Stop Signs, Cats, and the Things that Irk Me

Pet Peeves. Everyone has them and some of them can be stranger than others. Some people don't even understand why something may annoy the hell outta them, they just know. It makes them feel uncomfortable, uneasy, irritated. Pet peeves irk people and they can come in all forms, shapes, sizes, directions, colors, etcetera etcetera. Irrational thoughts come to mind: "I'm gonna kill so and so if he/she does that one more time" or "It really grills my cheese when such and such happens." I feel like at this point in my life, I'm beginning to get a good grasp of the things that irk me. It's always nice too when you can find a quality companion who shares the same undesirable mishaps that are impossible to control in this world we live in. Luckily for me, my roommate and I can always have a good laugh at the things that kill us, figuratively speaking of course.

A turn signal. It can also be referred to as a blinker, a ticker, a yellow thing that blinks, and a clicker. It is one of the most intrinsically integrated parts of an automobile. You will not find a vehicle without one, unless a deer or some other type of animal was out to get it. So please, tell me why it is SO hard for some people to move their fingers 2 inches from the steering wheel to turn on their blinkers when they want to for instance, merge into another lane, or turn onto another street. It's one of my biggest pet peeves when people are so lazy as to not even move their fingers just to turn on a signal to let other people know what move you're about to make. It’s courtesy letting people know what move we're about to make. Accidents can be avoided.

WHAT did driver's ed. teach us about stop signs? When we see one of those octagonal shaped red targets, we're supposed to come up to it, complete a full stop (WITH the infamous "rockback" included), and then go on our way. If you and another car perpendicular to you come up to a stop sign at the same time, then whichever car to your right has the right-of-way first. It's a big pet peeve of mine when people don't follow these rules or at least understand them. Those who don't understand or follow these simple rules of the dreaded stop sign find themselves with shiny blue lights flashing in their rear view mirror if they roll through a stop sign. They get all frustrated and angry at whom? The police? Ha, yeah right. No, you should be mad at yourself for not completing a full stop. They're only doing their job. Make their lives easier by doing yours too.

Crosswalks around the nation are such a simple concept, but they can cause all kinds of unwanted trouble and evil driver thoughts emanating towards a fellow cross-walker. We've all been there. Kinda rainy day, long day of class/work. Everyone's rushing home. You approach a cross-walk and you're the only one that cars are impatiently and abrasively stopping for so you can quickly cross the road. But what do you do? You slowly and casually trot along that crosswalk as if the world is stopping for you. COME ON. At least do the half trot, kind-of-caring-jog with a wave of your hand to say thanks to the driver that stopped for you. Even if that saves the driver a millisecond more of time, it is still time. You didn't want to get in their way, and they didn't want to stop for you. But there's only one way to get to the other side, right?

For my last pet peeve (and this isn't the last, I just thought I'd wrap it up for this blog entry) the pun certainly is not intended. Cats have moved to the TOP of my list of pet peeves. You know why? Let me paint a picture for you. It was a cold winter afternoon, and my friend and I drove to eat at South College Deli. We're leaving and we get in my car to drive home. I start the engine. It ANGRILY shuts off as if someone had just shoved a Hogwarts flavored popsicle down your throat without telling you. My friend and I start to hear loud, obnoxious "meows" that far too closely resemble the "ow" sounds that a young child could perform. What do we see lodged up in my engine? A CAT! A live, breathing, all of sudden ridiculously annoying feline. I wait 2 hours for this furball to be removed from my vehicle. The cat's tail and leg got lodged up in my serpentine belt (for those who don't know it’s a single, continuous belt that drives such devices as your A/C, power steering, etc. and it's located in your engine) and it had to be cut to let this thing live. This is just a prime example of why dogs are still a man's best friend, and cats just need to shoo away. Apparently cats like to crawl into people’s engines to stay warm in the sharp wintry winds. Somebody needs to send a memo to all cats that cars are dangerous.

Pet Peeves make no sense. They grind people’s gears and we shouldn’t be bothered by stupid things, but we are. As long as you approach these frustrations with some kind of humor and understanding, you will find yourself laughing at your peeves and even your own mistakes that you make. Maybe you too will find someone who shares the same dislikes as you. All I know is that if my roommate and I had our own radio morning talk show, we would make bank.