@Iglooo I’ve never heard of an intersection being called a box, but bike boxes are something seen at intersections. Could the car be blocking the bike box? The way the bike box works, you have the bike lane extend across a car line about six feet from the intersection, so bikes wanting to turn left are ahead of the cars when it the light turns green and don’t get run over (left turns on bicycles are notoriously dangerous in America). The cars at the light are supposed to not enter the box when stopped at a red, and if they do, now the bikes can’t turn safely. It would be infuriating if we actually HAD bike boxes.
@Iglooo even when it’s marked off by paint and says “don’t block the box”?
Yes, boxes refer to intersections. You’ll see signs such as these: https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/240/516262942_8538125a35_b.jpg
Maybe it started because the word “intersection” is pretty long for a sign and “don’t block the intersection” isn’t as catchy.
@arctostaphylos Someone in your group needs to kindly tell those parents to get headphones.
I am the Queen of Pet Peeves lol. I got through to page 10 and didn’t see “shuffling”. You know, the adults who can’t seem to pick up their feet when they walk? Are they really that exhausted? I have an overweight boss who dresses like she’s going grocery shopping and shuffles up and down the hallways in her slip-ons. It takes every fiber of my being not to say something rude.
I believe many of these “irritations” are present because people were never taught differently as children. Things like “eat with your mouth closed”, “pick up your feet”, “take your hat off inside” are simple pre-school lessons. Other irritations are just plain rude and brought on by self-entitlement attitudes.
Another irritation is people that just don’t respond to texts or emails. Aside from my #(Q)#(& relatives who have no social skills and dont respond unless they want something , I am currently irked by a neighbor who stopped to chat as she drove by last weekend. We discussed plans to get together. I texted her that evening to see if they were available this weekend. No response. Waited a day or two and resent it. She apologized for not responding to the first message, and said she’d check with her husband. Again, no response. Its now Friday. Well, so much for making alternate plans with others. Oh, and the reason Sat. Is open? DH had spoken with a former work associate about going out Saturday- and-- he never got back to my DH either!!! What happened to common courtesy??
This seems really crabby, but I get irritated by staff at banks, restaurants, etc. who make “phony friendly” conversation with customers. Really, when I am making a deposit at the bank I have no interest in discussing my weekend plans with the teller. At restaurants in tourist areas we are often asked “Where are you traveling from?” etc. by first one, then another staffer. My husband has complained of the same focus on personal interaction between check-in staff and members at the Y he attends. I can only imagine that these staffers are trained to do this to seem friendly and caring, but I find it insincere to the point of offensive. I would rather people just focus on doing their jobs (with a smile and thanks, fine, but no extra engagement in personal talk).
Honestly, one New Year’s Eve a bank teller asked me about my plans for the evening. I was tempted to say I had no plans … and could I be included in his?
This whine makes me feel so curmudgeonly. But I am happy to engage with checkout clerks and staffers at small businesses I frequent (a plant nursery, our local hardware store) with whom I have developed an actual relationship over many years. We know each others’ names and have shared family details. That is meaningful to me and I appreciate those relationships.
But IMO there is a significant difference between conversation/feigned interest because headquarters is pushing for it and something that comes out of a sincere interaction.
I realize I am very lucky if this is the kind of problem I have. But it is an irritation in my life.
Vent over. Thanks for reading.
@jym626 Yes, that annoys me too when people don’t respond, especially work emails. Though I have to say, I’ve been guilty of not responding to texts. I feel bad about it when it happens. But I often don’t have my phone tied to my hip all day or night. I have a few sister in laws that text all day long, well I’m at work, I really don’t have time to read through all of them. And at night, if I’m doing family stuff or cleaning or cooking or whatever, well, I’m not necessarily checking texts. Or sometimes, I see the text, mean to respond, but I’m in the middle of something, so later I forget. I know it’s not right, but all my friends/family know, if they really need me, to please call.
I often put my phone on silent during parts of the day when I cannot take a call, but if there is a call or text I missed, it has that little symbol on the screen to notify me. I am also fine with emails, but have found that many people these days prefer texts and say they dont check their emails all that often. I have one friend who we invited to be in our bridge practice group. The bridge group has been together for several years. We just included her recently. She says she doesnt check her emails often so I should text her when there are email updates. Um, no. Didnt sign up to be someone’s secretary.
What about people at work who don’t hold themselves to any professional standard when sending emails? In my case, it’s the second in command who routinely sends emails to the entire staff and puts her message in the subject line, with nothing in the body of the email, AND IN ALL CAPS. My fingers are itching to reply in the same way but I would never do that!
Here’s another irritant. People whispering nonstop to each other during religious services. Had this behind me all night tonight. Really annoying. Hard to listen and hear what I came to hear.
^^ About three weeks after my father died in November of 2012, I attended a “Blue Christmas” remembrance ceremony at one of our local parishes. A couple of people behind me were carrying on an extended, stage-whispered conversation while I was trying to play and meditate.
I finally shot them a fierce look and they piped down, but only a little. It really ruined the ceremony for me and made me glad I don’t go to that parish!
Nepatsgirl: Sorry that shuffling feet bother you. I have Parkinson’s…and one of the hallmarks of Parkinson’s is the shuffle. I don’t shuffle all the time but there are some who do. If we interrupt your day by walking near you…I am not sorry.
As folks age, shuffling also becomes more common. I am quite sure folks would love if they didn’t have to shuffle, but they do the best they can. I know my mom has starting shuffling recently–she didn’t used to.
@Bevhills said:
When @NEPatsGirl made the comment about shuffling, the first thing I thought of was Parkinson’s.
People who need early boarding wheelchair assistance getting ONTO and airplane and then are somehow miraculously get ‘cured’ during the flight and then walk off - luggage and all - without a problem.
All that talk about not responding to emails and texts made me think of another…when I email someone (my boss is a major culprit of this) with several questions and the person just responds to one, leaving you hanging with the subsequent ones.
And just yesterday, my boss said to the staff that she wants us to save any questions we have until the end of the day and then send them all at once. Um, no because you only respond to the first one!
Similarly, we have seasons tickets to the theater with 3 other couples. I’m the subscriber so I’m the one that sends out all the details like which dates we’ve been assigned. If one of the couples has a conflict, one of the people will write back and just say something like, we have a conflict for Play xyz and ask if I’ll switch the tickets. Then I have to be the one to look up the dates of the run of the show and send an email out with all the remaining available dates. If you’re the one with the conflict, perhaps YOU can be the one to do the research and initiate the email. (The main culprit is a dear friend so I feel pretty guilty complaining about that one.)
Loved your more detailed description in another thread. All that man needed was an ESA (Emotional Support Animal) to add to the abuse of the system!
I worked with a nurse who told me with no shame that when she flies international (and she always has a connection to her home country in Asia), she always reserves a wheelchair to make things a little easier. This is a nurse who works at a place where we literally are on our feet the entire 8 or 9 hours (and we have no chairs or stools to sit in while we chart), and she is the one scooting around with the most frenetic energy I’ve ever seen.
I do not need, nor want a wheelchair to get me on or off a plane. But consider this: the man or woman being brought to the plane by wheelchair may have (like you) to pack, walk, get up early., go though a LONG security line…and arriving to the airport exhausted. Ergo, the wheelchair. When s/he arrives at the destination they have rested and regained their strength.
I had a friend in community college who was born with deformed knees. She can stand and walk, but it’s slow and difficult and painful, and she gets too tired to keep going within 10 minutes. She uses a wheelchair as a result, but she could, say, stand up to put her luggage in the overhead bin or walk to the restroom. She’d probably insist on it, because she likes doing as much as she can herself. She could not stand in a TSA line, though. Her knees just can’t support her weight anywhere near that long.
I once saw someone at Target glare at her because she got out of her wheelchair to grab something off a high shelf. It’s like some people assume that being in a wheelchair means you have to be totally paralyzed or you’re faking it.