What grinds my gears

Everyone has a certain amount of patience, right?  Well, mine wears thin after multiple encounters with people who are rude or inconsiderate or with things that just don’t make sense.  In the show “Family Guy,” Peter Griffin has a segment of “What Grinds My Gears” that I think is pretty funny. It made me think…we all have things that annoy us and I’m sure a lot of people can relate.  Here are some of mine!

Speedy Gonzales…in such a hurry that they have to cut me off to get one car ahead, just to wait at the same red light.  Come on people! This happens all the time, too.  I will not speed down a side street and I won’t go faster because they’re riding my tail, especially If I have the baby in my car.  I should get one of those “Baby On Board” bumper stickers.  Not sure that would do anything, though.

When you’re turning either right or left onto a busy street and the car behind you wants to turn the opposite way, they think it’s OK just to go around you and obstruct your view so that they can turn quicker.  So annoying!

When people don’t stop at stop signs.  It happens 99.9 percent of the time in my neighborhood.  Some people roll the stop, others will go RIGHT through it.  The other day, I had already stopped my car at the intersection and looked at the driver coming from the left, who also had a stop sign but didn’t even slow his car down. Just went right through it!

When you are waiting in a long line at the store and they’re opening another register.  Then those people in the back of the line RUN to the new register.  So not fair!  Part of that could be resolved if the cashier makes sure they take the next customers in line.

One of my many jobs is in retail.  I get that the “customer is always right.”  However, when I have a customer telling me I am wrong with something I have been doing 10+ years, it’s not exactly easy to back down.  For instance, the customer who comes in and swears she is a size 7 shoe after I measure her at a size 8.  It’s OK, ma’am! I promise, I won’t call you Big Foot.  Athletic shoes run small; you always have to go up in size.  And even after that, she won’t listen and will jam her foot into a shoe too small.  Geesh!

There is the other side of that when I am the customer and I have poor service.  Just recently, I purchased a wallet from a store. When I got home, I tried putting my money in it…(weird right!!? Putting money in a wallet!?).  Well, I quickly realized that it didn’t fit money.  A bill was too long because the cash pouch was either defective or was just a ridiculous design.  SIDENOTE: I totally realize the picture has European money…but that’s how it looked when I put American money in the wallet I purchased. So, I went to return it and they tell me its part of a special line of products so they are not returnable.  What?! OK, that was not mentioned when I bought it.  So, I go home and I’m angry because it was $12 and it’s not even usable. I contacted customer service because I didn’t think it was fair that I wasn’t told it wasn’t refundable and that it didn’t work anyways. They had no problem, were super nice and told me they would call the store to notify them I would be bringing it back. I was actually impressed. So, I go back and it’s the same people. The manager asks to see it and tries to convince me that hers is like that, too.  I said, “What use is a wallet that will not hold money whether it’s designed stupidly or just defective?”  She had to go along with my return but whispered to the cashier helping me not to “damage it out”…which meant she was going to re-tag it and put it back on the shelf.  In the words of Stephanie Tanner….”How RUDE!”

On that other side of THAT is when sales people are too nice and helping just a little too much.  I went to a mall last summer with my best friend and stopped at a store to look.  I was looking for a dress for my birthday party, which is what I told the sales guy when he asked but also added, “I am just looking though, thanks.” He proceeds to bring me dress after dress. And not even nice looking dresses. They were HIDEOUS! I decided to try them on for the heck of it and give my friend a fashion show. Well, it was a show all right. She could not help but laugh every single time I opened that curtain. And he just kept bringing me stuff to try on. Once I noticed he was busy terrorizing another customer, we ran for it and never went back again!

I love being in school. I do! There is something about constantly learning that makes me feel liberated. It’s just…how do I put this? Almost every class has someone in it that talks a lot.  In the beginning of the semester, I don’t mind the non-stop philosophical rants because some are actually interesting and I try to learn from them. But toward the end of the semester….maybe even towards the middle, it’s like…”I get it Chatty Cathy, you’re smart, you have tons of experience and something to say about everything….will you please let the teacher teach?”  Though, I would NEVER really say that.

When people don’t use their turn signals. First of all, it could cause an accident. Secondly, it’s there for a reason, USE IT!

And those are a couple things that Grind My Gears!  I’d LOVE to hear some of your pet peeves!!!