This woman illustrates how I've been feeling at times this week - annoyed with everyone and everything. Not that I'm never annoyed other times, but in general the big annoyances tend to space themselves out.
Since today is Thursday, I'm going to join Carole and the others to tell you Three Things That Have Really Annoyed Me This Week:
1. On my way to work on Monday, I realized that I'd forgotten to bring the lunch I packed and it was still in the refrigerator at home. So I stopped at the Wawa that is on the way to work, and picked up a yogurt with granola to have for my lunch. Since we only have 20 minutes, running out for something at lunchtime can mean that you have time to get whatever it is, but not necessarily to then eat it.
Anyway, I happened to hit the place at a time when a lot of other people were there, picking up odds and ends as well, so there was a line of about 8 people ahead of me. We were in line for *maybe* 10 minutes, tops. But of course, when the woman ahead of me in line got to the front, she put her one item on the counter, waited for the store clerk to ring it up, and ONLY THEN OPENED HER PURSE TO SEARCH FOR HER WALLET.
Now, if you are standing in line with ten things in your hands, trying not to drop anything, that's different. But this woman had one small item. Did she use the time in line to at least search for, and pull her wallet out of her purse? Did she at least do that once she was at the front of the line and put the item down? Of course not. And then of course, she had one of those humongous purses that required digging around until she found her wallet.
This is the same kind of thing as when you have been waiting for the bus to come for 20 minutes, and it finally pulls up, and ONLY then does someone in front of you start to look for their bus pass or bus fare.
This makes me so stabby, I can barely keep myself from commenting. But I just stand there annoyed instead, so that someone doesn't punch me.
2. Do you ever have these kinds of conversations with someone? In this case, yesterday I had one of these conversations with The Tim (this is a made up conversation by the way, for the purposes of illustration, it's not what was actually being talked about).
The Tim: I wonder what Mary's favorite color is?
Me: She told me it was yellow.
The Tim: Oh I don't think that can be right.
Me: Well, that's what she told me when I asked her.
The Tim (in a snippy, aggrieved tone): Oh well then I guess I'm wrong, I don't know anything.
O.M.G. I am just saying what another person told me when I asked the same question he was wondering about. And somehow, he has become the injured party. I promise that I didn't say anything in a smart-aleck way, but the other person (in this case, The Tim) is somehow deeply offended that I would contradict them.
Most of the time, when I see it coming, I can stay out of these conversations with other people, but every once in a while, I'm clearly not paying enough attention, and it happens.
It's so hard to deal with this when you are perfect like me. 😏
3. There are a myriad of ways to spell my first name. If someone doesn't know me at all, or has only met me/talked on phone/whatever once or twice, I a more than willing to let it go, and it's no big deal. But when you have been seeing the same doctor for over ten years, and they still write down your name incorrectly, or you have been working with someone in the same dept for years and they always misspell your name, THAT'S annoying.
One of my doctors *always* writes my name on prescriptions, etc., as "Bridgette." Then on one of the forms that you have to check to make sure your insurance, etc. is correct, it says under my name, "aka Bridget." No, that's not who I am Also Known As - *your* version is that, if you want it to be. GRRRRR.
One of my co-workers has worked with me for over 5 years, and they continually write my name in e-mails as "Briegette." I'm sure part of is is passive-aggression, but then in the case of things like e-mails, other people use her version EVEN THOUGH I MY NAME IS RIGHT THERE WHERE I HAVE SENT A RESPONSE.
Yesterday, I sent out a group e-mail, and both in the FROM part of the e-mail, and in my signature, you could see my name the way I spell it. The aforementioned co-worker responded first, and then the other three people involved also used that spelling. In the life I live in my head, I will start responding to everyone else's e-mails by some creative spelling of their names.
And that is why this week has been super annoying to me. I ask myself, could these things not have at least been spread out over several weeks, so that my desire to stab someone would not be as strong as it is right now? Apparently not. Which is reason #560285473 that it's a good thing that tomorrow is Friday and I have taken a vacation day.
10 comments:
All of those things are annoying, but the Name Thing and the Dawdling Thing are the worst. Because I am a Terrible Person, I'd have already done many, many passive-aggressive acts to make myself feel better about the Name Thing, like:
1. Hang signs of my name all over the place around my desk area
2. Refer to myself (I, Bridget) thusly in all emails as often as possible
3. Constantly use variant spellings of all of my coworkers' names
4. Buy and wear a pin or pendant of my name
5. End all emails with the phrase "And By The Way, I Spell My Name,
Bridget" rather than "Sincerely" or whatever closing you use.
But perhaps that's Just Me.
OMG. I swear you and I are related.... i agree with so much of this
1) This is the EXACT reason I carry a wallet purse (large wallet with a purse strap). I DO NOT WANT TO BE THIS PERSON!!!. I even keep my payment cards in the zipper pouch on the outside so they are even easier to access.
Also... I would be EXTREMELY annoyed that my company only gave 20 minutes for lunch... what year is this, 1912??? 30 minutes is bare minimum, and in reality it should be 45 minutes to an hour.
2) Oh I totally know a few people like that. Like... wow... dial back the sensitivity a bit. These tend to be the same type of people who ask you if you're going to/already have kids, and then when you say "nah, kids aren't really my thing", they get entirely offended like you just called their precious little Billy and Sally soul-sucking demons who are everything wrong with the world (I mean they are... but I didn't SAY that, lol).
3) Can I get an AMEN!?!? But I'll do you one better than your doctor... my own GRANDMOTHER still spells my name wrong. Every birthday card I've ever gotten has been addressed to Valarie instead of Valerie. Ever.Single.One.
At work I get mis-spellings a lot - usually Valarie, Valery, but even occasionally Valeria (Which just makes me sound like a horrible rash or disease). And yeah... it's usually in response to an email I've sent where the proper spelling of my name is right there.... sigh
This all boils down to people suck. And I'm just going to say it.... COVID didn't take out enough of them... or at least it didn't take out the right ones...
Number one is why I don't miss shopping. Covid did me a favor and made me realize I don't need to go in anywhere anymore and deal with......people.
As for the name thing, I'm a Debbie. One of billions born in the 50's. How hard is Debbie to spell? I get Debi, Debe, Debby and lots of other things. Don't get me started on Deborah. You should see how people mangle that.
Any one of those items would be enough annoyance for a week. So glad you have a long weekend and hope it is annoyance free! Your first annoyance is one of my pet peeves. Really, don't you know you need to pay for your purchases. I have my wallet in my hand ready to pull out my credit card. Then again, I have no patience. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Oof I'm stabby along with you.
It's funny, when you wrote about the numerous ways to spell your name, I thought "how many ways are there to spell Bridget?" And then I learned how many!
The thing with my name (Kim) is that people want to make it into Kimberly, when my legal name is Kim. I once worked with a travel agent to book a cruise in Alaska and all the documents came back as Kimberly. I asked her if it was going to be a problem since my IDs all said "Kim". Her response: oh probably. She wasn't thrilled she had to get everything replaced but WHY PUT A NAME ON THINGS WHEN SOMEONE DOESN'T TELL YOU THAT THAT IS THEIR NAME?
I'm double stabby now.
Variant on number 1: you are in a long queue to put in an order for a meal at a pub. You have already looked at the menu and have decided what you want. The person in front of you waits until they get to the front of the queue before even starting to look at the menu, then asks a million questions and changes their mind three times. Grrrrrr!
This simply confirms what Jean Paul Sartre said: Hell is other people. I have a sampler that I embroidered years ago with that quote.
Kym . . . with-a-y . . . totally gets #3. Totally. What made me stabby lately about my name? I recently had someone make a big frickin' deal about how "unusual" the spelling of my name is . . . when her name is Jhai. Like the tea, only with a "j" instead of a "c." REALLY????? Anyway. All of those things annoy me, too. (#2 is like dealing with my mother-in-law all.the.time. Every conversation. She argues with me about my own history and personal preferences. It's like . . . I'M SITTING RIGHT HERE, Lady.) Okay. Now I think I need a day off, too. XOXOXO
ALL if these. ALL OF THEM.
I am sorry your week was so crummy. Here's to a much better week ahead!
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