Thursday, September 9, 2010

Week 2--Pet Peeves

For those reading all posts on this blog, I find myself in much the same situation as Karen. In her post she detailed her lack of pet peeves and goal to maintain (or regain, perhaps) that status. I find that the actions of others do not usually bother me unless they interfere with my abilities to choose and act freely. And so it became a quest throughout the day to find something that bothers me. Seemingly a contrary quest, as typically I strive to be unencumbered by the actions of others and to have a cheerful and content disposition despite any obstacles. So, discarding my usual goal, I became hyper-aware of all that went on around me. The slouching boy next to me in class, the alarming leg-jiggling of the girl two seats down that shook the entire row, the frequent sniffles of the unknown person behind me, and various incidental actions that I tried desperately to escalate into a three-hundred fifty word pet peeve. Throughout the day I discovered some things that made me uncomfortable, distracted, and even mildly irritated, but nothing seemed worthy of the title "pet peeve."
Although finding a pet peeve proved more difficult than I initially suspected, I only had to return home to find the answer. In recent years, our society has passed through a "cell-phone mania"--our citizens are obsessed with their phones. Young children, old children, teens, young adults, old adults--all are constantly checking for new messages, typing frantically no matter the situation. In one case, a girl in a public bathroom turned on the faucet to wash her hands, received a text message and replied to it before her hands were clean. In other situations, people disregard common courtesy and text while talking to friends (and strangers) or on a date.
Answering a text message should never take priority over cleanliness (especially in a bathroom, that's just gross) or the feelings of other people. As the years progress and the addiction to cell phones and texting grows more and more serious, I have a feeling I will no longer have difficulty naming an irritation worthy of the label "pet peeve."

3 comments:

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  2. Thanks for posting this. It amazes me that people can be so rude. And ignore cleanliness, like you said when they will text and not wash their hands.

    I really enjoyed your post. It wasn't repetitive or boring to read. After the first paragraph I couldn't stop reading because I had to find out what you finally decided your pet peeve was. I really like how you incorporated your daily life and the little things that usually go unnoticed. It really made me stop and think, and as a reader, that's what I want out of a blog or essay or whatever it is I am reading.

    I like all the examples you used to prove your point. It was a strong argument and very persuasive. :)

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  3. You have no idea how much I support you on this! If you hadn't written about cell phones I definitely would have. I hate, hate, hate it when I'm having a nice conversation with a friend and they suddenly whip out the ole phone and go to town. Every time it happens I feel this urge to throw the phone under a passing semi or into a large body of water. I haven't done it yet but maybe one day.......

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