J a n e s B l o n d e 0 7 7

PET PEEVES

CAUTION: Some comments in this section may offend some readers. It is not my deliberate intention to do so. However, I'm a VERY staunch believer in the saying "Your rights end where mine begin." And vice-versa. If you'd like to comment, feel free to click on the envelope below and drop me an e-mail. But, be forewarned - I LOVE to argue.

With that said, let the reading (and, perhaps, some learning) begin...

I really don't like...

...whiners who complain about how miserable their life is, yet expect anyone else to bail them out of the problem du jour. I'll pay your light bill in a jam to make sure your kids don't suffer, but not when you're carrying an $800 Louis Vuitton bag or spending money you can't afford to spend to go to Florida with your friends.
...people with a $48k salary and $24k worth of basic bills, and still are constantly broke. Here's a clue: You spend a $100 a week on fast food, and I can make $100 worth of groceries last me a month.
...people who have a really crappy attitude about life, and then hold it against me when I don't rush to be their friend. For crying out loud, if your problems are due to your own choices, learn something and shut up already.
...people with really dark personalities. I'm not talking about boring intellectuals or "goths", per se. I'm talking about people who actively choose to embrace a darkness as a way of life, people who seem to deliberately seek out anything depressing and shun anything positive.
..."bow-heads" and "nyah-nyah's". Bowheads were those girls who had the whole big-hair and big-bow thing going on in their teen years; once a bow-head, always a bow-head, your attitude will give you away every time you open your mouth. Nyah-nyahs are bow-heads who whine about EVERYTHING.
...people who talk on their cell phone while shopping, stop in the middle of the aisle, and are so engrossed in their conversation they don't hear you the first 15 times you say "Excuse me". Then, when they DO realize you're talking to them, they have the audacity to be offended.
...reading on-line journals or "blogs" that contain rampant and gratuitous obscenities. I can deal with the angst-ridden blathering of teenagers; I was an emotional teenager, once, and kept a diary. I'll also admit that I can make a sailor blush when I get up a good head of steam. But I also know that more people will take my argument or complaint seriously if I carefully plan my words and present it without obscene or vulgar embellishments.
...most fast-food joints' cup-holders; IMHO, Sonic has the best ones.

I'm extremely intolerant of...

...people who CHOOSE to be drug addicts.
...people with post-counseling "selective memory".
...people who choose to remain ignorant.
...people who can't spell the simplest words.
...people who say "irregardless". THE WORD IS "REGARDLESS"!!!
...people who say "I could care less", when what they REALLY mean is "I couldn't care less."
...people who think and drive like they OWN the 10-15 feet in front of their car.
...people who get behind me and have a COW because I'm driving the speed limit. Hey, hop the heck over, crawl the heck under, or cross the solid line on the left and go around; but, don't you DARE try to pass me on the shoulder, because I'll pull into the shoulder and either cut you off, or force you off the road. And don't you DARE ride my back bumper, honk your horn, make rude gestures, and yell, because I'll slam on my brakes and own you for the rest of your pathetic life.
...people who think everyone in Louisiana speaks Cajun, or speaks with a Cajun accent. And not just ANY Cajun accent, but the really atrocious Dennis Quaid "The Big Easy" Cajun. (shudder)
...people who think anyone who went to public school in Orleans Parish has a below-average I.Q. I may not have graduated with a 4.0 G.P.A., but I'm FAR from retarded, and too animated for Mensa.
...parents who send their children off to Kindergarten without knowing, at the very least, the names of colors, how to count to ten, and the ABC song.
...parents who don't make the time to read to their children, but will put in overtime at work to get the money to put a TV in their 4 year old's bedroom.
...people who work at fast-food joints, and don't get it that if a customer orders chili or a salad or mashed potatoes, grab a spoon/fork/spork BEFORE you put it in the bag!!!

I believe...

...children started having problems learning to read when schools stopped teaching phonics.
...high school students should be REQUIRED to take one year of Home Economics, or some sort of "life-skills" course that teaches things such as how to balance a chequebook, how to sew on a button, why tipping a good waiter is important, how to change a tire and check your oil, and AT LEAST 347 uses for duct tape.
...in capital punishment. Don't even try to argue this one with me.
...that spanking is okay, beating is not.
...children should be reared from Day One to know the meaning of consequences. You never know when a child's refusal to obey a parental command is going to mean the difference between life and death.
...people who are convicted of sexually molesting children should be surgically neutered, have their hands cut off six inches above their wrist (so they can't feed themselves), have the words "Child Molester" tattooed on their forehead, and serve 25 years in prison (in the general population) without benefit of parole. If they survive prison, their names should be entered into a database that will prevent them from being able to get prosthetic devices.
...that even though the words "under God" weren't included in the original (U.S.) Pledge of Allegiance, they need to be there. (If you don't believe in God, don't say the words, but don't you DARE dictate to me that -I- can't say and believe in them...especially in this day and age.)

And there WILL be more...but there won't be a test. (You're welcome.)