You know what irks the crap out of me?
- People walking and texting and not noticing that anyone else is on the street around them.
- People seeing I have a cane in my hand and assuming that means I move slowly so they cut in front of me and nearly trip me up.
- Bus drivers who think it’s funny to raise the bus just as I’m trying to step up from a slippery snow bank onto that first step and then say, “Oh, I didn’t see you.” (Didn’t see me? Hello, big as life over here. If you can’t see me, you should not be driving this bus!)
- Standing and standing and standing on the bus because we’re stuck behind America’s Slowest Garbage Truck.
- People who ask you a question, don’t listen for the answer and then ask the same question over again.
- Men I don’t know who call me “Honey.”
- Men I don’t know who call me “Sweetheart.”
- Men I don’t know who call me “Honey” and then let a door slam in my face.
- Men I don’t know (ok, maybe that’s not fair but they were definitely on my last nerve this morning).
- People who have lengthy, loud, overly-personal conversations on their cell phones and then get an attitude when people around them make some non-verbal response to what we’re hearing.
- People who sing as they’re listening to what-all on their mp3 players, as if we all came out today to hear you sing the oh-Lord-aren’t-we-over-this-yet, “Single Ladies.”
Ok, I’ll stop. Can you tell I had a lovely trip into work this morning? Fortunately, I was on my way here, to my beloved little program where my students make me laugh, where I get to work to find that the gorgeous Brazilian woman in my class has brought yet another enormous food donation for our hunger initiative, where the older Italian woman in my class gives me a hug and a kiss just because, where I find that Michael — one of the young ones in my class who’s been MIA for almost a month — has returned after all our outreach efforts to get him back to school … where I just get to be here, a place that nourishes me in many, many ways. Definitely worth the annoying trip!
if you want kin, you must plant kin ... 
wow . . . what a morning! i love the list format of this slice . . . i’ll have to try that this month. 🙂 i hope the commute home is better!
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I love your list. I could see all these people — we have them on public transport here, too. You forgot the men who sit with their legs as far apart as possible, who rattle their newspapers in your face as their legs occupy your seat space.
It’s about recognizing the existence of other humans on the face of the earth. Some people just don’t. I feel legitimated to actually comment on their cell phone conversations with my other passengers.
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What a joy to work somewhere that nourishes you! Hope the rest of your day is great!
Shari
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Oh, so cool that we have some of the same pet peeves! That cell phone thing is so annoying, esp. when I’m in a quiet(er) place and they’re “not.”
I think as I age I am more aware of how slowly I move, and how quickly the world moves around me. And while I loved your comment about your cane and walking, in my life it’s also about the *pace* of things–always having to be in a hurry. I’ve been quite guilty of this when I was younger so maybe that’s why I notice the change from zipzapgetouttamyway to normal, or even slightly slowed pacing.
Your post made me think! (and laugh–thanks)
Elizabeth
http://peninkpaper.blogspot.com/
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Great slice…so much truth in so few words. I get the “Honey-Sweetheart” Hybrid: Sweetie.
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Your list made me chuckle simply because we have a lot of those items in common, esp. #1! Reasons why I don’t text!
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Oh yes! and ladies that call me honey or sweetie- although I’m more likely to call them that, now!… and… mea culpa- I’m the one singing along with my earbuds!
Hope tomorrow’s commute improves!
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A few confessions to make:
– I call women I don’t know darlin’ and very seldom sweetheart. It’s habit.
– I sometimes sing along to my iPod when I’m walking to class or work in the mornings.
I’ll just go to my corner now.
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Oh girl…you and I should probably never drive together. Unless we have a laser that we can shoot at annoying people! I am notorious for getting annoyed at other drivers.
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“I got gloss on my lips, a man on my hips
hold me tighter than my Dereon jeans
acting up, drink in my cup
I could care less what you think
I need no permission, did I mention
Don’t pay him any attention
Cuz you had your turn
But now you gonna learn
What it really feels like to miss me”
Oh wait, let me turn down my MP3 🙂
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Ha! You all made me smile. (Tisha, you are evil! 😉 ) It’s funny that things can really, really annoy me, and other days I barely notice the same things. I guess it’s more about where my head is in that moment. The loud-talkers on the phone, for example. They often annoy me, but other times I listen for the way they speak, the way they put words together, listening for ideas that I can use in dialogue for characters in my stories. Same bad public behavior, but it affects me in a totally different way.
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I think number 1 describes almost all of the students walking around the community college that I work at:-)
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Ah, the joys of public transport. I know it far too well.
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I had to agree with a lot of stuff on your list. Today, I ran into the Piggly Wiggly and stopped to take a look at the meat. There was an elderly black woman and her husband looking, so out of courtesy I waited my turn. Then suddenly this woman swoops in between us and starts rumaging through the meat. I looked at her and immediately thought she must not be from here, because no one in this town is in that big of a hurry. She made a comment as she went away and it was not a Southern drawl!
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I was at the bank today and this guy had one of the cell phone ear pieces. So he starts talking and I’m taken aback because I couldn’t see his earpiece. I thought he was talking to me. I finally realized he was having a conversation through his phone and it freaked me out. He’s just standing there in line with me and talking to somebody in some other place. I just think that’s bizarre. And unnecessary. I think it’s a sad thing where people can’t make conversation in a bank line with the person next to them. They have to talk about dumb stuff with someone who isn’t even there. And it was dumb stuff. Plus the guy was chewing a piece of hard candy WHILE talking. It was a disgusting display. See, now I’m going on and on. I should have just written a blog about it, I guess.
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