Droplets from the Inkwell

Blog Prompt for 29 November 2012

From "Blogging Circle of Friends " :

What are your pet peeves?

The timing on this prompt is perfect. My car died on Monday night, so I've been walking to and from work and dealing with the stress of figuring out how to get temporary transportation while I get things together so I can get a different car. So grumping about all the things that annoy me sounds delightfully cathartic right now. So here come my pet peeves.

Dishonesty. I spent a year dealing with someone who lied to the point where I suspect that there was a pathological basis for all his lies. As such, I'm extremely sensitive to dishonesty. The occasional white lie or something like that is something I'm willing to let slide. But if it reaches a point - and it doesn't take much to reach that point these days - that I start wondering if someone is lying to me every time zie says something, things are headed for trouble.

It's not just outright and intentional lies, though. I also get annoyed by people who constantly delude themselves or even seem to have a complete lack of self-awareness. If a person's actions do not match up with what zie is saying - a huge example is somone who constantly complains about drama, yet seems to always create it or hang out with those who stir up drama - gets very tiring. I usually want to tell them to wake up, smell the roses (or more aptly, the fertilizer), and figure things out.

Persistent lateness. This one is borne of having my parents for parents. They instilled in me the concept of being on time - or better yet, early - for every little thing. They taught me that if I had an appointment, I should give myself ten extra minutes of driving time, just in case something comes up. Sometimes, I confess I go too far and I've had to apologize for being a whole half hour early (this is especially true if I'm going someplace for the first time and am not sure how long it will actually take me to drive there). So when people are constantly late, it annoys me.

I'm not talking about the occasional time when someone is five minutes late because they hit bad traffic, the baby threw up just as they were getting ready to leave, or some other thing that's out of hir control. But there are those people who seem to be five, ten, fifteen, or even twenty minutes late every single time. My time is as valuable as I am, and I'm usually left feeling that people who persistently fail to show up when we agreed we'd meet place little value on both.

Strangers who contact me, but have nothing to say. This happens to me a lot of social networking and dating sites. A person (usually a guy) will contact me as if to strike up a conversation. Then, I realize that they really have nothing to say. All their responses are one or two word replies to anything I say. I don't mind keeping up my end of a conversation, usually enjoying it in fact. But I do wish that people who contact me put in their share of the effort. Maybe a tad more, considering they're the one who sought out conversation with me.

People who think they are entitle to get something from me. Again, this is one I mostly run into on dating sites. In fact, I started a series of posts   on my other blog about the topic. Some guy will contact me and tell me what he wants and never once stop to consider what it is that I want or why I should even be motivated to give him what he wants. I've gotten quite grumpy about it when it happens.

JarredH

Give me pen and paper and I shall create entire worlds and fill them with adventures.