Things that tick me off

[breakinglight11]

Because I haven't worked myself into a good lather yet today, here's a list of some of my biggest pet peeves. And by pet peeves, I mean things that make me want to kill.

Lateness. It's just disrespectful. I swear, it feels like I spend half my life waiting around for people to show up when they said they would. It's doubly annoying when it's somebody important to me, as it usually is lately, somebody who I would wait ages for. Seriously, if you know I'd put myself to any inconvenience, discomfort, or disadvantage for you, why would you make me do it?

Geeks who can't turn it off. More on this in another post, I think, but as much of a geek as I am and am proud to be, I hate it when my fellows just can't manage themselves to behave appropropriately for the situation and make the rest of us look like maladjusted freaks who can't read social cues.

Bad hygiene. Seriously. Just shower. Yes, you do need to-- and wash your hair, brush your teeth, and use deordorant. If you don't, you're gross. There are certain bad smells I am extremely sensitive to, and unwashed human tops the list. CANNOT TAKE IT.

People in my private business. I've ranted about this before. Not everybody likes other people knowing what trouble is going on with them. The corollary to this being people giving me advice that I'd have to be a moron if it didn't already occur to me.

People inviting themselves places. If you have no been expressly invited, assume you are not wanted so you don't force yourself on someone. Do not say, "Hey, can I come too?" 'Cause there's no polite way for them to get out of that. And if they wanted to just have the experience of being with particular people, now you've taken that away.

People who dress inappropriately for their shape. You do not have to be built like an anorexic living-coathanger runway model. But if you're not, don't dress in ways that negatively emphasize all the ways that you're not. Low necklines flatter people with actual cleavage-- girls like me aren't kidding anyone like that. Just dress for your body, already.

People who never get the hint. Know when you're making someone uncomfortable. Know when you've hit a sore spot. Know when you've done the wrong thing. Know when to leave.

There's probably more than that. But those are some pretty damn big ones.

Comments

[meamcat.livejournal.com]

I empathize with your pet peeves! Stuff like this can get hard to ignore in Waltham.

Still, I wonder: if I liked to accent how small my boobs are, would it still be unflattering to draw attention to them? I understand some clothing can just look terrible on particular body types (like... any ill-fitting clothing, ever), but sometimes "unflattering" can be relative, I guess.

[contradictacat.livejournal.com]

Some of these I agree with completely, some with reservations and "yes, but...". To some degree, 4, 5 and 7 really tie in with 2, which in some people's defense, they're just not aware of.

I completely understand the frustration with people who cannot stop geeking out for 5 freaking seconds, but there's that and being genuinely unaware of social cues. Being ignorant of social cues (and nobody telling the person "hey, you're doing this thing that bothers people") can easily result in people not knowing that inviting yourself places is considered rude and not knowing that someone is throwing hints the size of Fenway Park that they do not want to interact with you anymore. There's also the 'self-centeredness' (I only use that phrase because I can't think of a better one right now) of not being able to see that other people don't work the same way you do, which can result in number 4.

And knowing what clothes flatter is really a trial-and-error process. I wore nearly nothing but XL tshirts and baggy pants for a long time before I realized that certain clothes looked better on me than others. As it is, I still have only the sketchiest of ideas as to what looks good and flatters me and what doesn't. But that said, spandex flatters nearly noone.