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

[GHScorpiosRule]

Now, in defense of the banks (I know, I know. In a previous life I was a banker) <snip>

So, I guess on the topic of banking. I used to HATE when customers would pull up to the drive through and not be ready. No deposit slip, on the phone, using said phone on the calculator, signing checks, etc. all the while I had to stare at their pretentious mug at the ready for that moment they were ready for me. <snip>

Which is another peeve of mine. People that act all taken aback when asked to show ID. It's the law buddy. Buying alcohol and look under 35, well, the cashier shouldn't risk losing their job because you can't be bothered to show ID. Cashing a check for $5,000 dollars, hell, $20.00, the teller should ID you. It's called CYA (cover your ass). Are you worth my job? Nope-show me ID buddy!

 

Fellow former banker/teller/customer service rep HERE! Back the days where we just had the "stupid" cell phones, I'd have to WAIT while the customer was on the phone, talking whatever nonsense, and when they got off and looked at me, I would say, if I was having a bad day "Oh, are you ready now? Or do you need a few more minutes?"

 

Re: ID, I was extremely fortunate that I worked in a small branch where I had "regulars" so after the first few times of asking for ID, I wouldn't need to; Oh! then there's the whole "No, I can't give you all this money (over $10K) without you having to fill out a CTR (Currency Transaction Report), because it's not bank policy, but the FUCKING FEDERAL LAW.

 

And the top? "Don't you know who I AM???" Well, no, I dun't. ID please?

 

mountainaire,  did your bank ever forget to order money? Because my husband went to cash a substantial check today and he has to go back tomorrow. It is the 3rd of the month, government checks I guess, and the teller said that someone forgot to order money on the Memorial holiday. I guess they order on Monday's? 

 

stewed, you did that on purpose, didn't you? [The bolded part]

[Quof]

Ah, the ATM annoyances.   I always seem to get stuck behind someone who is doing an entire month's worth of transacations, on a couple of different bank cards, including updating their bank book (Who even has a bank book anymore?).   They're checking balances, transferring funds......   That's why we have online banking.   ATMs should only accept deposits and spit out cash. 

 

My bank has a new machine at their drivethru.  You simply hit "deposit", then feed in cash and or cheques.   It scans the paper, and the screen displays "cheque for $14.54" or "10 x $5".   I assume there is some button that lets you correct an error the machine has made, but I have never seen it make an error. 

[Qoass]

So, input please:

 

I was at an ATM in the lobby of a closed bank on a weekend.  I had already used the counter to fill out my deposit slip, sign my check, etc. and was just sealing the envelope when somebody came in and immediately started using the machine without asking if I was ready or done yet.  Don't you think that's kind of rude?  It's not like I own the machine but I think it would have been polite if she had acknowledged that I was ahead of her.

 

And would it change your answer if I told you she knocked over my bicycle outside when she swung the door open and never even turned her head?

Edited June 4, 2015 by Qoass

[Quof]

Nope, not your machine yet.  How does she know that you aren't going to seal more envelopes, or do other things, before you're ready to use the machine? And what bank requires you to include a deposit slip???  While not all banks have the fancy-dancy machines I mentioned in my earlier post, any other machine I have ever used simply requires you to press "deposit", then "amount", then "Okay", before deposting the envelope.  I've never even signed a cheque I'm depositing.

[Qoass]

My bank requires you fill out the deposit info on the envelope and that you sign the check.

 

And she would have known if she had asked.  That's all I hoped for.

[Mountainair]

mountainaire,  did your bank ever forget to order money? Because my husband went to cash a substantial check today and he has to go back tomorrow. It is the 3rd of the month, government checks I guess, and the teller said that someone forgot to order money on the Memorial holiday. I guess they order on Monday's? He said someone was trying to cash a check for $1,000 and they couldn't do it. They ran out of money. I have never heard of that before, the ordering part.

Mistakes happen and yes sometimes the tellers would forget to order money however that was very rare. Each bank has different ordering days and if it falls on a Holiday then you order money the day before or after your usual day. That being said, cashing a $1,000 check shouldn't "break the bank" so to speak but you never know when someone will walk in and want to withdraw thousands of dollars in cash from their account. For us it was mostly older people (70 hrs and up) that would wake up and all of a sudden distrust banks and want all their money in cash.

[ramble]

So, input please:

I was at an ATM in the lobby of a closed bank on a weekend. I had already used the counter to fill out my deposit slip, sign my check, etc. and was just sealing the envelope when somebody came in and immediately started using the machine without asking if I was ready or done yet. Don't you think that's kind of rude? It's not like I own the machine but I think it would have been polite if she had acknowledged that I was ahead of her.

And would it change your answer if I told you she knocked over my bicycle outside when she swung the door open and never even turned her head?

I suppose in theory you weren't using the machine yet so it was free, but if it were me I would've asked you. Of course the knocking of your bicycle over without so much as a blink IMO shows a carelessness toward others so it's not that surprising. I can't imagine not righting a bike if I knocked it over. Edited June 4, 2015 by ramble

[Maharincess]

Eh stewdsquash, we'll over look your Monday's.

I think the one I hate the most now is people spelling lose, loose. That one has edged out your vs you're as my biggest pet peeve.

I asked my 6 year old granddaughter to spell lose and loose. She got it right.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Interesting. My bank stopped providing envelopes to deposit into the ATM a few years ago. Now? You just stack your cash and insert it, and tell the machine how much you're depositing, and it confirms how much you put it before finalizing; same with checks. Just insert the check in the slot and the machine eats it up.

[bilgistic]

I bank at ye olde credite unione, and they don't have scanner ATMs; they still use envelopes. I missed the new scanner ATMs when I moved everything over to the credit union, but I wasn't going to pay Wells Fargo (when they took over Wachovia, my hometown bank) money to make money off my money.

[Bastet]

People who hit a parked car and don’t leave a note.

 

I’m off today to get things done without having to give up my weekend, and was at the supermarket.  As I pulled out to leave, a car a few spaces over had just done the same, and I followed her up the aisle.  She stopped mid-way, got out, and walked back to tell me she’d seen the man in the old blue car next to me hit my bumper as he pulled in.  I looked, it was a couple of scratches not worth filing a claim for (I have a worse scrape on the other side from some other asshole who didn’t leave a note), so I thanked her and sent her on her way. 

 

I went back to my former space and waited, but quickly got sick of sitting around for something I wasn't even going to pursue beyond a tongue lashing.  So I was just finishing my “Next time you hit a car, make sure there are no witnesses” note – let him live in fear – when he and his companion arrived and started to get in their car.  As soon as I got out of mine and said, “Excuse me,” the “Oh, shit” look was in full effect.

 

He readily admitted it, walked over and showed me the damage, etc.  I told him he should have left a note out of common courtesy, and if he had I’d have called and said, “Thanks, don’t worry about it.”  He was embarrassed and apologetic, so no need to belabor the point as perhaps he’ll think twice next time.  But, goddamn.  If you know you hit someone’s car, even if you just “tapped the bumper” like these entitled assholes in the Liberty Mutual commercials, leave a note.  Maybe he was dead broke, undocumented, a fugitive from justice, or otherwise scared to leave his info.  Fine.  Leave an anonymous note apologizing, and I’ll assume you have a legitimate reason for not wanting to include your info and move on with my day.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Bastet

[annzeepark914]

We'd been shopping in a supermarket on the other side of the city. When we got to our car we saw a note on the windshield.  A very nice woman wrote that she saw an elderly man hit our car (enough so the car rocked) and took off.  She got his license plate and description of the car, also provided us her phone number.  We called and thanked her then gave this info' to our insurance company.  Thanks to this good woman, the elderly gent's insurance company paid for all repairs.

[magicdog]

Lucky you had a good Samaritan.  Where I live it's not uncommon to have an accident (minor or otherwise) only to have the driver who caused it either leave the scene or shrug their shoulders and say they weren't insured.  Yeah they get cited for that, but you're still out of luck more often than not.

[Maharincess]

Bastet, I know how you feel. I posted my own parked car being hit story in Chit Chat.

People suck.

[BW Manilowe]

My Pet Peeve--at least a pretty big 1--is: People who think the plural form of a word ending in S (like, "dads") is punctuated with an an apostrophe ("dad's"). NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! If you put an apostrophe in a word like that, that makes it either a) the singular possessive form of the word ("dad's car"), or b) the contraction of the original word plus "is" (like "dad is"). It IS NOT the correct spelling of the plural form of the word involved!

[annzeepark914]

Have comparative and superlative adjectives disappeared?   Example:  The temperature was more warm today than yesterday (what happened to warmer?).  He is the most quiet neighbor on the block (how about quietest?)  Has some power that be stipulated that comparatives and superlatives aren't necessary today?  It drives me nuts when I hear people (usually on TV or reading it in the newspaper or online) speak this way.

[Maharincess]

My Pet Peeve--at least a pretty big 1--is: People who think the plural form of a word ending in S (like, "dads") is punctuated with an an apostrophe ("dad's"). NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! If you put an apostrophe in a word like that, that makes it either a) the singular possessive form of the word ("dad's car"), or b) the contraction of the original word plus "is" (like "dad is"). It IS NOT the correct spelling of the plural form of the word involved!

If you read back a bit you'll see that apostrophe abuse is a pet peeve of many of us.

My grown ass brother does it and it drives me crazy. He even writes alway's.

[elizacat]

Strangers who out of the blue say to you "smile" if you aren't grinning like a freak 24/7. Maybe I have bitch face. I don't know. I used to get this a lot though. One jackass said it literally as I was walking out of the animal hospital having just learned I had to put a beloved pet to sleep. I swear, if I ever hear it again I'm going to say something truly awful like "I just had bury my toddler who I backed over while drunk." Take that.

And huggers. IF huggers were polite and asked before embracing I might feel differently, but we all know they'd never accept no so it probably doesn't matter. I despise hungers. And I don't like huggers either haha.

Oh god seriously I absolutely love this post! I despise people telling me to smile oh and when they add "it couldn't be that bad" it just makes me angry. I have been known on occasion to turn around and say what the f*** would you know!

 

Seriously what is there to smile about when its 6.30am and i'm walking to work trying to drink my first coffee of the day - not a morning person at all.

 

My other current pet peeve is people that put money in their mouth.

 

I work in a shop and honestly I don't understand how people don't get how utterly disgusting it is that they put money in their mouth and then can not see how bad and offensive it is when they then want to give it to me to pay for their goods.

 

I will leave it there otherwise this post could end up pages long with all my pet peeves related to customers!

Edited June 8, 2015 by elizacat

[auntlada]

Oh god seriously I absolutely love this post! I despise people telling me to smile oh and when they add "it couldn't be that bad" it just makes me angry. I have been known on occasion to turn around and say what the f*** would you know!

 

I always want to tell them a family member just died.

[bilgistic]

My other current pet peeve is people that put money in their mouth.

I work in a shop and honestly I don't understand how people don't get how utterly disgusting it is that they put money in their mouth and then can not see how bad and offensive it is when they then want to give it to me to pay for their goods.

I've also worked as a cashier, and yes, cash is FILTHY. A few years ago, one of those studies came out that every news outlet quotes as a end note--something like 80% of bills have traces of cocaine on them.

[bubbls]

When do people put money in their mouth? That's gross!!

[Wiendish Fitch]

I hate it when people say "these ones" or "those ones". "These" and "those" imply the "ones" in question, so it sounds ignorant and redundant. Unfortunately, I think it's considered grammatically acceptable, and it makes me want to rip my hair out. 

[elizacat]

I always want to tell them a family member just died.

Me too! I have often thought afterward I should just say my mother just died - she has actually been dead for 20 years so I don't think I would feel disrespectful and I actually think she would find it kind of funny.

[elizacat]

I've also worked as a cashier, and yes, cash is FILTHY. A few years ago, one of those studies came out that every news outlet quotes as a end note--something like 80% of bills have traces of cocaine on them.

I tend to tell people studies have shown traces of faeces are found on bank notes.

 

Speaking of traces of cocaine a week ago a guy handed me a rolled up £5 note when I unrolled it, it literally was covered in coke there was so much on it that it was all over my hands. I had to wash both my hands and the note.

When do people put money in their mouth? That's gross!!

Honestly they do it all the time. I once had a guy have a £1 coin in his mouth sucking on it like a lolly and then try and hand it to me - yeah I refused to take that.

The weird thing is they don't get how horrible it is and seem to think I'm being an ass for saying something about it to them!

[JTMacc99]

Honestly they do it all the time. I once had a guy have a £1 coin in his mouth sucking on it like a lolly and then try and hand it to me - yeah I refused to take that.

The weird thing is they don't get how horrible it is and seem to think I'm being an ass for saying something about it to them!

People have a pretty wide range of tolerances for what is gross and what is acceptable.  Even within the same culture you can find the typical bell curve with some people pretty much thinking everything is covered in germs and disgusting to people who just don't seem to care at all.  And those of us in the middle think the people on either end are kind of nuts.

 

I try to wash my hands a lot.  I can't possibly correct all of the people to the left of me on the gross/clean bell curve.

[elizacat]

People have a pretty wide range of tolerances for what is gross and what is acceptable.  Even within the same culture you can find the typical bell curve with some people pretty much thinking everything is covered in germs and disgusting to people who just don't seem to care at all.  And those of us in the middle think the people on either end are kind of nuts.

 

I try to wash my hands a lot.  I can't possibly correct all of the people to the left of me on the gross/clean bell curve.

Yeah I wash my hands a lot! Which in itself isn't good for the skin and means I spend quite a bit on hand cream lol.

[annzeepark914]

Washing hands has become my thing to do as soon as I walk in the door from being out and about (and especially while cooking, making salads, etc).  It's also made me wonder about the folks preparing meals for us in restaurants (if I think too much about this I'd probably never go out to eat again!).  Now, when I'm watching a cooking show and restaurant cooks/chefs are featured, it really bothers me when I see they're not wearing gloves while using their hands to prepare food.  

[Bastet]

Even within the same culture you can find the typical bell curve with some people pretty much thinking everything is covered in germs and disgusting to people who just don't seem to care at all.

 

I lean towards the "don't care" side.  I certainly wouldn’t lick money, but maybe there has been a time when I stuck some bills between my lips to hold them while I rooted around for something.  I can't think of a specific instance of that happening, but I don't rule it out because something at that level of exposure would not bother me (I have a healthy immune system).

[GHScorpiosRule]

Did I mention my peeve about when numbers are used to replace words? And I'm not talking about numbers to replace the spelling out of the number. i.e. 2, instead of two.

 

But more like, I wanted 2 mention that x show had this episode, which is 1 thing I can't stand. When they really mean, I wanted to mention that x show had this episode, which is the one one thing I can't stand.

 

I'm sorry to those who feel it's just 'easier' or 'simpler' to type out numbers; it just makes my teeth grind.

Edited June 8, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[topanga]

Did I mention my peeve about when numbers are used to replace words? And I'm not talking about numbers to replace the spelling out of the number. e.i. 2, instead of two.

 

But more like, I wanted 2 mention that x show had this episode, which is 1 thing I can't stand. When they really mean, I wanted to mention that x show had this episode, which is the one one thing I can't stand.

 

I'm sorry to those who feel it's just 'easier' or 'simpler' to type out numbers; it just makes my teeth grind.

 

Good one. I find that it takes incredibly long to read sentences or song titles (I'm talking to you, Prince) that use numbers this way. I was a psych major in college, and I know it has something to do with how our minds process numbers and letters. And to read a number where a word should be, some unnatural brain "switching" is required. I'm fuzzy about the details.

[backformore]

Washing hands has become my thing to do as soon as I walk in the door from being out and about (and especially while cooking, making salads, etc).  It's also made me wonder about the folks preparing meals for us in restaurants (if I think too much about this I'd probably never go out to eat again!).  Now, when I'm watching a cooking show and restaurant cooks/chefs are featured, it really bothers me when I see they're not wearing gloves while using their hands to prepare food.  

My doctor told me about a study with kids and workers at a daycare center.  I don't remember all the details, but the bottom line is that we build up immunity to germs we encounter all the time, but are susceptible to germs that are "new"  to us.  So germs we bring home from work will get family members sick, and germs from home get people at work sick.   The conclusion was that it was important to wash your hands when you get to work/school/daycare, and then wash your hands when you get home.  

[backformore]

Good one. I find that it takes incredibly long to read sentences or song titles (I'm talking to you, Prince) that use numbers this way. I was a psych major in college, and I know it has something to do with how our minds process numbers and letters. And to read a number where a word should be, some unnatural brain "switching" is required. I'm fuzzy about the details.

Right - it has to do with being a visual or auditory learner.   most of us process printed language visually, so we take in the meanings of what we read without having to sound them out.   When numbers stand for sounds (I HATE when the number 8 is used that way -  Or should I say I "H8" it) we have to sound it out in our heads to understand it.  Kind of the same way when writers try to capture a regional accent by spelling it phonetically -  Like spelling "Whachoo doin'?"  or "Ah'm gonna" - you have to sound it out in your head, which takes longer than reading visually, where you're not paying attention to each individual word. 

 

When I first started texting, I asked my son about something and he replied "gr8".  I had no idea he meant GREAT .  Two more keystrokes, lazy boy! 

[auntlada]

On a Facebook resale page, people are all the time describing their sale items as "super cute," and it drives me crazy -- not least because the so-called super cute things are usually hideously ugly (in my opinion, of course, although possibly objectively ugly, also). I hate it because they have photos up, so the prospective buyers can look at the photos to see whether or not they think the item is cute. You don't have to describe it as cute if you show a photo. Also, I hate it just because I hate adding "super" in front of adjectives like that. It makes me think you are a 15-year-old girl with a small vocabulary.

 

But today, I saw a post for an eloquent throw. Unfortunately, it has already sold so I can't buy it. I might like a blanket with interesting conversation.

[JTMacc99]

But today, I saw a post for an eloquent throw. Unfortunately, it has already sold so I can't buy it. I might like a blanket with interesting conversation.

Hee! 

 

Oh the stories that blanket could tell.  Or in this case, does tell I guess.

[applecrisp]

I lean towards the "don't care" side.  I certainly wouldn’t lick money, but maybe there has been a time when I stuck some bills between my lips to hold them while I rooted around for something.  I can't think of a specific instance of that happening, but I don't rule it out because something at that level of exposure would not bother me (I have a healthy immune system).

I am like you about this.  The one thing I always do is wash my hands at a restaurant before I eat. 

[bilgistic]

I always wash my hands in a restaurant before I eat.

My mother has a friend who believes that going to the doctor (like, for a check-up) makes you sick. I poo-pooed that until I got a cold after seeing the doctor this spring for my regular thyroid check. I rarely catch anything because I don't have kids nor encounter many people other than at work, and I'm not close to them. There's hand sanitizer all over the place at the doctor's office, but I largely think it does more harm than good, by creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria, etc. I am usually just fine with regular soap and water, but after feeling like ass for a week (after incubating for a few days), I'll be dousing myself with hand sanitizer at the doc's office from now on.

[annzeepark914]

I read an article a year or so ago about the need to clean one's hands after touching the menu, s&p shakers, and any condiment containers sitting out on the table before eating any foods that you pick up w/ your hands.  Oy vey!  Whoever wrote the article said that some scientists had examined these items and found them to be quite germy.  After reading that article I began using my tiny Purell dispenser that I carry in my purse.  Some folks roll their eyes but, so what?  I guess I sound like a germ phobe (I'm not constantly washing/purifying my hands, honest!) just trying to be careful out there ;>) 

[Betweenyouandme]

...and checking your phone while eating. It's riddled with germs more than likely.

[Maharincess]

I don't like eating at restaurants anyway. I've seen too many of those dirty restaurant shows, I know those are extreme but you never know.

I prefer to cook at home in what I know is a clean kitchen.

After watching Hoarder type shows, I'll never go to another pot luck dinner again either.

My pet peeve for this week is people who use the word "ton" improperly.

I watched a marathon of that Property Brothers show over the weekend and one of them did it constantly.

He said there is tons of room, they have tons of time, they've done tons of talking, tons of storage, none of which can be measured in tons.

I don't know why but it annoyed the crap out of me.

Those kinds of shows bug me anyway.

[JTMacc99]

He said there is tons of room, they have tons of time, they've done tons of talking, tons of storage, none of which can be measured in tons.

I prefer the more colorful metaphor "metric shitload" in that scenario.  Who is to say if time can or cannot be measured in metric shitloads?

[DeLurker]

I hate when grocery stores don't post the per unit cost in the same measurement!

 

I was at the store yesterday and checking out the prices for yogurt - same brand, but different sized container.  The individual serving cups had the total price and the price per pound and the larger container had the total price and the price per ounce.  If you added up the individual cups by ounces, it did not equal a pound.  The larger container was 24 ounces so not a pound either.

 

There was no easy way of comparing price per common unit of measure (which I thought was the purpose of the law requiring tht labeling).  Simple math is beyond me these days and not in the middle of a busy store.

[Qoass]

I wholeheartedly agree, DeLurker.  I do some of my shopping at a wholesale club and it's impossible to compare when one package measures in square inches and another is in metric shitloads!

[DeLurker]

Ok, I'm officially 12 today.  I'm giggling about the use of metric shitload and yogurt (since tv keeps telling me about the wonders of probiotics).

[Quof]

The individual serving cups had the total price and the price per pound and the larger container had the total price and the price per ounce.

 

Compounded by the fact that an ounce is a unit of measurement of both weight and volume? 

One of my pet peeves:  the US refusal to switch to metric.

[auntlada]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo do not make us use metric!!! I can't learn new things at 48 or 49 years old!! Metric is not easier when you already think in decimals! Just wait until I die and then the US can switch. [please?]

 

Only if I'm already gone. My husband, who studied science so he knows all that stuff and Celsius, gets mad at me when I ask what something is in real measurements or real temperatures. (Yes, I know the others are real, but I can't do conversions in my head, and I don't have a good concept of centimeters, meters, etc., the way I do inches, feet and yards. The only time meters work for me is in running distances because I ran track and cross country. Also, I know that 2 meters is more than 6 feet, although I don't know exactly. I just know that Darth Vader was 2 meters tall.)

[DeLurker]

But many stone(s) did he weigh?

[auntlada]

I don't know. In our house, we use the poundings unit of measurement for how much things weigh, and 90 is about the biggest there is (a diplodocus or stegosaurus, for example). (I have a 3-year-old.)

[DeLurker]

Fun!

 

I used to do that when babysitting the nieces and nephews.  We'd select a person to be the unit of measure (weight and length) so that the rest would be (for that day only), 1 1/2 Rachels in length but 1 1/4 Rachels in weight or whatever. Occassionally we used the dog as our standard unit.

 

We also used to play the Quiet Game when Aunt DeL was tired.  The premise was who could be quietest the longest.  My gabby niece always lost.

[Qoass]

I visited a website of a business to register a complaint about them calling my home without invitation.  Now whenever I fire up the internet, their ad appears.

 

Quick tip:  I'm not going to do business with you anymore...

[ALenore]

My pet peeve for this week is people who use the word "ton" improperly.

 

Once I was typing a dictation where the doctor said the patient had taken "a ton" of aspirin.  I of course put "a ton" in quotes, since it would clearly be impossible for the patient to take such a large amount of aspirin.   Now that my job has been outsourced to India, I wonder if the current transcriptionists would bother putting the quotation marks in, or if they would just type it verbatim.