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

[bmasters9]

On 4/3/2017 at 7:11 AM, JTMacc99 said:

They follow those threads for the same reason so many liberal minded people watch FOX News. To get themselves riled up, and to give themselves ammunition to use when they make their case that people with the opposite views are crazy. 

I'm generally a liberal-minded type (libertarian, to be honest), but I don't see FOX News, and never have cared for it since it started way back more than two decades ago. 

[Maharincess]

@bilgistic, I'm so happy that you're feeling better.  

I had an estimate done today and after she left, I canceled the rest of the appointments and I'm going with my guy from yesterday.  He had a fantastic dry, kinda twisted sense of humor and he promised to bring his adorable doggy every day so he's my guy.  Plus he's really good and he's the only one who listened to what I wanted and didn't try to get me to do what he wanted like the rest of them did. 

I just can't face another week of appointments.   

Work starts on the 17th. 

[DeLurker]

@bilgistic - Have you checked out GoodRX.com?  I've seen commercials for them lately and when I saw my neurologist yesterday, they had some cards in there too.

[DeLurker]

The house has double pane windows which normally does a pretty good job at muffling, if not blocking, noises outside. It does nothing to quiet the odd croaking/chirping of what I am guessing is young frogs in love.

[AgentRXS]

I had 2 beautiful, tall oak trees that until today, lived outside my bedroom window. The squirrels used to sit on the base of one of the trees and tease my cats every single day. Always heard them scampering and playing on the roof. My landlord informed me earlier today that she was having a company coming to due some tree trimming.  When I came back from work, both trees in my backyard are gone. I am so sad about it and so worried about any nests that may have been housed in those trees as its springtime/mating season.

My peeve: Being a renter and having no say about landscaping decisions. Wish I could afford a house of my own.

[Qoass]

Then don't go for a condo, @AgentRXS.  While it's nice to leave the landscaping to others, I've had that "trimming" experience on multiple occasions and it never ceases to be disheartening.

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

My peeve: Being a renter and having no say about landscaping decisions. Wish I could afford a house of my own.

At the same time, cherish the luxury of leaving repairs, exterior chores, and other owner responsibilities to someone else. As the actual name on our mortgage, and the one of the two of us that has a more flexible schedule and more generous salary, it's always me who has to research, schedule, wait for (using up a vacation day), and finance every damn thing. Makes me sometimes miss the days of calling the apartment office before work, then coming home eight hours later to a fixed faucet or whatever (except when they fixed my broken sink sprayer by...simply removing the broken sink sprayer altogether and putting a little metal disc in the hole it once occupied. Oh, hell no!).

[MargeGunderson]

3 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

At the same time, cherish the luxury of leaving repairs, exterior chores, and other owner responsibilities to someone else. As the actual name on our mortgage, and the one of the two of us that has a more flexible schedule and more generous salary, it's always me who has to research, schedule, wait for (using up a vacation day), and finance every damn thing. Makes me sometimes miss the days of calling the apartment office before work, then coming home eight hours later to a fixed faucet or whatever (except when they fixed my broken sink sprayer by...simply removing the broken sink sprayer altogether and putting a little metal disc in the hole it once occupied. Oh, hell no!).

Word! I'm also the handier of the two of us (by miles), so everything is mine to deal with. Lucky me!

[TattleTeeny]

Haha, I am the one who won't let weeks go by before addressing it. Which really became apparent when I charged him with replacing that rubber toilet thing, which had gotten old and warped and was causing a barely noticeable slow leak...

that would not have cost me over $200 for one water bill (for a condo, not even a house, mind you!) had it been handled when I was told it would be handled! Ugh. The lesson here? That tiny water drop adds up fast, people.

Edited April 5, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[StatisticalOutlier]

As it happens, I'm doing a few weeks of windsurfing right now, so I want the wind.  But I was in Austin a week ago and the wind was driving me insane.  Just walking from my car into buildings was incredibly annoying.  It felt like a physical assault.  It made me terribly grouchy, and I wasn't even in danger of being hit by falling branches.

That's actually the standard I have for my haircut--not a single hair can reach my eyes no matter what the direction the wind is coming from. 

[TattleTeeny]

A work peeve: people (most of them here for that matter) who don't fully read an e-mail, and then, if they respond at all, do not do so effectively, e.g., replying "yes" to a message that had multiple questions, some of which were not of the "yes or no" variety.

Further, sending back to me information that I included and noted as incomplete for my purposes. Not only do you NOT take a minute to understand what I have said, but you go on to take extra minutes to, say, locate the same link that I sent you in the first place to explain why it did NOT hold the answer I need.

ADDENDUM: When I, at best, get called a nitpicker for having to ask yet again for what I need to properly do my job from the people whose job it is to get it for me. And, at worst, am told that it's inappropriate to try to "get others to do my work for" me (knowing it is not my job and also that I have no way of finding what I am not authorized to find). And, extra-worst, when I, as the copy editor, then take the brunt of the blame for incomplete info going to print (due to no one getting it for me despite the fact that I was a "pest" to my coworkers). Cannot win.

Edited April 6, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[ennui]

On 4/4/2017 at 9:39 PM, AgentRXS said:

I had 2 beautiful, tall oak trees that until today, lived outside my bedroom window. The squirrels used to sit on the base of one of the trees and tease my cats every single day. Always heard them scampering and playing on the roof. My landlord informed me earlier today that she was having a company coming to due some tree trimming.  When I came back from work, both trees in my backyard are gone. I am so sad about it and so worried about any nests that may have been housed in those trees as its springtime/mating season.

My peeve: Being a renter and having no say about landscaping decisions. Wish I could afford a house of my own.

GONE?! I'd be upset, too! I wonder if they were diseased? Interfering with utilities?

My pet peeve is people who hate trees. I have an "impressive" oak tree (tree trimmer's word), and my neighbor hates it. She hates all trees. I wish she'd move.

Edited April 6, 2017 by ennui

[riley702]

How can you hate trees?!? Good Lord, does she kick puppies, too?

[StatisticalOutlier]

Well, I'm not in love with trees when they drop sap or whatever all over everything, or when I exclaimed, "Check out that parking space in the shade!" and snagged it, only to find out 30 minutes later that the tree was harboring a million grackles that shit all over my car so bad I had to take it to the car wash. 

But I love them when they drop free pecans.

[auntlada]

I love trees when they don't drop leaves all over my lawn. What I really hate is when we don't have trees and the neighbor's trees drop leaves all over my lawn.

[JTMacc99]

When I moved into my home, within the first couple years, I planted four maple trees, three oak trees, several spruces, a couple pines, a cool Japanese maple, and a few flowering trees. They're all growing up very nicely. 

[AgentRXS]

Quote

GONE?! I'd be upset, too! I wonder if they were diseased? Interfering with utilities?

I guess you could say that their branches were interfering with the power lines. But they were so beautiful and provided so much shade. Now too much light is entering my bedroom window, even through the blinds (my peeve for today). There was a streetlight that was obscured by one of the trees that is creating such a harsh glare in bathroom now that I don't even need to turn on a light to see perfectly fine in the restroom at night. I'm so mad.   We've lost so much nice acreage in my county within the last 2-3 years to due to overdevelopment so I'm saddened by the loss of any tree. But especially "my" 2 beautiful ones.

[TattleTeeny]

When I was in college, there was guy we called Tree Tim. He was a hippie type and he walked around with a shovel planting trees on campus. He actually got in trouble for it (to be fair, I have no idea if he knew the right places to put trees, so maybe it was warranted). Oddly enough, he also carried a plastic bag -- the kind with a zipper that can go in the freezer -- to use as an inflatable pillow.

[navelgazer]

Pet peeve for today was poor city drivers out accidentally on the little country roads between small towns in rural Portland and they don't know how four-way-stops work.  They're afraid already because of the curves and the hills and the tailgaters and the big-*ss trucks (Ford, Dodge, Chevy).  They're usually driving 40mph or less in the 45s anyway.  When they get to the four-way-stop and there's other cars waiting their turn, the 'fraidy cat pokes their front-end out inch-by-inch and in the next beat the next car takes its turn and there they have to sit.  And I'm usually behind them.  

[AgentRXS]

I think 10% of this country knows the rules of a 4-way stop. The issue I run into frequently is people flying through and not waiting their turn and almost crashing the car that had the right-of-way.

[DeLurker]

7 hours ago, navelgazer said:

Pet peeve for today was poor city drivers out accidentally on the little country roads between small towns in rural Portland and they don't know how four-way-stops work.  They're afraid already because of the curves and the hills and the tailgaters and the big-*ss trucks (Ford, Dodge, Chevy).  They're usually driving 40mph or less in the 45s anyway.  When they get to the four-way-stop and there's other cars waiting their turn, the 'fraidy cat pokes their front-end out inch-by-inch and in the next beat the next car takes its turn and there they have to sit.  And I'm usually behind them.  

We lived in the 'burbs and my Dad would "be polite" and let the other drivers go first which messed up the whole sequence.  Luckily, where we lived didn't have too many.

8 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

When I was in college, there was guy we called Tree Tim. He was a hippie type and he walked around with a shovel planting trees on campus. He actually got in trouble for it (to be fair, I have no idea if he knew the right places to put trees, so maybe it was warranted). Oddly enough, he also carried a plastic bag -- the kind with a zipper that can go in the freezer -- to use as an inflatable pillow.

College DeLurker always had an ultimate frisbee in my backpack.  I liked frisbee and was actually good at it.  Plus, with the frequent afternoon showers (UF), I often would use it to sit down on when the benches and grass were still wet.

[auntlada]

7 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

I think 10% of this country knows the rules of a 4-way stop. The issue I run into frequently is people flying through and not waiting their turn and almost crashing the car that had the right-of-way.

I run into (not literally) people doing what @DeLurker's dad did: waving other people to go first when it is the wavers' turn. I think we have only two kinds of drivers here: complete jerks and friendly, overly people. The latter are more numerous, but they create problems, too, just different ones.

[AgentRXS]

I can not tell you how thrilled I am that even though I am the only one in the building that works (and my landlord is aware I work nights), that it was somehow decided that the roof work should start on my side of the building at 8am this morning. Waking up on 4-5 hrs sleep to the sound of drills and hammers directly overhead is just a wonderful way for anyone to start their day.  The other end unit is unoccupied; why not start there first? So annoying.

[StatisticalOutlier]

4 hours ago, auntlada said:

I run into (not literally) people doing what @DeLurker's dad did: waving other people to go first when it is the wavers' turn. I think we have only two kinds of drivers here: complete jerks and friendly, overly people. The latter are more numerous, but they create problems, too, just different ones.

And you will never in a million years convince them that that's the case.

[DeLurker]

3 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

And you will never in a million years convince them that that's the case.

Yup, no matter how many of his children tried to tell him (and there were 5 of us) that it messed up the other drivers, he thought it was ill-mannered the same way that not holding open a door for a lady would be.

[Guest]

On 4/6/2017 at 4:45 PM, riley702 said:

How can you hate trees?!? Good Lord, does she kick puppies, too?

When I was young I suffered a few incidents of dendrophobia.

Like the time I had a dream where the tree from Poltergeist was pulling out my teeth with pliers.

Or when I watched this.

[StatisticalOutlier]

2 hours ago, DeLurker said:

Yup, no matter how many of his children tried to tell him (and there were 5 of us) that it messed up the other drivers, he thought it was ill-mannered the same way that not holding open a door for a lady would be.

And holding the door open for a lady produces similar results.  Like if there's a man in front of me and as we approach the door, he holds it open for me to go through, and then we're joining a line.  I have no right to be in front of him, but I am.  I have to either try to get him to change positions or feel like a heel.  It's awkward and unwanted.

If he'd just go through it first, and then maybe keep it propped open a little if he feels I don't have the strength to open it myself, then the natural order would remain in place.

[harrie]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

And holding the door open for a lady produces similar results.  Like if there's a man in front of me and as we approach the door, he holds it open for me to go through, and then we're joining a line.  I have no right to be in front of him, but I am.  I have to either try to get him to change positions or feel like a heel.  It's awkward and unwanted.

If he'd just go through it first, and then maybe keep it propped open a little if he feels I don't have the strength to open it myself, then the natural order would remain in place.

When that happens, I go through the door, step to the side, and say/motion "After you" towards the line.  About half the time, the man will still defer, but at least he had the option to take his correct place in line.

[StatisticalOutlier]

12 hours ago, harrie said:

When that happens, I go through the door, step to the side, and say/motion "After you" towards the line.  About half the time, the man will still defer, but at least he had the option to take his correct place in line.

But all this jostling around is stupid.  It's not like I have my hands full with a parasol and the train on my dress. 

If given a choice, I'd prefer that men display their respect by agreeing that I deserve equal pay and reproductive freedom. 

I "help" with the door (like not let it close behind me) no matter who it is I'm helping, male or female.  And I'll actually hold the door open if it's somebody using a walker/wheelchair or with a stroller or who will obviously have an easier time getting through the door with a little help.  I'm one of these super-aware types who notices everything around me (often much to my chagrin), and on several occasions I've been sitting at a table and noticed someone who needs help with the door and I jump up and do it, and have never had competition in getting to the door first from all these door holders who mess up the natural order of things being respectful to able-bodied women.

[harrie]

23 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

If given a choice, I'd prefer that men display their respect by agreeing that I deserve equal pay and reproductive freedom. 

 

Very much with you on this one!  However, if a person, male or female, holds the door for me, I do not want to snub them for their kindness; and I am also a champion door-grabber for those in need or just in close proximity.  (I make daily trips to the post office for my work, and being on one end or the other of a door-holding scenario is just about inevitable.)

I guess this makes my peeve the people who go through a door, knowing there's someone a step or two behind them, and let it shut in the face of the person behind them. Bad karma.

[ari333]

Peeve.  Yesterday a man in an electric wheelchair had his chair run out of power. He was only inching forward and stalling. There were train tracks ahead and a storm was coming in minutes.. I was driving by. I saw several people walk past him as if he were invisible. I found a place to turn my car around, park, and got out to help him. It was already windy and there was a small incline of grass between us. (I was in the parking lot and he was on the sidewalk).  

I was asking where he lived etc. He couldn't really hear me. I could see he was a large, older man and no way could I lift him by myself into my car nor would his chair fit. He had some bandages and edema in his legs. I tried my cell which, of course was dead. What luck. I went to a little store a few yards away and explained the situation to the owner. He called 311 which was news to me (live and learn) that this was a non emergency help number. The cops came and called another vehicle to take him and his chair home.

Peeve , so many people passed without helping him. It only took me a couple of minutes to help. I don't need a rose on my nose, but I'd want someone to help my loved ones or me if one of us were in that situation.

[MrSmith]

Well, my peeve today is with myself. I've misplaced my WinXP install disc and can't spend the day setting up my WinXP virtual machine like I'd planned. I did, however, find my ultra-portable, 15 year old, 20Gb USB hard drive. I just didn't find its USB cable and so can't connect it to the computer to find out what's on it. (Additional peeve.)

Edited April 8, 2017 by MrSmith

[theredhead77]

I checked the status of my state tax refund two weeks ago and it was supposed to be deposited by now. Now when I check the status the site says it can't find my information and I need to call. So I call first thing in the AM and it says they can call me back, I won't lose my place in line, the expected wait time is 8 hours.

[MrSmith]

@forumfish Thanks for that post. That'll make me more aware of how I phrase my question in such situations, and I'll try to use "Would you like help?" instead of "Do you need help?" Much appreciated!

[ari333]

25 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

 

Sorry, MrS, couldn't get your quote box to edit out.

Anyhoo.

"Would you like help" is probably the better choice of phrase, but in need I wouldn't be sad or miffed etc if asked if I needed help. My car was stuck in the ice (shallow, but stuck) just as I pulled out of my parking spot and my car was jutting out, potentially blocking anyone who needed to get in or out of the cul de sac. Three African neighbor gentleman from another building (I don't know them, but I don't know many neighbors outside of my own buiilding) came out and one said, "Do you need help?" YES oh YES YES. They pushed me safely back into the parking spot.   I had been stuck in a slippery ice spot in the parking lot, tires sputtering, turning, and stuck. I am struggling to make this into a peeve, so I guess I would accept help and be grateful however it is phrased. :-)

I understand the sensitivity of the phrasing, but if someone is in clear distress, (rolling down an incline or inching toward a railroad track in an out-of-power wheelchair or in a car on fire) I can assume they do need help. Maybe the fear of semantic mistakes makes people inclined not to help. Just 2 cents.

Also, I hold doors open for men and women as a courtesy, not to imply that I think they are too lame or weak to hold their own door open.

Edited April 8, 2017 by ari333

[walnutqueen]

I always hold doors open for the next person, and am always extremely grateful when people open doors for me.  I may look able-bodied, but my wrists, forearms & elbows are riddled with chronic tendinitis & nerve damage - invisible to the eye, but debilitating nonetheless.  Sure, I can do the "lifting & pulling" when necessary, but then I suffer the consequences for hours or days thereafter.  So some might be taken aback by how heartfelt my thanks seem.  You just never know when you're helping an "invisible invalid".

It's also why I tend to post infrequently and with some brevity - typing too much KILLS my arms!  Lucky for my fellow PTVers, or I'd undoubtedly be another insufferable windbag.   :-D

[ari333]

10 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

I always hold doors open for the next person, and am always extremely grateful when people open doors for me.  I may look able-bodied, but my wrists, forearms & elbows are riddled with chronic tendinitis & nerve damage - invisible to the eye, but debilitating nonetheless.  Sure, I can do the "lifting & pulling" when necessary, but then I suffer the consequences for hours or days thereafter.  So some might be taken aback by how heartfelt my thanks seem.  You just never know when you're helping an "invisible invalid".

It's also why I tend to post infrequently and with some brevity - typing too much KILLS my arms!  Lucky for my fellow PTVers, or I'd undoubtedly be another insufferable windbag.   :-D

This ^^^^ so agree. not about the windbag part, dear friend. :-)

Here's a peeve. I was giving a neighbor a ride to the grocery. We were rolling up and parking etc. There was a lady who had parked in the handicapped space (is that the proper word for it?)  and she clearly had the tag on her mirror for parking there. My neighbor smirked and sneered and said, "Look at her fat ass, walking to the store and parking in that close spot. She's not disabled." I was horrified. I said, "We don't know what her condition is. She could have emphysema   or something that is not readily visible to us. And PS it is not my business to judge her... or yours."

ASS.

PEOPLE!

JESUS, mary and joseph and the wise men and the shepherds and the donkey. [/Kathy Griffin]

Edited April 8, 2017 by ari333

[auntlada]

I looked out the window and saw some kid I do not know mowing my front lawn. I asked him if someone asked him to do so (after calling my landlord, who did not and who would tell us if he were going to) and he said, "No, I'm just helping people." It's hard to get mad at that, and the lawn did need mowing and was scraggly, but I didn't want it mowed, and he didn't ask. He just mowed. I mow my own lawn, but not until after Easter (unless Easter is really late, like the last weekend of April). We need to have grass long enough to hide eggs.

It's hard to be mad at someone, especially a teenager, just trying to help people, but for the love of God, ask first. I didn't want to discourage him from helping people, so I just said thank you. But I'm still annoyed.

[janestclair]

10 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

You just never know when you're helping an "invisible invalid

 

5 minutes ago, ari333 said:

Look at her fat ass, walking to the store and parking in that close spot. She's not disabled." I was horrified. I said, "We don't know what her condition is. She could have emphysema   or something that is not readily visible to us. And PS it is not my business to judge her... or yours."

There are so many people in that category, and yet for some reason, most people think you can only be handicapped if you have a walker or wheelchair.   My best friend and I are both in the invisible disability category, and I do get some looks when I park in the handicap spot that I have a tag for.  Those people can fuck right off.  Ditto the people who make a comment about parking in a handicap space when you're going to walk around in the mall.  I can only manage so much walking in a day without being tired/in pain. I'd rather that be in the mall than the parking lot. My friend recently hurt her knee, and was actually glad for the crutches and brace, because for a change her disability wasn't so invisible.  How screwed up is that?

[ari333]

3 minutes ago, janestclair said:

 

There are so many people in that category, and yet for some reason, most people think you can only be handicapped if you have a walker or wheelchair.   My best friend and I are both in the invisible disability category, and I do get some looks when I park in the handicap spot that I have a tag for.  Those people can fuck right off.  Ditto the people who make a comment about parking in a handicap space when you're going to walk around in the mall.  I can only manage so much walking in a day without being tired/in pain. I'd rather that be in the mall than the parking lot. My friend recently hurt her knee, and was actually glad for the crutches and brace, because for a change her disability wasn't so invisible.  How screwed up is that?

I guess folks are supposed to limp to the store/mall door so people don't throw things. I wanted to ask my neighbor if maybe she should just be happy that she can walk to the store door, able-bodied,  from any parking spot (and that I gave her a free ride.) GACK

[DeLurker]

This exceeds "peeve" level...I was driving to the grocery store earlier when I caught a light.  The truck in front of me had a very happy looking dog sticking his head out the window and making the kids in the next car smile.  Not a fan of dogs + open windows myself, but this is primarily a residential area so you really can't go that fast and hopefully nothing will fly into your pet's eye.

The light turns green and everyone starts to go, but truck guy is in a hurry to get somewhere so he is switching lanes, cutting off people and the poor dog is getting sloshed around with every quick lane change he makes.  B*A*S*T*A*R*D!!!!

[ari333]

Peeve. I was the first one in a line at the traffic light. It turned green. I hesitated maybe 2 or 3 seconds. The guy behind laid (lay?) on the horn. Then another truck came flying through the red (on his side) light. If I had gone forward immediately  on my green, he'd have killed me or at least hit me hard on the driver's side.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, auntlada said:

It's hard to be mad at someone, especially a teenager, just trying to help people, but for the love of God, ask first. I didn't want to discourage him from helping people, so I just said thank you. But I'm still annoyed.

I'd have been annoyed too, in your circumstances (or in any, really; ask first!).  I think I'd have told him his impulse to help people is admirable, and thanked him, but then explained that in this particular instance I was keeping the grass long for a reason, so it would be a better idea if he knocked on people's doors and offered to mow their grass, just in case somebody else had a reason they wouldn't want it done (e.g. they have Sod A, and don't want it "infected" with the Sod B the kid has in his mower blades from doing someone else's yard). 

Edited April 8, 2017 by Bastet

[harrie]

8 minutes ago, ari333 said:

Peeve. I was the first one in a line at the traffic light. It turned green. I hesitated maybe 2 or 3 seconds. The guy behind laid (lay?) on the horn. Then another truck came flying through the red (on his side) light. If I had gone forward immediately  on my green, he'd have killed me or at least hit me hard on the driver's side.

We call that driving by New Haven rules -- whenever in that city, you always wait a second or two after the light changes.  If you're in a sporting mood, count the number of cars that run the red light and see whether your or your companion's guess was closest.

The hub's pet peeve is that I recently underwent a total knee replacement and am on a walker/cane (depending what kind of day I'm having) for about the next month, if all goes well -- and it never occurred to me to ask either doctor or DMV  about a temporary handicapped permit.  Sorry, hub. 

[rcc]

59 minutes ago, ari333 said:

Peeve. I was the first one in a line at the traffic light. It turned green. I hesitated maybe 2 or 3 seconds. The guy behind laid (lay?) on the horn. Then another truck came flying through the red (on his side) light. If I had gone forward immediately  on my green, he'd have killed me or at least hit me hard on the driver's side.

And probably the SOB would have driven off after you got hit by that car as if he hadn't done or seen a thing.

[theredhead77]

2 hours ago, ari333 said:

Sorry, MrS, couldn't get your quote box to edit out.

Anyhoo.

"Would you like help" is probably the better choice of phrase, but in need I wouldn't be sad or miffed etc if asked if I needed help. My car was stuck in the ice (shallow, but stuck) just as I pulled out of my parking spot and my car was jutting out, potentially blocking anyone who needed to get in or out of the cul de sac. Three African neighbor gentleman from another building (I don't know them, but I don't know many neighbors outside of my own buiilding) came out and one said, "Do you need help?" YES oh YES YES. They pushed me safely back into the parking spot.  

I realize I'm totally calling you out, but this is a huge peeve. What does their race / ethnicity have to do with anything? Three neighbor gentlemen blah blah conveys the same thing. My parents do it all.the.time. No mom, I don't care that the person cutting your lawn is now Japanese instead of Mexican.

[bilgistic]

IIn the property marketing books I write for work, I have to include notes about the building's construction materials, its number of restrooms, etc. I also note its number of parking spaces, "including x number of ADA-compliant spaces". I don't use "handicapped" because I feel that's an outdated term that's akin to "crippled".

I have a disability that isn't visible (mental illness), so I'm probably "too sensitive" about the issue.

[theredhead77]

1 minute ago, bilgistic said:

IIn the property marketing books I write for work, I have to include notes about the building's construction materials, its number of restrooms, etc. I also note its number of parking spaces, "including x number of ADA-compliant spaces". I don't use "handicapped" because I feel that's an outdated term that's akin to "crippled".

I have a disability that isn't visible (mental illness), so I'm probably "too sensitive" about the issue.

I don't think you are "too sensitive". Language evolves over time and documents should reflect the language. At the same time it's important to keep perspective and not be offended by things written 20 years go using outdated language. 

[bilgistic]

40 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

My parents do it all.the.time. No mom, I don't care that the person cutting your lawn is now Japanese instead of Mexican.

My aunt (72) and grandmother (91) do this. "This woman cut in front of me in line at the bank and she was [hushed tone] black!" OK, well, I was cut off in traffic by a white woman in a Mercedes SUV.

[ari333]

1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

I realize I'm totally calling you out, but this is a huge peeve. What does their race / ethnicity have to do with anything? Three neighbor gentlemen blah blah conveys the same thing. My parents do it all.the.time. No mom, I don't care that the person cutting your lawn is now Japanese instead of Mexican.

Sorry if it came across as offensive. I didn't intend it that way and here's why.

Only one spoke a little English. They are new to the neighborhood and apparently saw me from their window. I was  struggling. They came out of their home in the ice to help me, a stranger. I thought it was extra sweet since they are new here, only one of them spoke a few words of English and yet they came out in the cold to help me. That was my only reason to even mention where they are from. They are from Africa. If folks had just moved in from Sweden who didn't speak English had come out I would have mentioned that too.

Anyway, back to the peeve part... the neighbor who I regularly give rides to and do errands for couldn't be bothered to answer the door when I knocked when I was stuck.

Edited April 8, 2017 by ari333