How to Really Annoy Me

Following up on my two complainy posts about liars and not-listeners, and of course, EDW's post about what she loves and hates, here is a brief list of my few other pet peeves. Not my weird little foibles like the cheese not touching the egg on my sandwich. The Things I Hate (in no particular order) 1. Irregardless and Acrossed. These are NOT WORDS. "Regardless" means "in spite of". "Ir" is a prefix which negates the word, so "irregardless" would actually mean the same as "regarding". Get it? NOT A WORD. As for "acrossed", this might be Pittsburghese, but it bugs me to death. Something is not "acrossed" the street, it's across the street, and you crossed the street to get there. Not words. Quit using them. Slightly annoying but not as bad are "Alls" (as in "Alls I need is ...). All is never plural. Double "is" - (as in "What I'm trying to say is, is that it's annoying") One "is" per person, unless you are starting a question with that second one, like "What I am asking is, is it possible to not do that?" and of course "Mine's" "your welcome" and all misplaced apostrophes "Grape's on sale!" 2.Calling Disagreeing "Hate Speech". This one really gets to me. If I disagree with you, have a different point of view or honestly held belief, it's NOT hate speech and I am not a Nazi. Certain groups especially (not to be named here), will combat any position not in line with their own by yelling "Hate Speech!". Look, I am totally against bigotry, homophobia, chauvinism, whatever, but the fact remains that this is the US and people have a right to believe AND TO SAY what they want, unless they are threatening you. Silencing the debate on any issue is wrong, period! Someone says homosexuality is against their religion isn't "hating"; they are stating a fact. Someone who thinks families work best with two parents aren't trying to be mean, they are just expressing their beliefs and if it makes you feel bad, change the channel, walk away, present your logical argument, write a book, write a blog, call a friend and complain, whatever, but don't call them "evil" for disagreeing with you. 3. Bad Theatre Manners. This goes for movie, live production, whatever. I can't count the number of times in the past year I've shushhed someone at a theatre. At an improv performance, I had to go over to a group and explain to them that we were trying to see the show and could they politely shut up? Kids in performances they shouldn't be, people answering cell phones(!!), people narrating the movie we are all watching right now, talking back to the screen, making guesses about what's next - SHUT UP!!! For more on this, see the Two Movie Guys' various rants, here, here and here. 4.People Who Take Themselves Too Seriously Yes, we all have our moments and we all over-react to some things. It happens. But if you can't laugh at yourself, ever, and that goes for your religion, your politics and your family, too, then you have a problem. I'm a Christian and not just in name or because I grew up there. But I can laugh at my church when the joke is funny (and true). Learn to laugh at everything in your life and you'll start to see what's really important. 5.Research/News Reports on the Obvious This may end up being an entirely new blog at some point, but how much money is wasted on totally useless research or research with blatantly obvious conclusions? At the last radio station I worked at, I saw a press release from researchers at Pitt who had determined, over a 2-year study, that alcoholics are less likely to take medication on a set schedule than people who only drink occasionally. Well, duh. The Today Show ran a piece yesterday that was about "Are celebrities treated differently than normal people?" Um, this is news? Okay, that's the list off the top of my head today. I'm sure I'll have more to rant about some other time. .. .