Ten Obnoxious Things that are Ruining the World

With an excess of social media, I rate you and you rate me.  But sometimes I’m just irate.  Hence this self-indulgent blog of my favorite pet peeves (which is to say, my least favorite things).

I can’t tolerate when the people working at Burger King are so anxious to ask “Do you want cheese with that?” that they talk right over the order you are actually placing.  I am smart enough to ask for cheese if I want it, but they are not smart enough to realize that if they talk over my order they won’t know what I want.

I wish there was something I could do about the random people who sit in their cars blocking my entire driveway while making phone calls, then flip me off when I am forced to toot my horn because I want to enter my own property.

Why is it that people can’t seem to answer a straightforward question with a straightforward answer?  If you are not equipped to handle my request, it is not a crime or a violation of social protocol to answer with a simple and honest ‘no’ or ‘I don’t know’.  Just do it so I can move on to someone who can help me.

There is a special level of hell for telemarketers that call during dinner time.  Even worse are the ones who address you by your first name and act as if you are close friends.  But I harbor a special hatred for the guy who, after I hung up politely saying I wasn’t interested, called back a moment later and said, “you stupid bitch, I’ll get you for hanging up on me.”

Why does the FDA require disclosure of everything that is in our foods but not our medicines?  Many pills are made primarily of starches and sugars; take enough of them and they contribute measurably to your daily intake of carbs.  And what’s the deal with packaged “Low Fat Foods?”  Their markings con people into believing they are healthy, but they are made up of mainly artificial ingredients and lots of empty carbohydrates.  Most are high in sugars and salt.

I liked it better when television was less realistic.  It was okay with me to pretend that TV people didn’t go to the bathroom.  Now everyone finds humor in a handsome guy saying “I laughed so hard it made me pee a little.”  Change the channel, however, and they are selling middle-aged women a product for that same affliction.  Not so funny!

I can find no purpose for the show Jersey Shore.  It’s bad enough that it occupies a place on some network somewhere, but please stop ruining the good shows by inviting those morons as guests.  When I consider that this show is somehow contributing to the way other countries view Americans it frightens me.  That it makes me question the wisdom of the First Amendment makes me even more frightened!

I would like to get my hands on the person who decided, on behalf of all mankind, that suddenly it was a bad thing to have body hair.  Seriously, who decides this crap?

Why is it so difficult to buy a car?  When I tell the dealer how much I am willing to spend, it is a simple matter of yes or no.  Or, he can simply tell me what price he needs to cover and I can decide whether or not I’m in.  The artificial cat-and-mouse process most dealers employ progresses toward a common goal in five-dollar increments; it is insulting and time-consuming.  And once consensus is finally reached, it still takes hours to get out the door.  They spend more time working you over about the impending after-sale quality interview than they do providing true quality service.  If you take the wasted time of an auto purchase transaction and multiple it by the number of cars on the road, there are enough potential productive hours to staff a small industry.

Finally, what corporate drone decided that customer service could be replaced with automated options?  There is nothing more frustrating than spending fifteen to twenty minutes playing menu phone tag in search of the elusive button granting access to an actual human being.  Most simple account information can be looked up easily online.  I only resort to telephone communication when there is an issue requiring a conversation.  But corporations have cut so close to the bone that they have placed impenetrable barriers between the public and their employees. 

These are the things that tick me off.  Feel free to share your list.  Or call me and choose menu option 3.

Tomorrow's blog:  The Musician Who Went Out in the Cold