Things that make me tick--Like a Bomb!

(just a bit of ranting, combined with a recollection of my favorite moments from my days working the door at Newcoms)


I'm always thinking about this stuff, but tonight one of those little things that makes you shake your head happened and I figured I would finally get around to venting about my pet peeves. I've found that the depths of people's depravity and social ignorance has not yet discovered a limit. I used to work as a doorman at a bar and some of these examples are things I've encountered along the way, as well as things from everday life that are obnoxious and annoying.

Item 1--people who cannot talk and walk at the same time.
The example tonight was common these days--two or more people talking to each other and then stopping right in your path. And to make matters worse, people who will do so while going into or out of a doorway. They start walking, then they stop and continue the conversation, oblivious to anything around them.

Item 2--people who preface a question by saying "can I ask you a question?" or some variation thereof. I usually say something witty like--"Maybe" or "you can but I may not give you an answer." I think this is a lack of social skills. Or an inability to function as a conversant human being. it's a crutch, like when you go "uh" between words.

Item 3--people who talk too loud for the situation.
My downstairs neighbors have two volumes--not talking and "outside" voice. They never talk in a normal tone to one another. (I just used all three forms of "to" in this paragraph, all correctly I might add...which leads me to the next one)

Item 4--people who don't know how to spell
you've seen it before, the person who writes something and misspells an easy word, or uses the wrong article or spells the word like they think it should be based on the sound. This is just plain laziness in some, lack of proper instruction in others. And the thing is, it should embarrass them, but it doesn't.

Item 5--people who want to talk for others.
I used to get this alot. You're having a perfectly normal conversation with someone, and their friend thinks he'll be helpful by jumping in like some lawyer to argue on their behalf. Normally I would say something like--"I'm talking to them, Not You". or if I want to be a bit less harsh, I might say "are you their lawyer?" What usually happens is the second person ends up making more of a mess of the situation than it has to be.

Item 6--people who are helpful by telling you how "it should be".
this is a corollary to the above. I never cease to be amazed at how many people know how to run a business better than my boss. And most of them don't have a clue how things work in real life.

Item 7--people who won't take "no" for answer
again, a sub-corollary to the above. They think they will just charm their way, or bully their way into getting what they want. Let me tell you something, I can be swayed by a reasonable, factually based argument. But if my mind is made up, and you haven't produced an idea that has any relevancy to the discussion, I'm not changing my mind. Period.

Item 8--people who think they are more important than their station in life
the theme continues. I have never been impressed by anyone who drops names, tries to get me to believe something that sounds far-fetched or thinks they deserve something not on offer. This is entitlement theory, and it should be rooted out at it's source--At Home.

Item 9--people who don't have the foresight to prepare ahead of time
I don't smoke anymore, but when I did, I knew what the reasonable expectation of how many cigarettes I might smoke in the course of an evening could be, and I would weigh that against my existing allotment of cigarettes on my person. If I thought the numbers didn't add up, I'd buy another pack. Simple really. But I rarely bummed smokes off someone else. it would have to be an extreme emergency. This example could be worked around to account for many situations.

Item 10--the person who wants you to "do them a favor"
Or who wants something for nothing. I have no problem doing favors for people who I know might have a reasonble chance of doing something for me. But not everyone or just anyone. Unless you are willing to barter up front, no deal. Many people who claimed to have a degree in business never got this piece of logic into their heads when I put it to them like that.

I think 10 is enough for now. these are just the ones I see all the time, but I could probably come up with 10 more example-specific ones to really point out the dumbing down of our society.

Res Ipsa Loquitar