Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

People who give wine as a gift, without asking if the recipient drinks wine.

My shithead ex-boss gave clients booze for Christmas. Me being who I am, I mentioned that not everyone drinks (like me, for example). He insisted he knew that everyone on his list drank.

He also insisted I ship the liquor/wine via UPS or FedEx, which is very illegal, as I'm not a licensed alcohol vendor, nor was our employer, a real estate firm. Fuck that guy so much.

[auntlada]

3 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I usually just bring flowers.

I like flowers. So do my cats. Flowers are apparently fun toys. I wish they weren't.

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

My shithead ex-boss gave clients booze for Christmas. Me being who I am, I mentioned that not everyone drinks (like me, for example). He insisted he knew that everyone on his list drank.

He also insisted I ship the liquor/wine via UPS or FedEx, which is very illegal, as I'm not a licensed alcohol vendor, nor was our employer, a real estate firm. Fuck that guy so much.

Wow, what an ass. Thank goodness he's not your boss anymore. 

I don't mind the occasional drink, but I'm not really into the harder stuff. And I'm nowhere near an expert on wine-I think the extent of my wine knowledge is whatever I've learned from watching "Frasier" :p. 

[Bastet]

If you don't know the person well enough to know what they like, what do you bring?  Wine or liquor, they may not drink.  Chocolate, they may be diabetic or dieting.  Flowers/Plants, they may be allergic.  Soaps/Lotions/Candles, they may be scent-sensitive.  A decorative item for the house, it may clash with their décor. 

I think it's best to just accept these generic thank you/host/etc. gifts in the spirit they're given, and pass it on to someone else if it's not something you want.  (I've received several coffee-related gifts in such situations over the years; I don't drink coffee, so I give them to my dad or a friend.)

[Nordly Beaumont]

20 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I think the extent of my wine knowledge is whatever I've learned from watching "Frasier" :p.

Hail Corkmaster - the master of the cork! He knows which wine goes with fish or pork!

[supposebly]

The overuse of the word 'badass' when describing a female TV/movie character. As if that explains everything and makes her interesting.

Also 'feisty'.

Edited June 24, 2020 by supposebly

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

My shithead ex-boss gave clients booze for Christmas. Me being who I am, I mentioned that not everyone drinks (like me, for example). He insisted he knew that everyone on his list drank.

He also insisted I ship the liquor/wine via UPS or FedEx, which is very illegal, as I'm not a licensed alcohol vendor, nor was our employer, a real estate firm. Fuck that guy so much.

That's why I got rid of our liquor license in our flower shop. Between kids trying to order gift baskets with wine in them and the State Liquor Board hassling us, it just wasn't worth it. I used to just put sparkling cider in the gift baskets. Used to crack me up though, kids would call up and order a gift basket and when told that the ones with wine started at $400.00 they would usually just hang up.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

I usually just bring flowers.

Then you get into allergy problems.  I remember when my mom had her mastectomy, My dad took me and my grandparents up to visit the next day.  My paternal grandmother brought my mom flowers and my mom told her she was allergic.  My grandmother got all mad and put out and brought them out to the nurses to give to some random patient with a whole "I'm sure somebody will appreciate them."  So, my pet peeve.  People who make sick people feel bad for not doing what they want.

[theredhead77]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

If you don't know the person well enough to know what they like, what do you bring?  Wine or liquor, they may not drink.  Chocolate, they may be diabetic or dieting.  Flowers/Plants, they may be allergic.  Soaps/Lotions/Candles, they may be scent-sensitive.  A decorative item for the house, it may clash with their décor. 

I think it's best to just accept these generic thank you/host/etc. gifts in the spirit they're given, and pass it on to someone else if it's not something you want.  (I've received several coffee-related gifts in such situations over the years; I don't drink coffee, so I give them to my dad or a friend.)

I try to bring something that can be easily regifted. Since I usually only attend events where a host gift is required around the holidays I usually bring a bottle of generic wine which may be a regift, or a pretty tin of sweets. The host can set them out or pass them along. 

[Bastet]

25 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Offer to do the dishes.

I sometimes do (well, to help, not do them alone, because a lot of people are picky about how they're done).  But I'm not going to show up at someone's party empty handed!  So if I don't really know the person, there's a chance my little token of appreciation will be something they won't use/consume themselves; there's no sure-fire gift that any and every host is guaranteed to like.  But if not, it's still something they can pass on to someone else.

[Brookside]

Pet peeve?  My ex is still a narcissistic dick.

[MissFeatherbottom]

4 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Secret Santa's and exchange games are the worst. Usually there is a spending limit of some sort. There always seems to be someone that disregards the limit entirely, going way over.  There usually isn't a low end limit for spending on the gift.  The end result is some others will bring the cheapest gift possible.  Regardless, human emotions often get involved which makes the whole experience unpleasant.

This reminds me of an incident at my work a couple years ago at Christmas time. One of our departments had a white elephant gift exchange, and someone "regifted" some free crap that had been put in the break room the previous day. Pretty much everyone had seen that stuff in the break room the day before, so there was no doubt that the person took a lot of that stuff and then wrapped it up as a gift. The person that got that gift was NOT pleased (she may have cried and threw a tantrum from what I heard). 

 

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, MissFeatherbottom said:

This reminds me of an incident at my work a couple years ago at Christmas time. One of our departments had a white elephant gift exchange, and someone "regifted" some free crap that had been put in the break room the previous day. Pretty much everyone had seen that stuff in the break room the day before, so there was no doubt that the person took a lot of that stuff and then wrapped it up as a gift. The person that got that gift was NOT pleased (she may have cried and threw a tantrum from what I heard). 

 

She threw a tantrum and cried over a crummy office white elephant gift?

[Nicmar]

On 6/22/2020 at 12:55 PM, MissFeatherbottom said:

Count me in as one of those people annoyed with people posting multiple selfies of themselves (whether it is daily or throughout the day). I don't really understand why they feel the need to post the a pic with a different outfit but same facial expression as other pictures, it just doesn't make sense! There are also some people I see on my FB feed that don't even look like the same in person (in comparison to the selfies they are posting). I really am curious what filter they are using for these pics to make their skin flawless and also look way skinnier b/c I sure as heck could use that information! 😂

More FB pet peeves: People who post updates of their whole day as if anyone gives a shit, people who post every single meme they see on the internet, people who have to "announce" they are going off social media permanently or for the time being. Oh yeah, thirsty people who will post the most vague status update or go on some rant without giving any info so that people will ask them what is wrong, etc.  There are so many more annoying things that you would wonder why I am still on Facebook LOL!

My sister in law always updates her facebook status,posting about her issues. My mother in law and her rants about democrats!!! i actually snooze everything. I'm so sick of seeing all that its just TMI and Instagram is even worse!

[Nicmar]

2 hours ago, MissFeatherbottom said:

This reminds me of an incident at my work a couple years ago at Christmas time. One of our departments had a white elephant gift exchange, and someone "regifted" some free crap that had been put in the break room the previous day. Pretty much everyone had seen that stuff in the break room the day before, so there was no doubt that the person took a lot of that stuff and then wrapped it up as a gift. The person that got that gift was NOT pleased (she may have cried and threw a tantrum from what I heard). 

 

Last Christmas we had a White elephant at work the max was $10. There was this one lady who bent out of shape because she spent $50 on her White elephant she received some cheap gifts. She went to complain to the office manager and decided she didn't want to attend the Christmas Brunch that Friday. What a damn crybaby ! She is a big bitch as well.

[MissFeatherbottom]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

She threw a tantrum and cried over a crummy office white elephant gift?

She sure did! Unfortunately I didn't get to witness it, but my friend in that department told me what happened. This lady is probably in her late 40's/early 50's too, I was surprised she got so butthurt at the whole thing, it's just a game! After she cried, they let her take another turn at a gift too lol. 

45 minutes ago, Nicmar said:

Last Christmas we had a White elephant at work the max was $10. There was this one lady who bent out of shape because she spent $50 on her White elephant she received some cheap gifts. She went to complain to the office manager and decided she didn't want to attend the Christmas Brunch that Friday. What a damn crybaby ! She is a big bitch as well.

Wow, I can't believe she spent that much! Sure I get why she would be mad but it was also her choice to spend that much!

Edited June 25, 2020 by MissFeatherbottom

[JTMacc99]

I hate office gift exchanges with the fire of a thousand nuns. There are at least five compelling reasons why not to do them. 

• Some people get peer pressured to join / wide levels of commitment to bringing something nice.
• 55 year-olds don’t bring things 25 year-olds might like. 
• 25 year-olds don’t bring things 55 year-olds might like. 
• That jerk nobody likes is involved and now we have to have deal with that person for an hour. 
• And let’s be honest, most of us don’t really give a hoot about most of our coworkers, not just the big jerks. 
• Like MAYBE 20% of the participants feel good about it when it’s over. 
   

The only time to do white elephant exchanges are when all of the gifts are variations of the same thing. Like the garden club can do a succulent exchange. Or people like me could participate in a wine exchange. Then everyone is just messing around with minor variations of the same thing. 
 

 

[TattleTeeny]

I just hit 52 hours of work this week. It just keeps coming and coming. And now I have an additional job to (re)do (possibly because of an error on my part, but I don't know) that will likely take at least 4 hours tomorrow, in the midst of the rest of the pile. And it's a fact-checking thing. I can't imagine poring over tiny-print medical journals (again) and formatting reference lists (again) after repeatedly reading the same looooooooong safety information word for word, over and over, among other editorial stuff, for the previously mentioned 52 hours. And I can't imagine how someone is expected to do so without making the same or another error. Can I quit?

Edited June 26, 2020 by TattleTeeny

[auntlada]

I hate all things in the office that require people to donate money (or gifts), unless it is a charitable fundraiser type thing. (For instance, sometimes our office group adopts a family at Christmas and gets presents for kids who otherwise wouldn't get presents. I'm fine with that. I'm also fine with people who don't want to participate for whatever reason. If you don't want to do it, just don't do it. Of course, I'm not in charge and have no power, but I will not think less of you if you don't. Everyone has their own financial priorities.) We are collecting now for two retirement gifts. I am giving less than some of the people, in part because I can't afford what they apparently can and in part because I know some of my co-workers can afford even less than I can and if I give less, it gives them an out not to give so much.

[Katy M]

I buy a pool pass at the campground every summer.  I was debating whether or not to this year, when they said that platinum pass holders would get extra time in the morning and that there was a 25 person limit.  OK.  I'll buy the platinum pass.  I just got an email yesterday that the limit is 50 people.  I sent an email back saying I thought that was way too many people with the COVID situation.  Seriously, how are 50 people going to stay 6 feet apart?  And then said that there are people who bought passes with the understanding that there was a 25 person limit.  I realized after that this is not affecting my life any because I leave when it hits 13.  That's my personal limit.  But, still.  It irks me.  It's like a bait and switch.  They've only been open 2 weeks.  They should offer partial refunds if there are people that were cool with 25, but not 2ith 50.  Or they should have at least put something on the agreement that said that capacity may increase.  I read my contract fairly closely and that wasn't on there.

[Zola]

Eating an apple in the great outdoors, only to find a piece of skin getting wedged between two of my molars, and trying in vain to dig it out with nothing but my fingernails, while at the same time trying to look cool and ladylike!

[MissFeatherbottom]

15 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I think in general, that people who don't have a lot going on in their lives often get emotionally invested in things that are for most others, not a big deal.

If someone is going to spend a lot of money for an event such as this, for that person that event is a big deal.

 

I guess I never really thought of it that way. For me, I always feel pressured into these gift exchanges, so I don't get invested in it that much. I also have been burned too in these games and got crappy gifts, so now I don't go all out in bringing a good gift.  I usually will bring a nice blanket b/c it's something everyone can use, and it's always really popular. The last two times I have done a white elephant. I got a big can of cheap mixed nuts and the tackiest beer belly fanny pack.  Lesson learned now!

[MissFeatherbottom]

16 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

I hate office gift exchanges with the fire of a thousand nuns. There are at least five compelling reasons why not to do them. 

• Some people get peer pressured to join / wide levels of commitment to bringing something nice.
• And let’s be honest, most of us don’t really give a hoot about most of our coworkers, not just the big jerks. 
• Like MAYBE 20% of the participants feel good about it when it’s over. 

I hate when there is pressure to join! Most times I am the only one not wanting to participate in the Secret Santa every year and then get bugged by one or two coworkers to join in because it will be SO MUCH FUN!! I usually end up doing it just so I won't be the only party pooper, but I definitely don't enjoy it!

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, MissFeatherbottom said:

I hate when there is pressure to join! Most times I am the only one not wanting to participate in the Secret Santa every year and then get bugged by one or two coworkers to join in because it will be SO MUCH FUN!! I usually end up doing it just so I won't be the only party pooper, but I definitely don't enjoy it!

My last job was at a travel agency.  My last Christmas there was 2002.  The travel industry wasn't doing too well at that time (though I'm sure better than now) due to the internet and the Middle east trouble.  Anyway, I said I didn't want to do the Secret Santa that year and then felt kind of bad because then the entire department didn't end up doing it.  Hopefully, I just voiced what everybody else was feeling instead of being a killjoy.

[MissFeatherbottom]

36 minutes ago, Katy M said:

My last job was at a travel agency.  My last Christmas there was 2002.  The travel industry wasn't doing too well at that time (though I'm sure better than now) due to the internet and the Middle east trouble.  Anyway, I said I didn't want to do the Secret Santa that year and then felt kind of bad because then the entire department didn't end up doing it.  Hopefully, I just voiced what everybody else was feeling instead of being a killjoy.

I'm thinking if they decided against doing it after all, that the majority of people didn't want to do it to begin with!

[theredhead77]

Peeve: signature lines that are a goddamn novel. What ever happened to

Default "thank you line"

Name, Title | Address | Phone

Email Address

Or some variation of that. Some people have about 10 lines and graphics in it. So unprofessional and no one cares! GAH!

[Katy M]

19 minutes ago, MissFeatherbottom said:

I'm thinking if they decided against doing it after all, that the majority of people didn't want to do it to begin with!

The manager brought it up.  I said I didn't want to do it.  Nobody else said anything. And she just said, "OK, we're not doing it."  Granted nobody protested after the fact, but I don't think there was any way to know what the majority was thinking when I was literally the only one who expressed an opinion.

[peacheslatour]

10 minutes ago, Katy M said:

The manager brought it up.  I said I didn't want to do it.  Nobody else said anything. And she just said, "OK, we're not doing it."  Granted nobody protested after the fact, but I don't think there was any way to know what the majority was thinking when I was literally the only one who expressed an opinion.

Good for you, I bet many of your coworkers were silently blessing you. I know I would have. I always hated those rah rah employee bonding escapades. Just let me do my work and get out of here so I can be with people I actually like.

[Katy M]

7 hours ago, Katy M said:

I buy a pool pass at the campground every summer.  I was debating whether or not to this year, when they said that platinum pass holders would get extra time in the morning and that there was a 25 person limit.  OK.  I'll buy the platinum pass.  I just got an email yesterday that the limit is 50 people.  I sent an email back saying I thought that was way too many people with the COVID situation.  Seriously, how are 50 people going to stay 6 feet apart?  And then said that there are people who bought passes with the understanding that there was a 25 person limit.  I realized after that this is not affecting my life any because I leave when it hits 13.  That's my personal limit.  But, still.  It irks me.  It's like a bait and switch.  They've only been open 2 weeks.  They should offer partial refunds if there are people that were cool with 25, but not 2ith 50.  Or they should have at least put something on the agreement that said that capacity may increase.  I read my contract fairly closely and that wasn't on there.

Quoting myself to update. Like I said, after sending the email I realized it didn't affect my life anyway.  But, the owner sent me a response and that annoyed me even more.  She said she doesn't make the regulations, the governor does.  I find it hard to believe that the governor required them to up the capacity to 50.  That is just ridiculous.   I would have preferred a "too bad so sad, we can make more money this way" response.

[MissFeatherbottom]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

The manager brought it up.  I said I didn't want to do it.  Nobody else said anything. And she just said, "OK, we're not doing it."  Granted nobody protested after the fact, but I don't think there was any way to know what the majority was thinking when I was literally the only one who expressed an opinion.

Oh I see, well in that case yeah maybe it was because you said you didn't want to. I wish that would work at my office!

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, MissFeatherbottom said:

Oh I see, well in that case yeah maybe it was because you said you didn't want to. I wish that would work at my office!

It wouldn't have at my old office. I was the office manager and it was on me to plan all that stuff. But I did scale it way back from my predecessor. They used to have a cake for each person's birthday. I cut that right out. They used to have a big evening Christmas party with spouses and because half our company worked on the other side of the state, those workers had to get hotel rooms just to come to a stupid company party. I dropped that and we just had a staff luncheon and sent everybody home for the day. The other office did their own thing. I got no flak whatsoever because everybody was probably sick of it too.

[emma675]

2 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

Peeve: signature lines that are a goddamn novel. What ever happened to

Default "thank you line"

Name, Title | Address | Phone

Email Address

Or some variation of that. Some people have about 10 lines and graphics in it. So unprofessional and no one cares! GAH!

I used to work with a guy who put all of that, plus included MBA, some other kind of license initials, and a cross. Because screaming "I'm a Christian" in an email signature is extremely professional in a large financial institution. 

[MissFeatherbottom]

15 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

It wouldn't have at my old office. I was the office manager and it was on me to plan all that stuff. But I did scale it way back from my predecessor. They used to have a cake for each person's birthday. I cut that right out. They used to have a big evening Christmas party with spouses and because half our company worked on the other side of the state, those workers had to get hotel rooms just to come to a stupid company party. I dropped that and we just had a staff luncheon and sent everybody home for the day. The other office did their own thing. I got no flak whatsoever because everybody was probably sick of it too.

Oh, company parties...another thing I hate but feel obligated to go to. I'm sure the staff appreciated the luncheon and early release more than the inconvenient company party!

[janestclair]

I'm glad I work in a public school and we don't have office parties or gift exchanges.  

I'm more than a little annoyed at the IRS.  My dad still hasn't gotten his stimulus despite a letter saying it was mailed on May 15th. Today, I called and finally got through to a person, and they were completely useless.  Basically, I was told he has to wait.  Well, that's fine, but want to know if it actually got mailed out. Is it lost in the mail, or did the IRS never actually mail it out? He didn't have access to that information.  Then, to add a wrinkle, the amount is $2400, according to the letter, except my mom died in January, so I asked about that. Is there a number I can call to get the check made out to the correct amount?  He didn't know. 

So what, pray tell, is his purpose?  My mother (who worked for the IRS for 30 some odd years) is probably rolling in her grave right about now.

[theredhead77]

4 hours ago, emma675 said:

I used to work with a guy who put all of that, plus included MBA, some other kind of license initials, and a cross. Because screaming "I'm a Christian" in an email signature is extremely professional in a large financial institution. 

I think it's fine to list an MBA or professional certifications / licenses if applicable. 
What I can't stand are graphics, sayings, anything other than the basics. An entire department took it upon themselves to add a 2 sentence blurb to contact *me* for help with what I specialize in in addition to the other 18million lines in their signature lines. Um, no. I emailed their leadership that I did not authorize that, we have a best practices in place for a reason and they need to remove that immediately.

[ALenore]

On 6/26/2020 at 1:57 PM, theredhead77 said:

 

Peeve: signature lines that are a goddamn novel. What ever happened to

 

 

I hate these. Some people have as their signature line long selections from their favorite novel, usually something violent. Okay, fine, I get it, you really like this phrase, but I don't need to read it on every e-mail you send.

[Browncoat]

Today, my peeve is people who don't understand the proper way to yield and merge..  I was almost in two accidents today because other people don't know how to yield and merge.  The first one pretty much refused to yield, although I had right-of-way -- I had to race around them to make my exit because they wouldn't slow down (they kept pace with me -- I didn't have the opportunity to slow down).  And then they flipped me off!  If anyone should flip anyone else off, it should be me flipping them off.  

And then, as I was merging onto the highway, I slowed down to yield to traffic, as I should, and the car already on the highway slowed down even more and flashed their lights to let me in.  Traffic was not heavy -- all they needed to do was keep going.  I was yielding properly.  To make matters worse, that other car was a student driver, and it makes me sad if the instructor actually told the student to yield to me.  

[Mittengirl]

On 6/24/2020 at 5:50 PM, auntlada said:

 

On 6/24/2020 at 5:46 PM, peacheslatour said:

I usually just bring flowers.

I like flowers. So do my cats. Flowers are apparently fun toys. I wish they weren't.

 

In my house, flowers just become colorful cat barf.  That is why I never buy them and immediately dispose of any that are brought/sent to me.  

[tinkerbell]

Pet peeve- 

Fireworks. People thinking it's cool to shoot off fireworks every evening 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after july 4. Just stop.

We just got a rescue dog, she's cute as can be, but she had been a stray, neglected and possibly abused, and she's a bit nervous.  We've had a lot of success so far with her, in a very short time. But random loud noises are making it difficult.

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, tinkerbell said:

Pet peeve- 

Fireworks. People thinking it's cool to shoot off fireworks every evening 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after july 4. Just stop.

Good lord, this. In my town, some people have started even earlier. 

(On a completely unrelated note, are the posts stretching out for anyone else, or is it just me?)

[ebk57]

17 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

(On a completely unrelated note, are the posts stretching out for anyone else, or is it just me?)

Oh good - I'm not crazy...  well, not in that way anyway 🙂 

[tinkerbell]

On 6/3/2020 at 2:37 PM, icemiser69 said:

 

People who don't pay attention while on the job.

As a child, I was taking swimming lessons, and the instructor that was supposed to be monitoring me started holding a conversation with someone else.  I nearly drowned.  I would have, if I hadn't grabbed the instructor's leg.

I never did learn how to swim.  I have taken lessons several times.  Once I get into water over my head, I tend to panic, thinking that I will drowned.  As a result, everything I learned about swimming goes out the window.

When I was a kid, we took family vacations to a lake.  It was relaxing to lie on an innertube or air mattress, floating on the waves.   But my dad thought it was HILARIOUS  to swim underneath and dump you over.   Once, I was very relaxed, dad dumped me over, and my nose and lungs filled with an unhealthy amount of water as I tried to right myself.  I freaked out.     I never learned to swim,  I would experience that same panic you describe. 

On 6/23/2020 at 4:31 PM, Bastet said:

I have completely changed my tune on this over the years; it used to annoy me, but with how many families for whom their child/grandchild graduating is a huge fucking deal that involved hard work, sacrifice, and odds-beating I can never truly comprehend, I no longer care.  And I don't care whether it's that sort of emotional release or just obnoxious attention-seeking; it all sounds the same, it's several seconds at a time out of my life, it doesn't take anything away from my own experience (whether as the graduate or a member of the audience), etc.  I tune it out and barely even notice anymore.

But it DOES take away from the graduate whose name comes next - their family never hears their name called, as the person announcing would just reinforce them if they waited until the applause died down for each graduate.   My son's high school came up with a solution.  They announced ahead of time that applause should wait until the end.  At the ceremony, the principal announced that any student whose family was disruptive would not get their diploma at the ceremony, the parents would have to make an appointment to come in and get it from the principal.  It seemed to work, only a handful of families would carry on and be obnoxious.  I don't know if the principal carried through on the threat though.  

[Bastet]

Oh, my - I'm used to fireworks for a day or two before and after the 4th of July (and New Year's, and maybe Memorial Day - people like to explode shit, even though it's illegal here outside of sanctioned shows).  But this year is nuts.  There are no sanctioned shows this year due to COVID-19, people are bored (and apparently sitting on quite the stockpile), etc. and Los Angeles is one of the many areas of the country in which fireworks have been going off for weeks, despite the fact the 4th is still a week away.

On a purely personal level, it doesn't affect me; between triple-paned windows and TV, my cat and I barely hear it, and aren't disturbed by the muted noise we do hear.

But since I don't just think of myself, it's really bothering me.  It's well known that there are a lot of people with PTSD and animals who are made anywhere from anxious to panic-stricken by the sound of fireworks.  If they just happen for several hours on the 4th and New Year's Eve, people can plan for that and either leave or ride it out in various ways.  But for unpredictable days/weeks on end, especially during a pandemic, leaving isn't an option, and masking/coping mechanisms only go so far. 

That is such an unreasonable burden on neighbors, and in exchange for what - alleviating boredom?  It's profoundly thoughtless, not an oh, it's harmless fun scenario.  (And that's before getting into the danger of setting off fireworks in ways that pose a fire danger.)

17 minutes ago, tinkerbell said:

But it DOES take away from the graduate whose name comes next - their family never hears their name called,

Oh, that would indeed suck, but I've never experienced that, so that's not what I was referring to - it's just been folks making noise for their graduate while she/he, upon their name being called, crosses the stage and then poses for the diploma hand-off picture; lather, rinse, repeat with the next one to whatever degree generated.  All that does is extend the final part of the long, boring ceremony.

Edited June 29, 2020 by Bastet

[tinkerbell]

OK -  here's the cutie who is getting hyper and upset about the fireworks.  she's 6 months old (we think)  and part border collie (best guess)  she was picked up as a stray in Chicago.  

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by tinkerbell

[Annber03]

Awwww, what a sweetie! Poor little thing, getting so freaked out 😞. I hope you can figure out some way to help distract her from the noise.

37 minutes ago, Bastet said:

On a purely personal level, it doesn't affect me; between triple-paned windows and TV, my cat and I barely hear it, and aren't disturbed by the muted noise we do hear.

Lord, I wish I had that luxury here. Even with my windows closed and my TV up, I can still hear the fireworks very loud and clear, because the people setting them off are either in my neighborhood or live very close by :/. 

[MargeGunderson]

Fireworks started here in early May and show no signs of slowing down. It is illegal to possess or set them off in my state but that doesn’t seem to deter anyone. They are going off as I type this at 3:47am. My cats seem to be used to them, although they do get a bit skittish when they go off in my immediate neighborhood. 

[Mindthinkr]

6 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

They are going off as I type this at 3:47am.

That is inconsiderate. Most people would be sleeping at that hour. 
Big Boy dives under the bed for any loud noice. It’s usually thunder. 
I heard fireworks last night...kind of far away...not enough to send BB under. 
FYI They do make noise canceling things for scaredy-cat and dogs. It looks like a pup tent. 

[Katy M]

7 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

That is inconsiderate. Most people would be sleeping at that hour. 

With all that's going on, I'm going to call it a win if they're not throwing them on people.

 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

There are no sanctioned shows this year due to COVID-19, people are bored (and apparently sitting on quite the stockpile), etc. and Los Angeles is one of the many areas of the country in which fireworks have been going off for weeks, despite the fact the 4th is still a week away.

Um...don't you guys start having wild fires around this time of year? I hope there are severe fines for people caught doing this kind of inconsiderate shit.

[theatremouse]

Yeah my primary concern about people who set off illegal fireworks is starting a wildfire that endangers a whole area, many people and their houses. Secondary concern is idiot blows up their own arm. I never know how to call to report those things though. I can't tell exactly where it's coming from and don't really want to get closer to find out. The one time I tried the person on the other end of the phone wanted a specific address and when I gave them a "somewhere near the intersection" they acted all annoyed that I couldn't be more specific.