6 Things That Annoy Me
1. Multi-tasking x a billion. Last night I saw a man out jogging. This alone is not annoying, it's admirable. I tend to smile at joggers because they're doing something I won't do. I don't jog. However, the admiration turned into annoyance when I saw what else he was doing: pushing a baby stroller with a leashed dog attached to it while he talked loudly on the cell phone. I mean, really?! The man was exercising, walking the dog, talking on the cell phone, and taking the baby out for some fresh air all at the same time. Come on, adults of America. Can't we just do one thing any more?
2. Emoticons in e-mails and messages. If you use them, it's really nothing against you, personally. I just don't like seeing parentheses and colons used as facial features. It makes me cringe.
3. While on the subject of e-correspondence, the use of text talk and poor grammar is another major annoyance. I used to do the online dating website thing and there is nothing worse than getting a message from some guy who can't write a grammatically correct sentence, except perhaps, for those messages that you feel like you're cracking a code because of all the acronyms. In this webby world, your image is tied to your writing skills; don't look a fool.
4. Staring. It's really impolite.
5. Talking about Facebook conversations like they happened in real life. They didn't. It's a website. Working on a college campus has brought this annoyance to the forefront. I can't walk anywhere on campus without hearing a conversation about what someone saw on someone else's Facebook, or 'Omigawd, I can't believe he posted that picture on Facebook.', or 'Did you see what she wrote on my Facebook wall?'. I just want everyone to turn to these people and say, "No. No more of this."
6. Ordering custom pets. When people want a certain type of mixed breed dog and they custom order it. Like they want a Collie/Poodle mix (which they'll name something stupid like Coodle) and they go to a breeder and order it. This is ridiculous. Go to a shelter. Get a dog that needs a home. I bet the shelter dog will fill your life with as much happiness as that Coodle would. (Beyond annoyance and into marked hatred: When people go to breeders to pay hundreds of dollars for Labradors when the animal shelters are overflowing with Labs.)
6 Things That I Love About People
1. Someone tells a joke and everyone laughs and someone's laugh is funnier than the joke.
2. Balcony band practices. Every Tuesday at about 4 pm when I'm walking to the parking garage after work, I pass by the J-Slums (3-story run-down apartment buildings across from the Journalism School at Mizzou) and there is a rock band that practices on the second floor balcony at that time each week. They're pretty good and I've come to love that time of day.
3. Spontaneous compassion. People don't always treat each other with compassion, but when something bad happens to someone they know, it flips a switch and suddenly people come together to help out in whatever ways they can.
4. Personal style. I love when a person has their own style and they rock it no matter where they're going. It's nice to not see cookie-cutter outfits on everyone. Working on campus I see a lot of the same types of clothing over and over and it's really refreshing when someone is wearing something a little out of the ordinary.
5. An older couple walking down the sidewalk and holding hands.
6. That point at which you get to know someone well enough that you better understand their weird quirks that kind of put you off at first, and you like them. It's the point in human relationships when 'that weird kid' becomes someone you would defend if someone was saying something about them behind their back. I love that point.
