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

[Angeltoes]

6 hours ago, WinnieWinkle said:

My husband happened to be at an open window and called out and asked the woman who had parked there to move, she waved her hand in this very "Karen" way and said "I'll just be a minute".

If she does it again your husband should sweetly tell her that he can have her car towed in just a minute.

4 hours ago, Callietwo said:

I deal with this every day all day as I'm working from home and husband is retired.  He watches shit I loathe and the sounds annoy me so much. 

I have been on medical leave since January and thank God that I'm going back to work in two weeks.  Mr. Angeltoes is retired and the TV is his best friend from the minute he gets up until he goes to bed.  The remote never leaves his hand like it's a security blanket.  Myself, I'm a big fan of peace and quiet.  I can go all day without touching a remote.  There are earplugs stashed all over the house so I can put them in to avoid strangling him and ending up on an episode of Dateline.  He's constantly watching old westerns or mafia shows so it sounds like a never-ending shoot-out in the house.  He watches one fishing reality show (where everybody looks like a jack-o-lantern because they're missing teeth) which is nothing but constant beeping because all the swear words have to be bleeped out.  It's like nails on a chalkboard to me.  He doesn't know it, but I figured out that the bedroom remote works on his tv, too.  I can hide around the corner and turn down his volume.  He looks puzzled because he can see the volume indicator going down but he knows he isn't causing it.  He then says,"What the *bleep*?!  What the *bleep* is wrong with this *bleep* tv?"  I take my fun where I can get it.

[Hangin Out]

On 3/28/2021 at 3:20 PM, theredhead77 said:

First world privilege peeve: when I order a few things from Amazon the one item I really want / need gets delayed. I don't care of they ring the bell or not, my Amazon app tells me the package has been delivered. I also use Shop which tells me when other packages have been delivered. I just care that the furnace air filters I ordered have shipped and should be delivered today but are not out for delivery.  The furnace filter the HVAC company put in during the maintenance is not nearly as good as the one it replaced. 

Other peeve: commercials for delicious snack foods I didn't know existed and I now want. I bring you Colliders by Hershey. Basically pudding with add-ins and now I want them.

Edit: and just like that Amazon sent an email that my filter delivery is delayed. It's fine, it should show up tomorrow. If it was urgent I would have gone to Home Depot but I just want that filter to capture all the pollen.

Before I buy from Amazon, I look at Walmart.  I was about to buy an outdoor swing with canopy from Amazon for $469.00, but then saw the same swing at Walmart for $279.00.  I received it in six days .. no trouble.  I can’t believe how much stuff Walmart has only on line.  Free shipping too.  Ordered beautiful throw pillows too for when I lie down and look at the trees and birds.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 3/28/2021 at 3:20 PM, theredhead77 said:

Other peeve: commercials for delicious snack foods I didn't know existed and I now want. I bring you Colliders by Hershey. Basically pudding with add-ins and now I want them.

And thanks to reading this, I ordered two! The chocolate pudding with the Hershey chocolate bits and the Vanilla pudding with Reese’s! Amazon Fresh didn’t have the vanilla with the Hershey’s chocolate bits!

[SuprSuprElevated]

2 hours ago, Silver Bells said:

I can’t believe how much stuff Walmart has only on line.  Free shipping too.

Walmart.com is much like Amazon in that it is populated with third party sellers.  

[MargeGunderson]

1 minute ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

Walmart.com is much like Amazon in that it is populated with third party sellers.  

This is a pet peeve of mine - all of the third party sellers on Amazon, Target and Walmart. I miss the days when you used to know who you were ordering from. Amazon is absolutely overrun by sellers offering the same thing under different ridiculous “brand” names. There’s a point when having too many choices just makes it ridiculous, and they are well past it. 

[Cobb Salad]

About Target, their physical stores and their website - I like to browse their site online to see what’s available in their stores and what aisle it’s in the location I go to.  It’s helped me on a few occasions.  Lately I’ve found there’s some stuff that was previously in the store that’s now only available online.  The other day I was casually shopping for something in Target that they had on the shelves a year ago.  When I went last week they had redone their shelves and this thing was no longer there at all and other stuff was there.  Ugh.

[ParadoxLost]

"Things never change" following an article link about an incident 30 or 40 years ago where everyone involved is mostly dead.

I do not think it means what you think it means.

Outrage is fine.  Characterizing the outrage in a way that makes me read an article about the block universe theory to see if I believe that there is possibility that past and present exist simultaneously is not fine.

And I quoted Princess Bride twice.

[kieyra]

Pet peeve of recent show names: The Map of a Million Big Little Tiny Pretty Perfect Things who are also Liars on Fire Everywhere and possibly In Boxes. 

[GaT]

9 hours ago, Cobb Salad said:

About Target, their physical stores and their website - I like to browse their site online to see what’s available in their stores and what aisle it’s in the location I go to.  It’s helped me on a few occasions.  Lately I’ve found there’s some stuff that was previously in the store that’s now only available online.  The other day I was casually shopping for something in Target that they had on the shelves a year ago.  When I went last week they had redone their shelves and this thing was no longer there at all and other stuff was there.  Ugh.

Did they remodel it? I've found that the last time Target remodeled the local stores, they made some departments smaller. I noticed that the toy section of all things was a lot smaller & the aisles were a lot closer together, & they had a lot fewer toys.

[Cobb Salad]

3 hours ago, GaT said:

Did they remodel it? I've found that the last time Target remodeled the local stores, they made some departments smaller. I noticed that the toy section of all things was a lot smaller & the aisles were a lot closer together, & they had a lot fewer toys.

It was remodeled the last time I was there and found the thing I was looking for that’s now gone.  I wasn’t talking about the toy section so I have no idea if it’s smaller now in the one I go to but it’s strange to me that they’d shrink that section.  

[Moose135]

15 hours ago, Cobb Salad said:

Lately I’ve found there’s some stuff that was previously in the store that’s now only available online.  The other day I was casually shopping for something in Target that they had on the shelves a year ago.  When I went last week they had redone their shelves and this thing was no longer there at all and other stuff was there.

Maybe if an item isn't a big seller, or doesn't have a high margin, they don't want to take up retail shelf space for it in place of something that sells better, but it does sell enough to keep it in the warehouse and ship when they get online orders?

[Hangin Out]

On 3/28/2021 at 10:58 PM, annzeepark914 said:

I can't handle the shrieking whistles during football & basketball games. And I can hear them even though Mr P914 is watching on his new mega TV in the basement. That sound cuts through me!

My husband bought a new 44 inch superdooper t.v. for the bedroom.  I shut the door and have the whole living room to myself.  That’s all he watches .. golf, football, basketball, baseball, hockey and all the sports shows with all the stats.  My Mother used to say “at least you know where he is”, lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hangin Out]

On 3/29/2021 at 4:29 PM, Angeltoes said:

If she does it again your husband should sweetly tell her that he can have her car towed in just a minute.

I have been on medical leave since January and thank God that I'm going back to work in two weeks.  Mr. Angeltoes is retired and the TV is his best friend from the minute he gets up until he goes to bed.  The remote never leaves his hand like it's a security blanket.  Myself, I'm a big fan of peace and quiet.  I can go all day without touching a remote.  There are earplugs stashed all over the house so I can put them in to avoid strangling him and ending up on an episode of Dateline.  He's constantly watching old westerns or mafia shows so it sounds like a never-ending shoot-out in the house.  He watches one fishing reality show (where everybody looks like a jack-o-lantern because they're missing teeth) which is nothing but constant beeping because all the swear words have to be bleeped out.  It's like nails on a chalkboard to me.  He doesn't know it, but I figured out that the bedroom remote works on his tv, too.  I can hide around the corner and turn down his volume.  He looks puzzled because he can see the volume indicator going down but he knows he isn't causing it.  He then says,"What the *bleep*?!  What the *bleep* is wrong with this *bleep* tv?"  I take my fun where I can get it.

I am laughing my ass off.  Did you notice when they are retired, they are an expert on everything all of a sudden.  Mine now does laundry the best, shops the best, and thinks he knows everything better than I have been doing all these years without recognition.  Amazing.  I have taped “Jeremiah Johnson” and “ the Searchers” for him 50 times, but he keeps erasing as he knows squat about the DVR.

Edited March 31, 2021 by Silver Bells

[WinnieWinkle]

Today's peeve: news stories that refer to children by their last name.  We had a small child go missing  in dense woods near here a few days ago and the good news is he was found alive today so hurrah but every single news story I've heard and read says things like "when they can speak to Leyton..." (Leyton is his last name).  I am sorry but that just gets on my last nerve.  He's 3 - would it really be breaking some rule somewhere if you call a 3 yr old child by his first name?

[Stats Queen]

22 minutes ago, WinnieWinkle said:

Today's peeve: news stories that refer to children by their last name.  We had a small child go missing  in dense woods near here a few days ago and the good news is he was found alive today so hurrah but every single news story I've heard and read says things like "when they can speak to Leyton..." (Leyton is his last name).  I am sorry but that just gets on my last nerve.  He's 3 - would it really be breaking some rule somewhere if you call a 3 yr old child by his first name?

I think there are privacy laws, which I would think parents could waive. If you are searching for a 3 year old, they are most likely to respond to their first name.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Stats Queen

[kieyra]

I think it’s more a news “style” guide thing, particularly in print media, but still hanging on in news outlets that try to adhere to the old formats. Surnames are used preferentially once a subject’s full name has been introduced in the story.

(I have absolutely no doubt that the searchers were calling for him by his first name.)

... that said, I just went to go see if my suspicions about style guides were correct, but the global news, Ottawa Citizen and CBC written coverage all refer to him as Jude or Jude Layton. I got nothin’. 

[WinnieWinkle]

They definitely used his full name in all the stories I saw or heard but when they specifically referenced him they did so by his last name.  Which, I'm sorry but just comes off as stupid.  And if the rule generally is to use the last name what happens in stories with multiple same last names?  Leyton and his mother Leyton and father Leyton oh and let's not forget to hear from his brother Leyton,,,"  Dumb.

Edited April 1, 2021 by WinnieWinkle

[BookWoman56]

1 hour ago, WinnieWinkle said:

They definitely used his full name in all the stories I saw or heard but when they specifically referenced him they did so by his last name.  Which, I'm sorry but just comes off as stupid.  And if the rule generally is to use the last name what happens in stories with multiple same last names?  Leyton and his mother Leyton and father Leyton oh and let's not forget to hear from his brother Leyton,,,"  Dumb.

In a story with multiple people with the same last name, they would use first and last names the first time each person is mentioned, and after that could either continue using both names or use only the first name. While using the last name is correct per whatever style guide they’re using, the writers and copy editors also can use common sense to ensure that anyone reading the story can tell exactly which person is being referenced. Imagine a situation in which the missing child’s last name is Smith, the sheriff’s last name is Smith, and a major witness’s last name is Smith. The news story is not going to state, “Smith announced that Smith has provided significant information in the ongoing search for Smith.” At least, I hope not. 

[Katy M]

this is going to be long, but it's so ridiculous I have to get it off my chest.

My office gets internet through Comcast.  When we first signed up they said it would be cheaper if we bundled it with cable and we also had to have the cable box even though we obviously don't have a TV here. Fast forward a few years and they've changed their pricing and it's now cheaper to separate, so we have to return the cable box.  OK.  No problem.  

My boss originally spoke with Comcast and they told him to set up a pick up with UPS and give them our Comcast account number and they would take care of it.  UPS driver says they don't do that.  OK.  Nearest Comcast store is 50 miles away.  No problem.  I will go to the UPS drop off place and drop it off.  I get there and they tell me I need a prepaid return label.  Or I can go to a UPS store.  Nearest one is 20 miles away.  I call Comcast and ask if they can just send me a prepaid return label.  Doesn't sound like it should be a big deal.  So, I call and talk to someone and he says he can't do that because they don't have any place that they go.  UPS takes care of it.  WTH does that mean?  It has to go somewhere.  My guess would be to the nearest Comcast store.  He tells me to hire an Uber driver to take it to the nearest UPS store.

Oy with the poodles already.

Yes, yes, I know. Our fault for not living in a small town.  But, really.  We don't know where it goes?  I'm thinking it would probably be cheaper to UPS it at our expense to the nearest Comcast store, but I'm going to wait until they try charging us for it.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I call Comcast and ask if they can just send me a prepaid return label.  Doesn't sound like it should be a big deal.  So, I call and talk to someone and he says he can't do that because they don't have any place that they go.  UPS takes care of it. 

That's just Bullshit. They absolutely can send you a prepaid UPS return label. I asked them to do that when they sent me a box I didn't need (they said I needed the updated one to watch Peacock via cable) since the box I had was the updated one. So I insisted they send me a label because I wasn't going to leave my place to drive to the Xfinity store where we now had to return equipment instead of the Xfinity office. The latter was only 10 minutes away and the former, a good half hour. And this was right around the time we went into shutdown. 

A few days later, I got the label, which they sent in a 6x6 box! I dropped the equipment at the UPS store which was a mile from where I live. Ask for a supervisor if the next time you call the person says they can't send you a label.

[Browncoat]

They ought to be able to e-mail you a label that you can print out!  I've dealt with other vendors who do that.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Oy with the poodles already.

Squeegie, is that you?

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 9/19/2018 at 11:26 AM, DeLurker said:

I hate when food stuff expires before I use it up.  I've been wanting a tuna fish sandwich for a week or two.  I finally got around to buying some tuna fish yesterday.  I went to get out the celery and mayo to make my tuna and notice my mayo's use by date is in April of 2016.  We don't use a lot of mayo in my house so that really shouldn't surprise me, but damn it!  I still want my tuna sandwich!  I buy the smallest bottle I can find too and still don't use it up.

I just checked and they make these things now.  Wonder what the expiration date is on something like this?

Dredging up an old post (geeeez, the things I remember) because I have new data. 

In a reply to the original post, I said these packets don't have expiration dates on them, but I keep them "for years" in the refrigerator with no ill effects.  Whenever I keep individual packets like this, I put the month and year on them (to rotate stock).  This is the date that I obtain them (these came from a sandwich shop, and I have no clue how long they'd been there). 

I just used some mayonnaise ones that had 04-19 on them.  They had been kept in the refrigerator, and were like new.

I don't know if keeping them in the refrigerator, as opposed to room temperature, makes a difference.  I doubt it, because they're sealed, but I use the refrigerator because it's where I keep mayonnaise.  Also, this data applies only to Hellman's/Best Foods packets; I haven't tested any others.

You can buy boxes of these individual packets (although if you need 50, you should just get a squeeze bottle of it), or you can buy them individually here:

https://www.minimus.biz/best-foods-mayonnaise-packet-f01-0401000-1100.aspx

Even if you're not into small amounts of mayonnaise, that is a super fun site.  Getting the order up to $20 for free shipping feels like a spree.

 

[potatoradio]

Related to the loud televisions: we've been watching many, many DVDs during "these times" and I'd like to know who the sound design genius is who turns the dialogue waaaaaay down to a murmur and then blasts the score or special effects sounds so f*cking loudly that the walls and floor vibrate? I don't really enjoy spending the entire movie turning the volume up to hear what's going on and then lunging for the remote at the first blast of VERY DRAMATIC MUSIC. I seem to remember noticing this waaaaaaaay back in ye olde days of the nineties, so I know it's not new, but damn, I shouldn't need my own soundstage set up to watch  a freaking movie. 

When my dad was losing his hearing to old age, he vehemently denied that the television was too loud, despite the fact that we could no longer sit in the same room with him (and eventually, not on the same floor, either). When he moved to assisted living, we discovered that the volume button had broken off and was permanently on full blast. 

And I have always HATED the sound of am radio, particularly baseball games. Memories of staticky, crackling mumbo jumbo cranked all the way up (because LOUDER means clearer, apparently).  I grit my teeth when my wife and I are on a road trip and she casually says, "oh, I wonder if there's a {insert team name} game on?" For those who don't know what an am radio is....well, I liked the sound of dial up modems better. ;) 

[Mittengirl]

On 3/23/2021 at 1:13 AM, BookWoman56 said:

And I can no longer fucking tolerate having to walk past 6-7 people to get peanut butter, or else wait 10 minutes for them to move on to their next debate over the merits of Brand A versus Brand B. 

I haven’t really noticed families, but just couples or individuals standing there staring at the pasta sauce or, yesterday, the gallon jugs of milk.  I can sort of understand the pasta sauce conundrum, as there approximately 6000 varieties, but milk?  One brand, four fat levels.  Just grab one and get the hell out of my way!  I have noticed it is mostly men, middle-aged and older, who are blocking the aisles.  I forgave them at the beginning of the pandemic because I figured they were taking over shopping  duties for a spouse who was more endangered by Covid-19.  But it has been a year, they should be used to shopping by now.  So, again, get the hell out of my way!

[peacheslatour]

10 minutes ago, Mittengirl said:

I haven’t really noticed families, but just couples or individuals standing there staring at the pasta sauce or, yesterday, the gallon jugs of milk.  I can sort of understand the pasta sauce conundrum, as there approximately 6000 varieties, but milk?  One brand, four fat levels.  Just grab one and get the hell out of my way!  I have noticed it is mostly men, middle-aged and older, who are blocking the aisles.  I forgave them at the beginning of the pandemic because I figured they were taking over shopping  duties for a spouse who was more endangered by Covid-19.  But it has been a year, they should be used to shopping by now.  So, again, get the hell out of my way!

My DH would have to plead guilty here. He took over shopping a couple years ago because I have arthritis in both hips and I can't walk all over the store any more. He usually calls me at least three times during a trip. Jeez, he's been doing this long enough but he is very paranoid about making sure he gets it right.

[WinnieWinkle]

Continuing the store related peeve: between Easter week-end closures and the Ontario shutdown (which means stores can be open but with significantly less capacity) the line ups in front of the stores are ridiculous.  It's like people cannot cope without a store being open for one flipping day (this is a constant thing with holiday closures) but couple that with the impact of the shutdown and it's like people feel they need to stock up for armageddon - or they completely forgot it was Easter and had to rush out for chocolate eggs and hot cross buns.  It's nuts.  The Walmart near my Dad's had over 200 people lined up in front of it at 8 am this morning.  

[Quof]

4 minutes ago, WinnieWinkle said:

they completely forgot it was Easter and had to rush out for chocolate eggs

There seems to be a worldwide shortage of Cadbury Mini Eggs. 

[peacheslatour]

16 minutes ago, Quof said:

There seems to be a worldwide shortage of Cadbury Mini Eggs. 

Don't ever hide those in your yard. We did one year and the next morning there were approx. one million little foil wrappers all over the yard. Apparently the squirrels and other critters had quite the party. I hope they didn't get sick.

[PRgal]

59 minutes ago, Mittengirl said:

I haven’t really noticed families, but just couples or individuals standing there staring at the pasta sauce or, yesterday, the gallon jugs of milk.  I can sort of understand the pasta sauce conundrum, as there approximately 6000 varieties, but milk?  One brand, four fat levels.  Just grab one and get the hell out of my way!  I have noticed it is mostly men, middle-aged and older, who are blocking the aisles.  I forgave them at the beginning of the pandemic because I figured they were taking over shopping  duties for a spouse who was more endangered by Covid-19.  But it has been a year, they should be used to shopping by now.  So, again, get the hell out of my way!

Well, at a store I go to, it's more like four fats, organic or conventional.  Then there's lactose free.  This is also one reason why I buy most of my groceries online.  

[Quof]

44 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

We did one year and the next morning there were approx. one million little foil wrappers all over the yard.

You're thinking of the wrong candy treat.   No foil involved.  

[peacheslatour]

Yeah, I was thinking of these. Sorry.

  

[WinnieWinkle]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

Yeah, I was thinking of these. Sorry.

I've bought chocolate like that in the past thinking it would slow me down in terms of my chocolate consumption.  Didn't work.

[RealHousewife]

Apple MacBook chargers being flimsy. 

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

You're thinking of the wrong candy treat.   No foil involved.  

The Royal Dark ones are seriously addictive.  I'm not sure if not being able to stop eating them is a peeve or not.  Maybe it's a peeve that I eat them too quickly and run out.  And I can't get them again until next Easter!

[Quof]

What?  What?   Dark chocolate Mini Eggs??????   Why aren't they in Canada (and in my mouth)? 

[Stats Queen]

3 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

Apple MacBook chargers being flimsy. 

And them changing the ports on new MacBooks so you need a special cable. I was helping a friend who brought everything over on a flash drive but couldn’t plug it into my MacBook. 

Years ago, buying Apple products was as with incredible reliability and customer service. Now they just care about their profit margin.

[SoMuchTV]

4 hours ago, PRgal said:

Well, at a store I go to, it's more like four fats, organic or conventional.  Then there's lactose free.  This is also one reason why I buy most of my groceries online.  

Plus, store brand, name brand, premium brand. Quart, half gallon, gallon. Plus checking the best-by dates. It was a lot easier when we always needed a gallon that would get used up in a few days. Now with an empty nest, milk buying seems to require too many calculations!  Oh and sorry for blocking the dairy section. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

Well if we're going to discuss milk shopping...

Yes, there are a sh*t ton of choices, but wouldn't one be inclined to choose the same thing every time?  I know I do.  I select one or two 1/2 gallons, 2%, and occasionally I'll pick up a pint of half n half or heavy cream for cooking.  That's it.  Doesn't require long moments of chin rubbing while contemplating the choices.  🤷‍♀️

[Browncoat]

My problem with milk buying is on the rare occasion that the store is sold out of the kind I normally buy.  Then I have to figure out what is the next best option among all of the kinds on the shelf.  Which means I have to look at all of the other kinds and their expiration dates, and can I get away with buying a smaller amount of this other kind to tide me over until my preferred kind is restocked, etc., etc., etc.

 

Also:

https://www.cadburyusa.com/en_us/products/cadbury-royal-dark-mini-eggs-10-oz.html

[Quof]

Yeah, now you're just mocking me.  Send me some of those beauties, and some Trader Joe's, and I will send you Coffee Crisp and ketchup chips. 

[Browncoat]

Just now, Quof said:

Yeah, now you're just mocking me.  Send me some of those beauties, and some Trader Joe's, and I will send you Coffee Crisp and ketchup chips. 

Sorry!  I thought I was helping!  I'm not sure I can find them locally even today, and probably not after today.  I only see them in stores for Easter.  And, sadly, I can't help you with the Trader Joe's, either -- the closest one to me is a good three-hour drive.  I'm really no help at all! 

[PRgal]

10 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Plus, store brand, name brand, premium brand. Quart, half gallon, gallon. Plus checking the best-by dates. It was a lot easier when we always needed a gallon that would get used up in a few days. Now with an empty nest, milk buying seems to require too many calculations!  Oh and sorry for blocking the dairy section. 

Size too.  Yep.  And not to mention, dairy free.  And if dairy-free, oat, soy, almond, coconut, cashew.....(and all the sizes and brands that go with that.  Along with sweetened and unsweetened)....I block too

[ParadoxLost]

11 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

And them changing the ports on new MacBooks so you need a special cable. I was helping a friend who brought everything over on a flash drive but couldn’t plug it into my MacBook. 

Years ago, buying Apple products was as with incredible reliability and customer service. Now they just care about their profit margin.

They've always been just been about profit margins.  They've been defending their manufacturing partners' labor issues for at least a decade.

They've just moved from a phase of growing the customer base to maintaining the base and so are cutting the service stuff.

[Bastet]

I buy a half gallon of organic 1% milk, whichever brand is on sale at the time I'm buying. 

When contemplating something new at the store, sure I'll take a minute to read the ingredients and nutrition information, but I remain aware of my surroundings to make sure I'm not in the way of someone who knows what they want needing to grab it and move on. 

I can't stand dilly dallyers who don't maintain basic situational awareness to make sure their own aimless wandering and contemplating doesn't needlessly affect others.  And, yes, we all get lost in thought, but if it manifests as a pattern in someone during a single shopping trip, it's a chronic problem.

[RealHousewife]

17 hours ago, Stats Queen said:

And them changing the ports on new MacBooks so you need a special cable. I was helping a friend who brought everything over on a flash drive but couldn’t plug it into my MacBook. 

Years ago, buying Apple products was as with incredible reliability and customer service. Now they just care about their profit margin.

Yep. I’m over Apple. 
 

Next pet peeve is when someone pushes your buttons repeatedly and gets annoyed by you getting annoyed. Stop poking people. 

[peacheslatour]

1 minute ago, icemiser69 said:

I try to tune them out.  If they don't know they are pushing my buttons that is one thing that I would cut them a lot of slack on.  If they are doing something intentionally that they know that annoys me, I do my best not to take the bait.  Taking the bait just gives them the incentive to continue to act like jerks.

I agree we should try not to but once a button is pushed it tends to do what it was designed to do. It's hard not to react.

[Cobb Salad]

A few weeks ago I posted how my sister and I are selling our parents house and the story about the neighbor wanting to buy it.  Anyway after he told us how much it would cost for him to fix it up to make it liveable for his purposes he made a lowball offer.  We turned him down, he asked if we were going to a realtor to list it and when we said yes he told us we’d have to pay a commission.  Yes, that’s how it works - I hate it when people state the obvious like that.   He probably figured he was making the best offer we'll get and now we’ll walk away with less than selling to him.

My sister and I talked to a few realtors and hired one who actually lives up the street (so she really knows the neighborhood!). She has shown the house several time plus we had an open house.  We have several offers from the open house, all over asking price.  I’ve been doing a virtual “Nyah, Nyah” to this guy.  We haven’t made a decision yet so there’s no deal with anyone yet.  

Oh, and the day before the open house our realtor got an offer through another realtor the next town over that was even lower than the neighbors.  Based on the information the realtor gave us we figure it was the neighbors contractor friend who has already seen the inside of the house.  I figure he did that to make the neighbor’s bid look “better”.  When the neighbor initially approached us he said he wanted to buy it so his son could live next door.  When the son came to look at the house the story was they’d be there for a couple of years until his kid starts school then they’d move because they don’t like the school system in town.  They would rent the house out.  In another conversation with the neighbor he indicated to my sister indirectly that he wanted control over who lives in the house after they decide to rent it out.   So lowball us, make a bundle and rent (or sell as I suspect) to “his kind” of person - I’m not talking about the one who makes the best offer.  Not going to happen.  

[supposebly]

Just don't tell the prospective new owners about the neighbor. He sounds very sketchy.

If it's really that important to him who lives next door, he needs to make a better offer. Some people....

[isalicat]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

I can't stand dilly dallyers who don't maintain basic situational awareness to make sure their own aimless wandering and contemplating doesn't needlessly affect others.  And, yes, we all get lost in thought, but if it manifests as a pattern in someone during a single shopping trip, it's a chronic problem.

A valid point, but for various reasons lately I've been in the company of three ladies all over 90 years old (not all at once!) - all "compos mentis" although no longer driving a car but definitely out at grocery stores, etc. and mobile (not in wheelchairs or anything). Anyways they all do that thing of losing track of how long they have been deciding which yogurt to buy and the fact that the mom of two fractious children would like to get in there and snatch some yogurt and move on..

I've learned from this that patience is an underrated and under practiced virtue and there are ways to be kind and smiley while we interact with the less time constrained among us.