Life's Little Annoyances

Most people who know me view me as being kind, compassionate, rational and willing to help in any way possible. I am not unreasonable in my demands and I do try to observe the Golden Rule. Of course, I have my faults and I try to work on eliminating the range and scope of my shortcomings. After all, isn't that a principle of life: to learn from our mistakes and endeavor to be better? While I cannot control people's behaviors there are some actions and incidents that annoy me just enough to throw my equilibrium slightly off tilt. I have listed a few of life's little annoyances in the life of Annette Robbins. Allow me to share my feelings and just maybe you will be sympathetic to some of my pet peeves.

Not getting a human voice when making a telephone inquiry Whenever I make a telephone inquiry, I sometimes need to talk to a real person because the listed options do not address my concern. As I listen to the recorded menu and try to make the proper selection, at times there is no appropriate choice or reasonable facsimile thereof to resolve my issue. How often are we met with the stock phrase "All of our customer service representatives are busy assisting other customers. Please hold and our next available representative will assist you". Sometimes I instinctively press "0" to bypass the prerecorded menu but to no avail. When the friendly recorded voice asks "to better help us serve you, please tell me how I can help you?" Again, many times there is no suitable choice so I have learned to just mumble and garble nonsense words into the receiver which prompts the recorded voice to say " I'm sorry, I did not understand your response. One moment please, I will transfer you to a customer service representative". Well, that's good news to my ears because that's what I wanted in the first minute of my telephone inquiry rather than going through the long prerecorded menu.

Phone calls that hang up when you answer How many times have we been on the telephone only to be interrupted by an incoming call? You think it might be important so you excuse yourself from your call to take the incoming call only to find out that the caller hangs up. Well, after receiving numerous such hang up phone calls, I now take note of the call, enter it into the search box of my computer and usually find out something about the location and identity of the "hang up" phone call. Many times when using this method, you will see a long listing of reviews written by individuals who have received calls from these same phone numbers. In their reviews, they will share what information they know about the offending annoying telephone number. Using the search box method gives me just enough information without using the "reverse look-up" method which usually charges a fee to get information on the annoying phone number.

Stepping ahead first in line when you should be last in line The last should not be first This little annoyance usually occurs in supermarkets when the line is too long and another line is opened to facilitate movement of the long line. The cashier politely announces "I am open for the next person in line" Well, you look around and notice a group of people from the back of the line making a beeline for the newly opened line. Well, to be fair, the next person in line is the person standing behind the customer currently being waited on. However, without fail, usually the people standing at the end of the line scurry over to the newly opened line. When you patronize banks and some department stores, there is a rope that cordons off the place to stand which allows the line to proceed in an orderly and fair fashion. I suppose it would be difficult to implement that method in a supermarket but I always feel like shouting out that the people in the front of the line are the ones to go to the next register, not the people standing last in line.

A child kicking the back of your chair or seat Have you ever been seated in a theater seat, church pew,
airplane, or train seat, only to have a child intermittently kick the back of your seat? I have two young grandchildren who are precious to me so I am not a child hater. It is quite unnerving as well as highly uncomfortable to be kicked in the back. At first, you try to ignore the constant thumps and bumps but as you feel your vertebrae shifting their alignment, you realize you must address the issue. To not say anything is an option but you probably will be making an appointment with your chiropractor very soon if you remain silent. If you decide to say something, you carefully measure your words even though you may be highly annoyed because you don't want to escalate the situation or appear to be a crotchety old person. When I have been the kickee, I usually turn around with a friendly expression and inform the individual that they are probably unaware of their actions, but their kicking behavior is causing me discomfort. The child's parent is usually apologetic and scolds the child. Peace and comfort have been restored; all is well.

Well, now you know about my life's little annoyances and I hope I didn't annoy you!