By Tom
Yes, I’m venting. Here are things I’ve witnessed in the past 48 hours that make me want to slap people.
This is the intersection of Beverly Blvd. and Santa Monica Blvd. near my apartment. Note the red light, and the sign reading “No Turn On Red”. You can’t see it well but on the further pole it a second sign as well as a red arrow. Note the grey Audi ignoring all three. Drives me totally bats. Every once in a while BHPD sets up a sting operation; I wish they’d do it every day, especially since I actually cross the street there.
To the man who parked his Mercedes (Not that the make matters) in front of a fire hydrant to get into Starbucks (one that has parking in the back): I wasn’t in the there, but I can imagine you were just fuming at the delay. I hope West Hollywood Sheriff got there before you got your latte.
To the guy in the suit and tie at the local Koo Koo Roo who got a water glass (small, clear disposable plastic) rather than one for soda (larger opaque re-washable ones): you drank four glasses of Powerade before sitting down with your water to eat, then hurriedly drank three more before leaving. Really? It’s less that two dollars. You clearly aren’t starving; isn’t stealing soda a little pathetic?
There are five outdoor tables on the patio of the BH Market. To the two of you bypassed the tables on the sidewalk in front of Whole Foods, where you have actually purchased your lunch, and took two of them at the BH Market, where neither one of you could have been bothered to even go in and buy a soda. Without even offering your extra seat to the elderly lady who had actually been shopping there and just wanted to eat her cottage cheese in the shade. You’re coming back as a dung beetle.
To the young woman who got pinched in a sting operation using your dead mother’s handicapped parking pass while going to the gym, and upon being caught had a giant self-righteous hissy-fit that the officer confiscated it and wrote you a ticket. We should hold you down and have Stephen Hawkings back over your knees in his motorized wheelchair.
Can you tell it’s week three of the New Years resolution to lose 20 lbs? For the safety of the greater LA Basin I may have to have some cheesecake..
Feel free to chime in with your pet peeves in the comments..
Photo: my iPhone
Random Things That Annoy Me | Perfume Posse – just great!
I find it hard to be zen about annoying people. I basically just want to tell them off! And sometimes they may not realise they’re being inconsiderate, so I would be doing them a favour…. ;-) Like the woman sitting opposite on my morning train, whose carrier-bag was taking up all my floor room, so I had to sit with my legs folded under the seat – cramps duly ensued! I told her to move it, she was all apologies.
But there’s a problem when you don’t see the perps, only the results. Like the peoiple who use the wall of my block for a picnic bench and leave their rubbish behind in the garden. I never see anyone do it, else I’d be giving them hell.
Hmm..maybe an electric fence? Or good old-fashioned barbed wire?
Zap! Yeeooowwwwiieee!!!! (HeeHeeHee)
If I saw them in the act I’d be tempted to soak them with the garden hose on powerwash…after all you were only cleaning up a mess (and obviously They ARE ONE!)
:-) I like those ideas!
I’ve been thinking of talking to the tenants of the flat which owns that part of the wall & garden. Their landlord needs to deal with it. A fence would help, but also he or she (I’ve no idea who owns it now) has let the garden go seriously wild. I think (hope) people are les inclined to litter when a place looks clean & tidy to start with…. ;-)
People who don’t put their shopping carts either back in the store or in the bins for that exact purpose after they finish unloading their groceries and other purchases, but INSTEAD leave them in the empty parking spot next to them, so that not only can others NOT park there, but if it’s a windy day, the cart blows into the surrounding vehicles causing damage.
I also hate people who park “In through the out door” so that when they leave, they’re driving the wrong way and causing problems.
These two things will set me off on a “Tawanda” moment of epic proportions.
Tom – I have noticed over the past week, that people are driving without common sense here in Los Angeles. (I’m being kind). This often happens during a full moon…but no full moon. Is mercury in retrograde, is there something in the water?
Here’s something completely stupid I did today. Went to buy gas. This station has 4 pumps, two on each side for a total of 8 and two pay stations. I paid for a pump I wasn’t parked at! That’s a first for me.
My Mom didn’t stop at a stop sign long enough and got pulled over (there wasn’t anyone else around except for the officer who was apparently enforcing that sign -whatever -she had to attend a traffic class as a result.At the class they were told an account by the teacher about one of his times he REALLY ticketed someone .The officer/teacher was driving on the highway when he noticed a woman weaving on the road just a bit.Upon a closer look it became apparent that she was READING A BOOK (I believe this was at 45-55mph -quite possibly higher-I think she may have been speeding too).So he put his lights on and continued following her so she would pull over.He must have followed her 10 minutes before he pulled alongside and hit the siren startling her .She pulled over and Tried to play innocent -until he told her how long he had followed her With Lights Flashing.She shut up. He wrote her up for just about everything (ouch!-she totally deserved it ! -but Ouch!)
Now I have actually SEEN with my own two disbelieveing eyes (insert the dropped jaw emoticon here) a man driving with a laptop computer (and I’m NOT talkin’ a small size either!)Open! IN FRONT OF THE STEERING WHEEL! Blocking his view of the road.
This has happened at least TWO times.
Apologies to those of you that it annoys-but I WILL DRIVE WAAAAYYY BELOW the speed limit if I see THAT Insane individual!
I’d really rather see him ahead of me than worry about what craziness he’s up to behind me.
My mom used to live in Malibu, and I’d visit her on the weekends, taking Pacific Coast Highway to work on Monday. That’s an interesting drive. I’ve seen people’s newspapers unfold and propped up by the steering wheel! Also saw a man shaving while driving!
LOL – humming Gilbert and Sullivan, “They’d none of ’em be missed!”
I hate those tv’s they now put in gas pumps… I get back in the car and shut the door to get away from it.
Totally agree on the shrieking sprogs and people who leave a mess in public restrooms!
Tara C- I’m with you on this one. Really? I can’t have two minutes of peace and quiet while I’m pumping these petroleum fuels I wish I didn’t have to buy anyway? I don’t watch those vapid newsreaders on TV at home and sure as hell don’t want to watch them because I’m trapped at a pump.
I don’t want to watch television when I am in line at the bank! Being in line is bad enough. I don’t own a television and do not want to have t.v. thrust upon me when conducting commerce.
Most of my pet peeves have already been mentioned! Especially the ones about disruptive children and designers of clothing for women of size. I get scared when I see someone in my rear-view mirror who is talking on their cell phone.
Here is one of my perennials: sound pollution–loud music in stores, restaurants–everywhere one goes nowadays, even ski slopes! Do we really need a soundtrack to every activity?
I know! Bloomingdale’s in the Beverly Center is the worst for that; each vendor has it’s own soundtrack, even if they’re right next to each other. Chases me right out of the place. The last refuge of some silence was the bus, and now they have “transit TV”. I’ve gotten some in ear earphones and soothing nature sounds on my iPhone. But what I’d really like is some silence (other than people chatting and the engine) to look out the window and not think.
Hate to get all Buddhist on ya, but I’ve learned that I cannot control other people — what they do or what they think. If I think the world is supposed to work according to my plan, I suffer. I’ve learned that my getting angry or annoyed does nothing to change their behavior. It’s completely wasted energy. I’m the one who gets the ulcer, not them. As one mentor said: having a resentment is like lighting yourself on fire and hoping the offending person will die of smoke inhalation! I only hurt myself in the long run. Practicing acceptance, and making sure that I practice what I hold to be important, that I keep my side of the street clean, brings me a sense of serenity and peace. It’s a hell of a lot better than an ulcer or a headache or high blood pressure. The only person I can change is myself…..
That’s my truth, if it makes no sense to you, let it go….
:)>-
Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not getting an ulcer over anything. I might if I didn’t express it. But I bitch my way to zen.
“I bitch my way to Zen.” I’m snorting, over here, you funny man. I might have to get that emblazoned on a t-shirt.
I am a lot older now and I have attained some level of this. But I have to meditate every day to really get to that level.
How the heck did an emoticon appear there? Is it one of my neighbors?
most likely..
Noisy neighbors.
This involves any of these irritants: 1) loud music; 2) slamming doors; 3) drunken stumbles up or down the stairs outside my door; 4) delighted and/or horrified screams; 5) objects dropped repeatedly, but at irregular intervals; 6) extraordinarily heavy walkers/stompers; 7) compulsive vacuuming, and my current pet peeve: 8) an unattended, unbalanced washer that is allowed to loudly shimmy across the neighbor’s floor/my ceiling.
I do feel better, and will keep my broom handy as a quick response to these irritants.
I think I need a vacation ; )
let’s all go. someplace with warm sands and cold cocktails..
Noisy neighbors!!! I am a picky sleeper, I can’t help it, I heartily wish I wasn’t, BUT –
One time, DH and I lived in some two-story apartments, on the bottom. One night, the upstairs people were playing their stereo REALLY LOUD. For hours. Of course, my husband could sleep through anything, but not me. I laid there and listened to it for hours until I could not take it any more. I got dressed and went up there and had to pound on the door so hard to to get them to the door that my hand hurt for 2-3 days afterward. When the lady of the house finally came to the door I said *would you PLEASE turn that thing down?* When she said yes I said THANK YOU!!!
For the next few days when they saw me, they looked at me like OMG, she’s a crazy woman!!!
Oy vey!! Neighbors!!
get out of that Beverly Hills ghetto…there’s a hell of a lot more interesting places in LA
No, there aren’t.
LOL!
Tom, you are my kind of man.
Tom – really, there are. I used to live in BH and while there are nice quiet neighborhoods, you are exposed to an over-sized amount of folk who bare an over-sized sense entitlement. It can really wear on one’s nerves.
Love you, Tom!
I read this very early this morning, awakened by my tenant’s toilet running like Niagara Falls (her bathroom shares the wall with my bedroom)-and was livid because she denied that the toilet was running. So-pet peeve? People who LIE. About anything.
Continuing along the bathroom subject, people who do not flush in public restrooms. People who do not flush in said places AND leave the toilet seat cover in place for the next victim to deal with.
People who stand IN FRONT OF empty seats on public transit and will not move to allow a tired commuter to sit.
People who get a blank, no one’s home and I’m invisible look on their faces when a handicapped/elderly/pregnant person gets on a bus or train and needs a seat. A few months ago, I witnessed this once again. I got up and gave my seat to the lady with the cane and walked across the aisle and grabbed the right ear of a young guy between my 2 fingernails and squeezed it as hard as I could. He was sitting in an “elderly/handicapped” zone and taking up TWO seats; one with his worthless corpus and the other with his back pack. When he yelled, I screamed at him. People applauded and said “right on!” I wish I could have Maced him.
People who text on escalators as they are walking obliviously up or down one and walk right into me and then yell at me. I grabbed a guy’s Blackberry or whatever the hell it was and threw it because he pushed me and then called me a c**t for being “in his way.”
People who rent summer places, adopt a cat or dog, then dump it when the season’s over, saying, “oh, this is a woody/wild/rural area-it can hunt.”
Ummm-people in general bother me…
*Sings* I think I love you…
I spend a lot of time with my Grandma, and she talks about the sixties and seventies a lot. Stories like hers, and yours, make me realize how much I owe the women that came before me and stood up for their–and my–right to be treated like equal human beings.
So this isn’t a pet peeve, but thanks, ladies. I’m grateful to you every single time I feel free to refuse to accept poor treatment (I also confront jerks on public transit from time to time, which is what made me think about this).
Regarding the pets: Sing it! Two of our four cats came to us that way, and now I’m feeding a fifth stray. What kind of total sociopath do you have to be to abandon a helpless animal? *Rages*
I love you too, Madea.
As a ‘woman of size,’ I also rail against the hideous sacks The Fashion Industry tries to foist on females with real life bodies. If it’s your style, may I suggest the brand Citron of Santa Monica? I get most of my Citrons on Ebay, though they are now mainstream enough to be carried in Nordies. Beautiful patterns, styles and fabrics in a plethora of sizes from 0 to 3X.
Mahatma Ghandi said you could judge a society by the way it treats its animals. Doesn’t that thought just make you SHUDDER?!
Hi (Ms.)Christian, I second you on the Citron line. Very beautiful fabrics and patterns and flattering to the body.
I’m with you, Ms. Christian. I volunteer at our local humane society and awful the number of people who see pets as disposable. As my mom used to say: the better I know people, the more I like animals.
I once said to a young woman who did that with the handicapped seat on the bus that “Bad manners is a handicap, but on one that gets you preferential seating” (I don’t want to be arrested for assault, after all..
People who do that with pets need to be neutered. Really, I mean it. That’s borderline psychopathology and doesn’t need to be bred further.
A lot of things rile me. People who think that they can push other people out of the way to get to the front of the checkout line. I.Don’t.Care. if you are in a rush, if I have already waited 7 minutes you can wait 7 minutes. I’m tired of these little heathens running around and screaming in public. I get that if you are at a place like Chuckie Cheese that there are going to be kids running around and screaming but not at the library or the grocery store. Children in general bother me, I guess.
Not a big fan of them either. And can we talk about people who get in the 15 item or less aisle with enough provisions for an Antarctic trip for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? Grrrrr..
It’s not always the kids, it’s their freaking parents. They let them run around like apes while they stand there, smiling beneovolently, afraid that discipline might interfere with the little darlings’ creativity or, god forbid, their self-esteem.
Btw, all those people you’re talking about in LA? The unwritten rule that the most expensive cars go first? The punative honking? Brazen 2-spaces parking? Line-jumping? Table-hogging? We had a name for these people — A*sh#oles. I bet you still do.
I’ve heard it said that our nation’s prisons are FILLED with people with very high SELF esteem-they haven’t learned to consider others as equals (or treat others the way we want to be treated).
As far as cars-I’d say let a Clunker go first-they have nothin’ to lose if you cream them and everything to gain(Helloooo Vacation!!)
People who hog the left lane.
There’s a guy at work who got a handicapped sticker that was supposed to be for six months, but they mistakenly gave him one for six years, and he uses it. He is also an extremely stingy tipper, another one of my pet peeves.
bad tippers are one of mine too..
This is very minor: people who stand to the side of an elevator, holding it open for people getting on. You dont need to do that, our bodies, as we go in, will hold it open. But they mean well.
Ooops, I do that..
Tom, regarding the young woman having the giant, self-righteous hissy fit over using her dead mother’s handicap parking sticker, I refer you to what a parking enforcement office I used to work with often said: “The louder they yell, the more they know they’re in the wrong.” To bad mom’s not around to give her a slap upside the head. BTW, that happens all the time here in Florida. ***rolls eyes***
Since we’re complaining, here’s mine: People who come to the attraction where I work and lie to save money. In front of their kids. Admission for adults (13 and up) is $2.00 more than for those under 13, so we get parents who tell us little Joey is 12. Joey then looks at his parents in amazement (and sometimes says “hey, I’m 15!”). What has Joey learned? It’s perfectly OK to lie if it benefits you. What have the parents not learned? That the little lesson they just taught Joey is going to come back to haunt them.
I know. I mean, I’m not religious but I think that stealing and lying were written of as sins somewhere in that Bible thing people are always quoting as to why I can’t get married..
Oooh, let’s see; there’s the people who can’t drive at least the speed limit, people who do nothing to quiet their disruptive children (imagine dropping $300 for a fancy schmancy dinner and being forced to listen to two brats squalling for an hour at the next table), there’s the people who assume that first world problems are everyone’s problems, and then, the worst: people with very highly paid jobs in a high tech field WHO STILL CAN’T USE COMPUTERS. There, I said it!
Yes, those are good ones. Esp. the disruptive kids. I four kid throws a fit or food then they should be gone.
People in public, (WalMart this morning.)who think my kids are so cute..yup, they are…that they feel free to touch them. Not only does it make me uncomfortable because they arestrangers touching my kids but it’s cold & flu season. Today a lady was hacking and coughing and then reached out to touch my son’s face because his freckles are “So adorable!” I blocked her hand and she acted like I was the rude one.
😮
I don’t remember this happening as much with my oldest. The two little ones have red hair and freckles which apparently are magnetic and draw people in.
ditto to Musette (my emoticons don’t work)
Y’all REALLY don’t want to get me started! /:) I wake up evil nearly every day because I Am Just That Way. So I will just say this:
Tom, you are my soulmate, baby. You had me spewing my coffee with the Stephen Hawking visual. Her DEAD mother? That’s The Flames for you, for sure, ya li’l Devil Gal!
xo >-)
That’s one that really frosts my behind. I know that they give the stickers out for many things (I convinced a co-worker who has Lupus to get one; when she has a flare it helps) and I try not to think when I see one on a Miata or a Z-4 “if you can wedge yourself behind the wheel of that you ain’t handicapped”. I actually didn’t witness this one, I was told by the cop on the scene and a local reporter about it. Falsely using a dead relatives handicapped placard to avoid paying a buck to park while you go to your $300 a month gym? Then throwing a hissy fit? Satan is down in the special room re’s having prepared for you yelling at his minions because it still isn’t hot enough.
Joining you will be the two young men at the Coffee Bean on La Cienega who parked their S-Class in the handicapped spot with no placard, stayed an hour to suck up the Wi-Fi and didn’t order anything. Had that been BH I would have had that puppy towed in three minutes flat..
First, ditto to the posts about designers and clothes for larger and/or older women. I’m 50+ and not a size 6. I also have money to spend on clothes now, which I didn’t when I was a size 6. Get with the program people!
And to the young lady who felt it necessary to text her friends while we were evacuating the building when the fire alarm went off yesterday: going down stairs and texting are incompatible. And not efficient. Efficiency counts during evacuations, specially to those of us who are obligated to get the rest of you out of the building before we can leave.
Tom, you’re right. I DO feel better!
Good!
Amen, Maggiecat, to you and Marsha on the designs for plus-size women. There’s quite a chunk of the population that wears a size 14 and above. It really irks me to get a high-end catalog and see a clothing item marked XL (10-12). Grrrr … Also the person at a stoplight who must get right up on your tail lights. Then to make matters worse, when I pull up a few inches to create a little breathing room, you pull up also. Thanks for letting us vent!
Francesca: I’ll bet said men on the subway will get a look on their face that says *Well what did I do?*
Loud cell phone talkers – YES
Mercedes drivers that think they can park anywhere – YES – I just wish someone would leave a long scrape down the side because they were parked where they were not supposed to park.
Fashion designers who won’t make sizes for larger women – YES – I read an interview with Donatella Versace and she was asked if she would make sizes for larger women and she danced all around the answer and never really answered the question. Yeah right.
People who get caught red-handed and are still stupid enough to try and argue with the cop – YES and YES. They are only making the situation worse.
People who misjudge me because even though I’m 55, I still have an innocent-looking face. You have no idea who goes on inside!
But I just heave a deep sigh and remember one thing – Karma can be a real bitch!
Lova ya Tom!!
Love you too!
Do you know I had someone tell me yesterday that I was “too nice”? In 50 years on earth, that’s a first..
People who block the bus exit, even when there are seats free…
Yep
Men taking up two seats on the subway because they’ve got their knees three feet apart. I never hesitate to glare at them and say “Excuse me!” if there are no other seats available.
Tourists walking four abreast, very very slowly, on crowded streets.
Loud cell-phone talkers
People who text and email in theaters. Cell phones going off in same.
Drama queens of all genders
Narcissists
There’s a very funny bit on youtobe from Alamo Drafthouse on texting in their theater WARNING: language is NSFW:
Ah, yes, I know the one.
That was hysterical!
I teach my kids to try to look at their reaction to things that annoy them…and then I tell them that they should fix the way they react to things. IE they cannot fix the world…it starts with their feeling and fixing the annoyance or anger etc..then they can fix other things in a positive way. If not…walk away. Stress is a killer!
Venting online helps. I feel much better! :d
When I see someone parked at a red zone near Starbuck’s– I assume it’s because they had to get to the bathroom in a hurry. :)>-
Misery P-mps: People who post on sites/forums/blogs to chastise others for what they view as insuffiecient seriousness, when the whole point of the site, etc. is clearly marked as something less heavy in tone.
I see this a lot on some of the websites I frequent. ‘How can anyone be so shallow as to care about Y? X terrible thing is happening right now and all any of you are talking about is Y.’ The really determined ones embed horrible pictures in the thread so you can’t not see them as you scroll.
To be clear, I’m not saying we shouldn’t discuss serious issues. I’m a Polysci major–this is literally what I do for living. But when someone does this,it always seems to me that they care way, way less about X and more about showing off how evolved they are.
Designers: I know, as a fat woman, I’m supposed to fall down on my knees that you’ve condescended to dress me at all. Now that you’ve forced down your gorge at the very sight of me, could we try for some clothes that aren’t polyester sacks spackled with sequins? I have this weird, irrational belief that not only do I deserve clothes, I deserve to look pretty, fashionable and like myself. Craziness, huh? /Sarcasm/
I hope this isn’t too grumpy–:p
:):):d
Hey, I started out grumpy. We can be grumpy together.
Don’t get me started out on designers. I was looking at a Bebe ad at a bus shelter with these 60’s retro looking girls pouting sultrily into the camera and it struck me that they must have 12 tops. Ew.