National Pet Peeve Week

While surfing the web and wasting some time this past week I came across an article that said October 5-11th is our National Pet Peeve Week! Interesting. We only get one day to observe the birth of our Savior, but a whole week to vent all our pet peeves. That seems a bit messed up to me! Could that be a Pet Peeve of mine? I decided to look into it a little bit more. I had a hard time finding much on National Pet Peeve Week though, some places said that National Pet Peeve Week (NPPW from now on) is actually October 12th - 18th. At least we all know for sure when Christmas is celebrated! I also found out that celebrating NPPW for a week and Christmas for one day could not be a pet peeve of mine because pet peeves focus on a specific behavior rather than some general dissatisfaction.

Since General Conference is starting in a few hours I decided I would vent some of my pet peeves now. That way they will be out of my system and I can focus on more spiritual things this weekend. So here is what I came up with as my Top 10 Pet Peeves at this time in my life. Feel free to vent your Pet Peeves this week...maybe it will make you feel better too!

10. Pregnancy Comments...This one hopefully won't be a pet peeve for much longer. It seems as if I can't walk through the office here at work without being stopped by every other person to tell me, "You are HUGE!" or "Look how cute you are" or "When are you due?" (Even though I told them yesterday) "You are carrying high" or "You are carrying low" or "How are you feeling?"...well, you get the point. I know people are just trying to be polite, and I know I've done the same thing to pregnant women (Sorry Jocelyn) but it gets old answering the same questions and looking interested in the same comments over and over again! But...I'm not one of those pregnant ladies that gets mad when people want to touch their stomach! I figure this might be the last time I have a rock hard stomach, so touch away and be impressed!

9. Rude Movie Goers...I've pretty much given up going to the movies because people are so rude at the movies these days! Either they are talking, or looking at their cell phones. It never fails, I always sit in front of the person who can't shut their trap for 2 hours, or I sit in back of the person who can't keep their phone turned off for 2 hours. It cost way too much to go to a movie these days to have to deal with that kind of rudeness, so I don't go anymore. The last movie I saw was "Iron Man" back in June. That was the day I had my ultrasound, so Scott and I had the day off and decided to see a matinee. That's the only way to see a movie these days...in the middle of the week and the middle of the day. Nobody is there and it's a little cheaper to see a movie.

8. Rude Pedestrians...This goes for people walking and riding their bikes. It seems like people don't know how to follow the rules of the road when they are walking or riding their bikes. It drives me nuts when they don't follow traffic lights...don't they know they are suppose to cross when the light is green? It's really bad down by where I work. And bike riders who ride on the wrong side of the road really drive me nuts too...I guess their mothers didn't teach them the polite way to ride their bikes!

7. Childless people who think they know what it's like to be a parent...I recently heard somebody saying that they were a much better mother before they had children. So true! It's kind of funny, but annoying when people who have no children try to tell me how to raise my child. I was the same way though...so I try to just smile and thank them for the advise.

6. Pee on the Toilet Seat...this is a major problem where I work. These women hoover over the toilet seat and have really bad aim...and then they don't clean up after themselves! It's so gross.

5. People who "Bang a Left"...I recently found out that this annoying behavior has a name here in Massachusetts, and it's called "Banging a Left." I think only people here in Massachusetts do it too. "Banging a Left" happens when a bunch of cars are stopped at a stop light. The first person at one set of lights is turning left...and as soon as the light turns green they turn left in front of the oncoming traffic when they should be yielding to traffic that is going straight. I've never seen it happen until I moved out here and it sure drives me nuts!

4. My husband's broken arms...OK...Scott doesn't have broken arms, but it sure seems like it sometimes. If he is looking for something in the fridge he will open it up and look at everything up front. If he doesn't find what he is looking for he starts whining that he can't find what he is looking for and closes the refrigerator door. He NEVER moves anything! The other day I came home and he said he was going to take Owen outside but he couldn't find his sweatshirts. I told him they were in his closet. He said he looked there but couldn't find them. So we went upstairs to Owen's room. Scott opened the closet door and just stood their looking at his closet...he didn't try to move one piece of clothing hanging up. So I went over to the closet, moved a few things and WOW there were 4 sweatshirts! This happens all the time...why doesn't he learn???

3. Rude Waiters...this is another Massachusetts problem. Or perhaps it's a problem anywhere outside of Utah. Scott and I don't drink alcohol. Many times when we have gone out to eat and not ordered alcoholic beverages our waiters have turned from sweet people who can't wait to help us into monsters who want nothing to do with us. I understand that alcohol makes a bill bigger, which leads to a bigger tip....but I'm not going to start drinking just so I can get good service. We should all get good service whether we like to booze it up or not.

2. People who park in spots marked for customers with infants who clearly do not have an infant with them...I know that these aren't legally binding parking spaces like handicapped ones, but people should have some common courtesy and leave them open for the people who have to lug babies in.

1. Smokers...I really can't stand people who smoke in public. It's just so gross and stinky. If you are going to smoke, smoke at home where I won't have to smell it. And don't flick your cigarette butts out the window when you are driving...that is littering. And PLEASE don't smoke if you have children in your car. I always feel so sad when I see little kids in cars with cigarette smokers. It's great that most states have banned smoking in all public places...now we just need to ban smoking anywhere near non-smokers and we will be all set!

So there you have it...my Top 10 Pet Peeves! I feel much better now that they are out in the open. Happy National Pet Peeve Week to all of you out there reading this!