "gosh, it sucks you're back at a job you hate and I'm enjoying mine. that really blows. :) neener!"

Of course that would accomplish nothing and I'd feel like a big turd for trying to make someone feel bad. That's never a goal of mine. Ever.

If there's one thing I've learned in the last year of my life, it's that arrogance and bragging don't get you very far in life. Neither does bitching about something. If you want it, go get it. If you don't like it, work to change it.

Spend the time that's wasted on spouting off at the mouth on something more constructive to make your life what you want it to be. Sure, we all have to do things we don't enjoy from time to time, and everyone has those days where they wish they could have done something else - even if it was just stay in bed. But as I see it those days should be few and far between, not the norm.

And if they are, and you are either content living that way or don't have the drive to make changes, then at least do those of us a favor who are out there embracing each day and fake it.

I'm going to hop down off my whining soapbox now and go back to doing something constructive. Have a lovely day! :)

Cheers!

-A

I wish you'd just transform already

So this weekend I got to see the new Transformers movie - Revenge of the Fallen. It was over two hours and I have virtually no complaints about the movie - great special effects, a few good chuckles, and who can moan about about watching men like Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel on the big screen?

At least, not in a bad way. Ha!

But there was one little annoyance during this flick - or shall I say on very large annoyance.

Just before the movie started a man and two boys plopped down next to us. One boy looked like a normal 8-year-old, chatting with his friend, excited about seeing a late-night Transformers movie. The other, was, well, how do I say this....fat.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not against fat people in the slightest. However, when a parent has a kid who's clearly going to have (or who probably already has) health problems because they've let them have too many brownies in their life, it kinda pisses me off.

At the parent - not the child.

It also pisses me off when they allow them to act in the way this kid did throughout the entire movie.

As I mentioned, they started out rather chatty but shut right up when the movie started. This was a good sign. Or so I thought.

But as soon as he ate his way to the bottom of his jumbo popcorn - yes, he had his own - he went to town on slurping down the remainder of his large soda. 

Lord only knows how, over the course of 2 and 1/2 hours how this kid didn't have to get up to pee at least once, but he kept his ass glued in that chair somehow.

Once the soda was gone he proceeded to poke on the plastic top and break it until it had completely collapsed into the cup.

After that noise subsided he apparently got bored and slid to the front of his seat so his feet could touch the floor. 

Why?

So he could loudly crunch every single kernel of popcorn that had missed his mouth earlier in the movie.

About this time, the other kid and the man, who we decided was probably the father of the smaller child as he seemed like a reasonable man who would have told his own kid to shut the hell up about an hour earlier, got up to go to the bathroom. 

When they came back, the chubster proceeded to use his outdoor voice to tell his friend what he'd missed.

At the end of the movie, we all got up to leave, following this group out the door. Just before he got to the isle way, the fat one bent over and stuck his hand into what was left of the dad's popcorn for one last snack.

Mmmm....floor popcorn.

Okay, so not exactly, but once the bucket is on the floor and the movie is over it might as well be straight from the floor.

Regardless of the distraction, it was a great movie. Highly recommended!

What good movies have you seen lately?

Cheers!

-A

Give it a rest, Debbie

So I know y'all were expecting another vacation recap post today, but I thought instead, I'd break the mold a bit and discuss something that's been bugging me recently.

Surprise, the cynical side rears it's ugly head again.

But this time, it's for good reason.

It seems, as of late, there's been an epidemic going around. It's called Debbie Downer syndrome.

In recent interactions with friends and acquaintances, there's been this low cloud of negativity hanging around. And even when people seem happy on the surface, the undertones of conversation is often sullen.

Sure, you're probably thinking that I've got good reason to be chipper after a seven day tropical vacation. But I'm talking about emotion that runs a little deeper than that.

After all, I too am stuck in this snowy April weather like everyone else, and sure, my Spartans endured a tough loss to UNC last night in the NCAA national championship game, but you can't let that stuff rock you to the core.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some things in life, the unavoidable tragedies and unfortunate circumstances where grieving is not only acceptable and expected, but it's needed. These are not the situations to which I am referring.

It's these perpetual Debbie Downer types that really start to get to me after a while. What's worse, is the things they complain about. Ordinary, mundane issues of daily life. And often, a solution is well within their reach.

It's starting to seem like people are losing control over their own happiness.

Is it that we don't realize just how much power we have over our outlook on life?

Maybe it's that I was lucky enough to grow up in a family that encouraged my growth into a strong person. One that showed me how to take the reigns of my life, so to speak, and keep a level head.

Of course, we're all aware of my cynical nature - it's a defining characteristic, like it or not.

And as someone who often allows the actions of others to impact my own happiness, I've got some nerve preaching this concept to others (see what I did there...admitting it makes it okay). But if we all took a step back and looked at what we've got, you might be surprised at just how happy you really are right now.

And if you're still not, then do something about it and quit bringing the rest of us down with you. Jerk!

Follow a dream, explore a new passion, help someone. All of these things have the potential to bring you outside of yourself. Be a part of something bigger than just you.

And who knows, you might accomplish something you never dreamed was possible - like waking up and smiling.

Cheers!

-A

Cold pizza for breakfast

If I could eat one thing for breakfast for the rest of my life it would be cold pizza. With Pepsi.

Don't get me wrong, I love breakfast. I just prefer my pancakes and hash browns for dinner instead.

Cold pizza at 6 a.m. is where it's at.

This weekend I came face to face with that girl (you didn't really think I was just going to write about my breakfast food preferences, did you?).

We all know the girl I'm talking about - the one that all girlfriends aspire not to be with their significant other and his/her friends. The type that defaults to pet names rather than calling her boyfriend by his actual name, with a voice so irritating you feel as if you're bleeding from the ears.

Remember that episode of Seinfled where Jerry and his girlfriend call each other schmoopie and make the rest of their friends want to puke?



Yeah, this was worse.

On top of that, she found any reason to pick a fight with my friend.

My friend, talking to his buddy, "I've gotta be to work tomorrow at 8:30."
That girl, assuming he was addressing her, "Baaaabby, why do you aaalways do this to me..." followed by a lot of whining.

She's one of those who loves to hear her own voice. Turns out, it's fingernails on a chalkboard to the rest of the world. Where's my air horn when I need it?

Sometimes I wish life was like a game of Taboo where you could buzz the other players when they spoke out of turn (or something like that). After this weekend, the batteries in my buzzer would be dead.

Now, in my trivial attempt at giving her the benefit of the doubt, she is only 19. In hind sight I really should have slapped my friend upside the head for dating her in the first place, but that's an entirely separate issue.

So the question is, what possesses men to date women like this?

And girls, why oh why do you behave so?

Insight much appreciated.

Cheers!

-A

Things that drive a woman crazy

Lately, there has been much inspiration for a post on things that drive women crazy. Between this post by one of my favorite 20-somethings discussing what makes her most crazy, recent discussions on pet peeves, and an article from Men's Health discussing the 5 things you should never say to a woman (some of which are highly accurate).

In my recent discussion, the annoyances we discussed were broader than those discussed by my friends above. Most of these cross both genders and can apply to relationships of any type - even if I don't know you. So, on to the pet peeves:

1. Shushing - first and foremost I can not stand the sound. But more than that, it's the meaning behind the sound. Not only are you telling me to shut up, you are doing so as if I was a child. Not okay!

2. This blends well with #1 - Treating me like a child. Don't tell me how I should behave in public, speak down to me as if I'm ignorant or even worse, correct me in public. If there's something I should know not to say about someone (i.e., no jokes about falling off a cliff if your friend's mom just died falling off a cliff) then give me the heads up, tactfully, beforehand. And I promise to do exactly the same when roles are reversed.

3. Telling me to calm down or relax - this is first on the list in the Men's Health article and it's spot on. If I have come to you to talk something through I'm either venting (which personally, I will tell you off the bat that I just need to bitch for a moment) or I'm looking for advice and ultimately a solution to whatever is bothering me. "Relax," is not a solution.

4. Slow and/or ignorant drivers - I am from Michigan. We drive fast there, that's no surprise. In the big cities of Texas, driving is extremely aggressive (the express ways of San Antonio are some of the craziest I've ever driven - and that includes my experiences in California and New York). No offense to all my favorite Ohioans out there, but damn y'all drive slow. And since when is it okay to drive in the left lane just because you feel like it - that's the fast lane?!

5. Dishonesty and disrespect - both are much more than pet peeves, these are relationship deal breakers. Personally, I can not be friends with someone who disrespects or lies to me. Period.

So tell me dear readers, what are some of your biggest pet peeves?

Cheers!

-A