Things That Annoy Me!

[MaineLonghorn]

Struggling to have my voice heard in a group of men. Good God.

[GKUnion]

I always try to sit facing the door. I generally don’t care about the view. My family and friends know about my preference. If that direction happens to be the best view so be it.

[HImom]

My kids prefer to have backs to the wall. Fortunately, most of the chairs in dining room have backs to the wall, so it’s not a problem.

[aMacMom]

@SJ2727

I took a parking she’d been waiting for in a TJ’s lot. I never do that, but I did this time because she was going the wrong way,

Love Trader Joe’s. Hate their parking lots. Today in the main drive (only way in) a car was stopped and I was behind them. Someone got out passenger side. Another door still open driver’s passenger side. Okay, grandma needs help out. Waited patiently (which I don’t do well). Finally drove around when it was clear to do so, and it was a 20ish woman who couldn’t get her act together .) It was early in the day and there were plenty of parking spots.

[ChoatieMom]

@GKUnion

I always try to sit facing the door.

From decades in law enforcement, my brother instinctively does this. It’s part of police (and mob, ha!) training, as I’m sure your son is aware, too. He must be able to case the entire room with no access to his person from behind.

[threeofthree]

I typically face the door because I’m an earlybird and typically the first one there when meeting someone - easier just to see them enter and wave. Didn’t think about the Mob thing, but good to know!!

[1214mom]

This reminds me of how we pick sides of the bed on vacation. I always get the side closest to the bathroom. Sometimes it’s the better side, and sometimes not…

[SJ2727]

@ChoatieMom

From decades in law enforcement, my brother instinctively does this. It’s part of police (and mob, ha!) training, as I’m sure your son is aware, too. He must be able to case the entire room with no access to his person from behind.

I learnt this from the Jack Reacher novels lol

[LeastComplicated]

Dogs sleep against the wall for the same reason. I mean not bc of the mob , but bc of potential threats.

[BunsenBurner]

Same day meetings! Ugh!

Also dislike when my very nice boss schedules a meeting and doesn’t use the reminder function. That’s how the boss rolls. I can’t modify these invites, so I always schedule a dummy meeting for that time slot with a 15-min reminder!

[ucbalumnus]

@SJ2727

Today reminded me: people going the wrong way down clearly marked one-way lanes in parking lots. Someone nearly drove into me out of a parking space because they turned the wrong way.

Of course, many parking lots seem to be designed to cause traffic jams or have spaces that are difficult to get in and out of (although US drivers’ preferences for bigger vehicles is a contributor here).

[SJ2727]

This particular one seems to be a one way precisely so that there’s space to get in and out of the spaces easily enough.

But yeah, the size of cars here is funny. My husband’s Q7 usually fits in the “compact” spaces!! Go to Europe to really see what compact is, haha. We did once see a F150 in a “compact” space. No, it didn’t fit!!

[ucbalumnus]

@SJ2727

Go to Europe to really see what compact is, haha.

Wouldn’t cars like the VW Golf and Ford Focus be “family cars” there?

[vwlizard]

@ucbalumnus

Of course, many parking lots seem to be designed to cause traffic jams or have spaces that are difficult to get in and out of (although US drivers’ preferences for bigger vehicles is a contributor here).

It used to drive me nuts that the medical center that housed my pediatrician’s office had the most narrow parking spaces ever. I could pull in, but it was impossible to get the door open wide enough to to get my kids out in their bucket seats (two of them!). I complained all the time.

Of course, as soon as my kids were old enough to navigate the entire exiting the car process, they repainted the lines and made them much wider.

[ucbalumnus]

Did they assume that all parents had vans with sliding doors that did not need much space to the side when opened?

[vwlizard]

No, because we also had a van. Even in the van, I couldn’t’ get them out and then walk with the bucket seats between the two cars. I think someone told a contractor or engineer somewhere how wide a car was and they just decided to make that the width of the spot. It was ridiculous. I’ve never seen spots so small. I almost switched doctors over it.

[BunsenBurner]

OMG. That would drive me batty!

Our REI has ridiculously small parking spaces! Can barely fit a Mini Cooper. Guess what most customers drive? SUVs that can handle rugged terrain! Hence 1 car parked per 1.5 spots.

[HImom]

One of the things I love about my prius prime is that it is a compact and fits pretty well in nearly all spaces except for the people who are intruding into my space.

[oldfort]

We use Teams and Outlook, so the reminder function is set by me. I have it set for 15 minutes. I usually review my meetings the day before and have my staff prepare necessary documents beforehand. It is why I do not like same day meetings.

[CollegeNerd67]

@aMacMom

Love Trader Joe’s. Hate their parking lots.

Lots of funny memes about (fake) TJ’s corporate heads deciding where to put new TJ’s stores: “Let’s see, hardly any parking, very narrow spots, super busy strip mall location, a cliff drop off over there… PERFECT!”

I have to laugh at my city’s attempt at incorporating more of the compact parking spots when so many people are driving the super-sized SUV’s. When it was time for a new car, I sized down to a small SUV but I’m still usually parked in tight with Suburban’s and Escalades on either side of me.