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

[Bastet]

Well, we almost made it, but now a day later someone once again had to take to NextDoor to rant about most people here not flying a flag on the 4th.  As if that says anything about their character in general or their patriotism specifically -- ever, let alone when flag imagery has become associated by many with a narrow set of views so that someone who might normally display it is now hesitant lest they be misinterpreted. 

If someone wants to put out a flag on Independence Day, any other day, or everyday, let it fly.  If someone doesn't, don't.  Either way, people need to just do their own thing for their own reasons based on evaluation of the circumstances, and carry on without assuming and impugning based on this one thing alone what anyone who does differently means by it.

[theredhead77]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Well, we almost made it, but now a day later someone once again had to take to NextDoor to rant about most people here not flying a flag on the 4th.  As if that says anything about their character in general or their patriotism specifically -- ever, let alone when flag imagery has become associated by many with a narrow set of views so that someone who might normally display it is now hesitant lest they be misinterpreted. 

If someone wants to put out a flag on Independence Day, any other day, or everyday, let it fly.  If someone doesn't, don't.  Either way, people need to just do their own thing for their own reasons based on evaluation of the circumstances, and carry on without assuming and impugning based on this one thing alone what anyone who does differently means by it.

Someone should counter that with flags hung incorrectly or in violation of the flag code (no lighting, frayed, etc...)

[Mindthinkr]

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

Well, we almost made it,

Same. A friend on the board of our HOA wrote me privately yesterday to ask me what I thought about the Thin blue line flag. Neighbors were fined for hanging theirs. Considering what happened in AZ I said it was probably not worth the cost of litigation.
Whatever happened to tolerance? 

[TattleTeeny]

A while back, we had a discussion here about using "K" in a text instead of "OK" because the latter is considered rude or terse or something. I am not only still so baffled by this, but I feel like "K" is the snottier option -- at least based on myself; I notice that I, in in-person conversations, will say something closer to "K" than "OK" if the person I am talking to has opined or stated something that is just beyond ignorant or far too exhausting to even bother continuing to discuss. So, to me, "K" seems dismissive (though the people I do "K" to probably actually believe they've convinced me to agree, haha!). 

Also, I am still hearing "mayham" all over the place!

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 7/4/2023 at 7:33 AM, chitowngirl said:

My peeve? When the roll of toilet paper is running low, I will sometimes get the new one out and put it nearby since the area it is stored is not near the toilet. SOMEONE in the house will start using the new roll instead of using the existing roll, all to avoid changing it.

In my bathroom there's no place to put a new roll of toilet paper out, so when the current one is low, I install a new roll on the holder, and set the old one on top--it nestles into the groove between the roll and the wall.  I wonder if that might work for you, because it would take more effort to use the new roll than the old one, especially if it is still kind of glued down at the end.

19 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

I've seen these portajohns  perched on medians on 4 lane roads and thought..."what can that be like, sitting on the throne as traffic is whizzing (no pun intended...well, maybe) by, wondering if one of the vehicles might slam into the john".

Sitting on the throne reminds me--when it comes to men peeing standing up, my opinion is:  "Just because you can doesn't mean you should." 

I hate this new push to have unisex bathrooms.  For one, I hate looking at urinals--they just gross me out.  So if I'm some place that has clearly been converted to having two unisex bathrooms, I try to predict which one doesn't have a urinal, and if I pick wrong I'll use the other one if available, but the only way I know I picked wrong is because I saw the urinal.  I hate urinals.

AND, before we had men using the women's bathroom, nobody ever left the toilet seat up.  So some guy comes in there and pees standing up, spraying all over the place, and leaves the toilet seat up, and someone else will have to be the one to put the toilet seat down. 

And it reminds me of the horror people express when they see a bathroom with carpet in it.  Maybe if penised people would sit down to pee, there wouldn't be urine all over the floor.

[annzeepark914]

But don't forget the women who squat over a public toilet and leave a splattered mess on the seat.  I read in some publication that a public toilet is nowhere near as germy as an office desk/phone/keyboard. 

[Laura Holt]

8 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

AND, before we had men using the women's bathroom, nobody ever left the toilet seat up.  So some guy comes in there and pees standing up, spraying all over the place, and leaves the toilet seat up, and someone else will have to be the one to put the toilet seat down. 

What's worse though is when they pee without putting the toilet seat up - because, and I am quoting here "I can aim".  No, you really can't.  And what that means is if you don't notice and use the bathroom after the "I can aim" guy that means guess what you get to sit on?  Ugh.  

[peacheslatour]

Quote

In my bathroom there's no place to put a new roll of toilet paper out, so when the current one is low, I install a new roll on the holder, and set the old one on top--it nestles into the groove between the roll and the wall.  I wonder if that might work for you, because it would take more effort to use the new roll than the old one, especially if it is still kind of glued down at the end.

Get yourself one of these. They're under $20.00 usually. I love mine.

 

[Laura Holt]

11 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Get yourself one of these. They're under $20.00 usually. I love mine.

I got these for the bathrooms when we moved.  Best investment I ever made!

[PRgal]

The only unisex bathrooms I've seen around here are for family use, which is usually for one.  Unless you're in a locker room at the pool, but even then, I've never seen one with urinals.  I don't like looking at them either.  They freaked me out when I was little and was on outings with just my dad (I don't think family bathrooms existed in the 80s), they freak me out now.

[Laura Holt]

49 minutes ago, PRgal said:

The only unisex bathrooms I've seen around here are for family use, which is usually for one. 

I had assumed by unisex that single use bathrooms were what was meant.  The kind at places like Starbucks where there may be two bathrooms but they are for anyone to use.  I've never seen unisex bathrooms that are meant for more than one person to use at a time either.  I don't think I'd be very happy to use one I have to admit.

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, PRgal said:

The only unisex bathrooms I've seen around here are for family use, which is usually for one.  Unless you're in a locker room at the pool, but even then, I've never seen one with urinals.  I don't like looking at them either.  They freaked me out when I was little and was on outings with just my dad (I don't think family bathrooms existed in the 80s), they freak me out now.

We used to hang out at the Pancake Corral when I was a kid and teenager. They only had one bathroom. One sink, one toilet, it locked with a hook. This was in the sixties and seventies. Nobody thought a thing about it.

[PRgal]

11 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

We used to hang out at the Pancake Corral when I was a kid and teenager. They only had one bathroom. One sink, one toilet, it locked with a hook. This was in the sixties and seventies. Nobody thought a thing about it.

I was in France 20 years ago and one restaurant had a bathroom with separate male and female toilet areas and a common sink.  

[annzeepark914]

11 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

We used to hang out at the Pancake Corral when I was a kid and teenager. They only had one bathroom. One sink, one toilet, it locked with a hook. This was in the sixties and seventies. Nobody thought a thing about it.

Because it had a lock. You had the place to yourself.

[annzeepark914]

Just now, PRgal said:

I was in France 20 years ago and one restaurant had a bathroom with separate male and female toilet areas and a common sink.  

Ewww... this brought back a wild memory of traveling in the Piedmont area of Italy, near the French border. We walked into a restaurant (in a village) and asked to use the restroom. I walked into it first and saw a sink. The next little room looked empty...until I saw a hole in the floor. Good thing "my back teeth were floating" (remember that phrase?) or I wouldn't have been able to complete my mission!

[PRgal]

20 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Ewww... this brought back a wild memory of traveling in the Piedmont area of Italy, near the French border. We walked into a restaurant (in a village) and asked to use the restroom. I walked into it first and saw a sink. The next little room looked empty...until I saw a hole in the floor. Good thing "my back teeth were floating" (remember that phrase?) or I wouldn't have been able to complete my mission!

It had modern toilets.  Don't get me started about visiting mainland China.  Squat toilets.  I may be of Chinese heritage, but squatting (unless you're talking reps at the gym) isn't something I do well.

[peacheslatour]

53 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Ewww... this brought back a wild memory of traveling in the Piedmont area of Italy, near the French border. We walked into a restaurant (in a village) and asked to use the restroom. I walked into it first and saw a sink. The next little room looked empty...until I saw a hole in the floor. Good thing "my back teeth were floating" (remember that phrase?) or I wouldn't have been able to complete my mission!

We saw those in France too. Yuck!

[isalicat]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

We saw those in France too. Yuck!

When I was in India in the 1980s other than very high end western style hotels, this is basically all there was (a hole in the floor, and usually a bucket of water rather than toilet paper provided). If you are wearing a sari with no western underwear its not so bad, but if you have on jeans or other pants, it can be a bit daunting. Better than nothing! (the nothing being my pet peeve - so many, many situations here in the U.S. of A. where there is no public facility at all....)

[Mindthinkr]

   In my travels I ave seen all fashion of bathroom facilities. In Spain they had footprints with a hole between them. Unfortunately I’m so small it was difficult to keep my feet that far apart and take care of business. 
Some places are clean and range to disgusting. Having a toilet does not guarantee cleanliness. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Get yourself one of these. They're under $20.00 usually. I love mine.

When I say there's no place to put a new roll of toilet paper, I'm serious.  The little room where the toilet is measures 29" x 38".  Fortunately there's a cabinet on the wall that holds rolls of toilet paper (if you mash them flat).  But I don't like running out of toilet paper and having to maneuver around in there to get a new roll--that's why I deploy a new one before it's strictly necessary.

2 hours ago, Laura Holt said:

I had assumed by unisex that single use bathrooms were what was meant.  The kind at places like Starbucks where there may be two bathrooms but they are for anyone to use. 

Yes, that's what I meant.  At places like Starbucks and Five Guys and Potbelly.  Bathrooms where you lock the door, and the place was built with one for men and one for women but they've changed to both being available to either sex, and the one for men has a urinal in it.

If I encounter that, I'm always stopped in my tracks trying to figure out which one is more likely to have been the men's room, so I can avoid it.

[annzeepark914]

Another portajohn tale.  When I worked for a nonprofit, we held a number of outdoor events each year (🙄). Initially, back in the 70's & 80's, it wasn't too bad, using portajohns. But in the 90's? I found myself sitting on the seat with a "sink", that collected urine from the happy male potty users, at almost face level 😡. So glad I eventually got out of nonprofit management!

[PRgal]

47 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

When I say there's no place to put a new roll of toilet paper, I'm serious.  The little room where the toilet is measures 29" x 38".  Fortunately there's a cabinet on the wall that holds rolls of toilet paper (if you mash them flat).  But I don't like running out of toilet paper and having to maneuver around in there to get a new roll--that's why I deploy a new one before it's strictly necessary.

Yes, that's what I meant.  At places like Starbucks and Five Guys and Potbelly.  Bathrooms where you lock the door, and the place was built with one for men and one for women but they've changed to both being available to either sex, and the one for men has a urinal in it.

If I encounter that, I'm always stopped in my tracks trying to figure out which one is more likely to have been the men's room, so I can avoid it.

I've never seen that.  And I think they need to take the urinals out, considering that it makes many (most?) women uncomfortable.  

Another bathroom story:  When I was little, we'd go apple picking.  Often, the "bathroom" kind of resembled...an outhouse.  I learned to hold, even at a young age, until we could get to a McDonald's or something because I nearly puked.  

Oh, one more:  Around maybe 2004 or so, I was invited to a polo match (!!!).  We had to dress up and were treated to a nice lunch.  But guess what the bathrooms were?  Temporary.  Imagine all of us, all dressed up, having to use one of those things.  At least there were sinks for us to wash our hands!

Edited July 6, 2023 by PRgal

[BlueSkies]

If you're going to eat food like chili or spaghetti with tomato sauce all over it,  it is best not to be wearing a white shirt 🤷‍♀️

Edited July 6, 2023 by BlueSkies

[StatisticalOutlier]

4 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

If you're going to eat food like chili or spaghetti with tomato sauce all over it,  it is best not to be wearing a white shirt 🤷‍♀️

Au contraire!  I make a dish we call chili spaghetti and the oily chili slings all over the place when twirling or slurping the spaghetti, and I finally figured out to wear a white shirt because I can use an eyedropper with bleach to treat all the spots.

[RealHousewife]

Surprise Teams meetings, especially on a Friday. I don't like them to begin with, but I'll deal with them if they're scheduled a bit in advance. 

I'm a woman who works from home much of the time. I don't roll out of bed looking the way I do in the office. A little notice would be nice. 

I'm sorry, I just don't think you have to LOOK work ready when you work from home, and as much as people say you shouldn't have to put makeup on, many women feel pressure to do so. 

[chitowngirl]

22 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

In my bathroom there's no place to put a new roll of toilet paper out, so when the current one is low, I install a new roll on the holder, and set the old one on top--it nestles into the groove between the roll and the wall.  I wonder if that might work for you, because it would take more effort to use the new roll than the old one, especially if it is still kind of glued down at the end.

I’ll have to try that! I just put the new roll on top of the toilet tank for the short time it SHOULD be there. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

I’ll have to try that! I just put the new roll on top of the toilet tank for the short time it SHOULD be there. 

Doh!  I just this minute realized the reason I don't have any place to put the to-be-deployed roll of toilet paper is that my toilet doesn't have a tank!  Necessity is the mother of invention.

Please report back if SOMEONE takes the bait or not. 

[Laura Holt]

2 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

Surprise Teams meetings, especially on a Friday. I don't like them to begin with, but I'll deal with them if they're scheduled a bit in advance. 

A manager at a previous job didn't do surprise but what she did do was have regularly scheduled meetings on Friday's at 3.30.  We all were aware that at least part of the reason she did this was so no one could slip away to start their week-end a bit early.  Which, ok, fair enough.  But what was particularly annoying is that many of us had work days that ended anywhere between 3 and 4 so essentially were expected to work late every single Friday.  

On another peevish topic -  my phone number seems to have risen to the top of the scam callers list and a day is not going by where I am not getting texts warning me that my netflix account had expired or my bank account has been compromised or my credit card has been cancelled or some other excuse to try and get my financial information.  Too coincidental IMO to be a bunch of different scammers (although who knows!) but it seems like a lot of different scams coming from the same source.

[EtheltoTillie]

20 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Doh!  I just this minute realized the reason I don't have any place to put the to-be-deployed roll of toilet paper is that my toilet doesn't have a tank!  Necessity is the mother of invention.

Please report back if SOMEONE takes the bait or not. 

Yes I was wondering this. If you have a flushometer toilet there’s no useful tank shelf. They sell shelf units you can put over such toilets but they’re usually flimsy. 

[chitowngirl]

22 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Please report back if SOMEONE takes the bait or not. 

So far, no. But to be fair, I use TP more, bring female. But will keep doing this and see what happens.

[SoMuchTV]

17 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

So far, no. But to be fair, I use TP more, bring female. But will keep doing this and see what happens.

Aha.  I just realized that my mother solved this problem (many many years ago) by wrapping the last few sheets of the old roll around the new roll before she installed it.  A little more work upfront to avoid frustration later, I suppose.

That may not work as well now - new rolls seem to be so thick that they don't even fit in the holder until you've used up a bit.

[Leeds]

On 7/4/2023 at 4:56 PM, Bookworm 1979 said:

Oh my gosh, I think you know my boss.  She does this.  Or she'll say something, I'll agree with her, and then she'll backtrack and try to take back what she said.  She hates it when I agree with her, but is too big on keeping up appearances and trying to look good, so she'll never admit it.  Some days it's funny.

Why would anyone hate being agreed with?

On 7/6/2023 at 10:39 AM, peacheslatour said:

 

 

I have no room for one of these. but I do have a cupboard that I can reach while seated.  I keep an half-roll of emergency nasty scratchy paper right at the back as a reminder not to be a lazy git and to replenish supplies.

On 7/7/2023 at 8:38 AM, chitowngirl said:

I’ll have to try that! I just put the new roll on top of the toilet tank for the short time it SHOULD be there. 

Even if there were room on my toilet tank I wouldn't do this since the time someone (cat? small child? ex-husband?) knocked a roll into the toilet and I was the one who had to retrieve it.  🤮

[JustHereForFood]

Spiders. I just had to kill one that was casually walking behind my computer. It's one AM here so I barely noticed it and I just had freshly polished nails, but if I let it go, I wouldn't be able to sleep, knowing there is one in my room. The smaller the animal is, the more it scares me, it seems.

[chitowngirl]

4 hours ago, Leeds said:

Even if there were room on my toilet tank I wouldn't do this since the time someone (cat? small child? ex-husband?) knocked a roll into the toilet and I was the one who had to retrieve it.

The rule in our household is that the lid is kept down: everyone has to lift it to use, everyone has to put it down when done.

[SoMuchTV]

11 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

The rule in our household is that the lid is kept down: everyone has to lift it to use, everyone has to put it down when done.

When we moved into our first apartment together, I explained to my new husband that my contact lenses (which I take in and out at the sink next to the toilet) cost $80 apiece and I did not want to be replacing them unnecessarily. The lid has stayed down ever since (even after 40+ years and Lasik surgery).

[Quof]

9 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

The rule in our household is that the lid is kept down: everyone has to lift it to use, everyone has to put it down when done.

This is the only civilized way. Do you know what sprays around the room when you flush the toilet? 

[luv2lurk]

I am reminded of a note my mother penned decades ago for the outhouse at the cottage:

Those that to this house doth come

To do the deeds that must be done

Be neat and clean, and one thing more

Cover the hole and shut the door.

My Mother passed away in 1992, but the note is still there 😀

The outhouse is not an open pit, but a pail installed under the hole where the seat is. This of course needs to be emptied every few days.

 

[BlueSkies]

While I've always been quiet I hate when people point that out to me especially family members.  

 

It's like most of the time I'm quiet because you won't be receptive or aren't gonna like what I think 😉

[Leeds]

Pet peeve: When people on TV/movies set in prime mosquito and monster moth country stand holding a door open for minutes on end with lights blazing inside and out.

[SoMuchTV]

7 minutes ago, Leeds said:

Pet peeve: When people on TV/movies set in prime mosquito and monster moth country stand holding a door open for minutes on end with lights blazing inside and out.

And nobody's watching for Rover or Fluffy to make a run for it through the open door!  (And Dad isn't yelling - I'm not heating/cooling the whole neighborhood!)

Have you seen this thread -

 

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, BlueSkies said:

While I've always been quiet I hate when people point that out to me especially family members.  

 

It's like most of the time I'm quiet because you won't be receptive or aren't gonna like what I think 😉

I get that a lot, too. Not so much from family members, but from others. Some people just aren't that chatty, and sometimes I just don't have anything of note to contribute to a conversation one way or another. I don't get why that's so weird and why some people can't seem to understand that. 

[Leeds]

58 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

And nobody's watching for Rover or Fluffy to make a run for it through the open door!  (And Dad isn't yelling - I'm not heating/cooling the whole neighborhood!)

Have you seen this thread -

 

Haha!  Yes, I knew there was another, more relevant thread, but as usual since the latest unnecessary site makeover I couldn't find it!

(Can I double post or is that prohibited?)

Edited July 9, 2023 by Leeds

[Suzn]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

I get that a lot, too. Not so much from family members, but from others. Some people just aren't that chatty, and sometimes I just don't have anything of note to contribute to a conversation one way or another. I don't get why that's so weird and why some people can't seem to understand that. 

The people who must talk all. the. time. simply can't understand that not every thought needs to be expressed.

[Laura Holt]

House flies.  One has gotten in and keeps divebombing my face.  I am not impressed and am going to get the fly swatter and settle things once and for all.  But honestly why do they do this?  Death wish?

[Mondrianyone]

20 minutes ago, Laura Holt said:

But honestly why do they do this?  Death wish?

Possibly. Or maybe they get such a laugh out of watching you hit yourself in the face with the flyswatter that they think it's worth the risk.  🪰

[peacheslatour]

54 minutes ago, Laura Holt said:

House flies.  One has gotten in and keeps divebombing my face.  I am not impressed and am going to get the fly swatter and settle things once and for all.  But honestly why do they do this?  Death wish?

Flies do not live long in my house. Elizabeth is a champion bug killer.

[PRgal]

I found out recently that my go-to brand of low carb bread may have gone out of business.  I’ve looked at alternatives, but the closest one uses xanthan gum which isn’t supposed to be that great for you (I’m trying to figure out just HOW ultra-processed it is).  I’m now trying to recreate the bread on my own but I’m not sure of the proportions so I’ll have to experiment.  I’d rather not.  

[Kitty Redstone]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Flies do not live long in my house. Elizabeth is a champion bug killer.

I once read a cat owner describe flies as sky raisins. It's funny because it's true.

[Mondrianyone]

And I think of raisins as oatmeal flies, so the circle is completed.

[JTMacc99]

On 7/4/2023 at 6:42 AM, Mindthinkr said:

I have a peeve. I was away and drove home on a two lane 70 mph speed limit highway (I-95) for a few hours. Why do people drive side by side and block traffic from passing while they are driving at 68mph?  People tried using their lights, honking, hugging their bumper (trying to push them) to no avail. They’d just go slower. I doubt they even knew each other as their license plates were from different states. Was I ever happy when I got to my exit. 

Heh heh heh.  The reason is: "Some people are just jerks." This example you're giving is almost definitely somebody who just wanted to have power over people for a little while. If it was made perfectly clear with all of the actions that people behind them would like to pass and they didn't move, it's because they're jerks. 

I actually get less peeved by that behavior (because at least I understand it) than I do by the people who are going 75 in the left lane, and then when they come up on a vehicle going, let's say 60, in the right lane, THEY SLOW DOWN TO 62 WHEN THEY PASS THEM. What the hell are you doing? Does the car in the right lane have a giant magnet in its trunk that's grabbing your car as you go by?