Week 2: Do Not Disturb

People have bad days. Life can be frustrating sometimes. I'm not one for pity parties, but I recently have had some experiences that I would like to convey to you.

College can be overwhelming. We all know this, as it just seems like there are never enough hours in the day. We go to class, do homework, and try to decide whether we will socialize or catch up on sleep for the next day. We are taught to find a balance in all things of life and this can be very challenging sometimes, especially when others get in the way and prevent you from doing the things you want. One of my biggest pet peeves is when others neglect your right to sleep. This is the most irritating thing that I have come upon in my experience living in the freshman dorms. People can be so inconsiderate of others that it amazes me. Growing up, I was always taught to treat others as you would like to be treated. I don't recall the golden rule only applying to little children and as you get older you can do whatever you want. It seems obvious that this rule should still apply to people even after they graduate high school. Amazing concept, right? People running and shouting in your hallway at 1:30 in the morning on a weekday is absolutely unacceptable. Just because we are on our own now with no parentals giving us curfews, does not make it okay for people to disrupt others valued sleeping habits. I am a pretty easy going guy, so I do see it to be an acceptable kind of behavior and understand that during the right time it is okay to goof off in the halls. I am sometimes apart of the goofing off, but I only do it during certain hours. Goofing off during the weeknights is acceptable until about midnight. After that, people should quiet down for those that may have early classes the next morning. The weekends are a different story. Running and shouting that occurs at 2 in the morning early Saturday or Sunday does not bother me at all. I'm all for enjoying yourself, it's the weekend for heck sakes so party it up! People usually don't have places to be early in the morning on weekends so have at your goofy antics. But, when Sunday night rolls around it's time to be considerate of others. There is a time and a place for everything. There are times for goofing off and having fun, and also times to SLEEP.

Week 2: A Pet Peeve, Indeed.

Coincidentally, my biggest pet peeve is related to pets. Nothing grinds my gears more than seeing animals dressed as humans. I hope you understand what I’m talking about. The fad seems to be a growing one: commercials, birthday cards, calendars, and the list can go on and on. Our society, namely middle-aged women, reveres the image of animals garnishing themselves in human attire. Not only is this practice offensive to me, but those poor animals are subject to detrimental humiliation. Imagine how the teacup pig feels when he has to face his friends after wearing a sundress in his last photo shoot. What about the kitten that wears a sheriff costume, the goat in a tuxedo, or the classic example of dog in blue jeans and cowboy hat. There is no way that they are enjoying themselves.
Another reason this irritates me is because a number of times I have seen clothing strikingly similar to mine worn by these animals. Needless to say, this has an adverse effect on my self-esteem. The next time I put on my blue polo and khaki shorts and stare in that mirror, the image of the orangutan wearing almost the exact same outfit as me will settle right in the middle of my mind. Then it is only natural to wonder if what I am wearing is fit for a human, or merely the monkey. My day is ruined as I question myself throughout the day on whether or not I’m wearing monkey clothing.
The solution to this travesty of animal rights and my self-image is simple: take the pictures without the poor animals having to wear clothing. I think the calendar would sell just as successfully if the teacup pigs were sitting in flower pots or playing poker. It is just as cute if not cuter! The responsibility to ending this lies with the consumer. If the consumer speaks its voice and expresses disdain for the very product, the manufacturers will have no choice but to produce what the people want. If this does not pan out for me, and my second plan of getting some sort of bill passed through congress does not work out, then I will have no choice but to change my mindset. I will force myself to accept that animals dressed as humans are now and embedded element to the American culture.

Week 2: Cougareat Restaurants charging less than advertised

I have a pet peeve with restaurants at the Cougareat charging less than advertised. You might be thinking, “Sounds like your lucky day! Who could ever have a pet peeve about that? That’s great!” Well… let me get started.

The first time I went to the salad wrap place, I looked carefully at the menu. I didn’t want cheese, but wanted sunflower seeds in addition to black beans, so I decided I would simply pay the extra price for the sunflower seeds.

To my horror, the person who charged me for the wrap was not the person who prepared it – how was the cashier supposed to count the different types of things when it was all jumbled together? I tried to add up the price in my head… and I was charged the normal price. I asked if they were sure, and they said yes. I hurried away, confused, but I got a receipt. I counted up the items again and realized they were wrong.

So, maybe the real pet peeve is having to correct something that wasn’t my fault. I don’t like going and confessing the situation, especially if I didn’t even do it on purpose. So I went back and told them that they charged me wrong. I found out I was right about being undercharged, but the worker said it was okay and it was only bad if I was overcharged.

I wanted to pay it back. It was such a small amount, it was not even close to being worth all the stress. I was upset and thought about talking to the manager to complain. I thought, there is no way I am going to sell my integrity for 70 cents (or however much it was).

A similar thing happened at the dessert place. They charged less for my cookie than the sign said, and I asked about it – the worker said that they charge less for the old ones, or something. I wish they would have an accurate price tag or a “sale price” listing on the official menu, or else let me know when I am getting charged less than advertised.

That’s not all – once I realized that the sunflower seeds were cheaper – 1 point and not 2 – by questioning the total “points." It felt like a facepalm moment.

I would like to think that the Cougareat is responsible for advertising correct prices – yet I don’t think they think it is even a problem to undercharge people. Me being responsible to change my mindset, in my opinion, would require knowing what is the right thing to do in those and similar situations, and I think that “what is right” in those situations is subjective – so I don’t really want to write about it – that could take many paragraphs.

OE Topic

Not selling caffeine on campus

OE Topic?????

Two options; haven't decided.

1.) LDS students disobeying prophet/Honor Code agreement while maintaining an ecclesiastical endorsement (i.e. having Bishop's "O.K." when you are not honest or obedient).

2.)Grooming--are well maintained beards really "unclean" looking, as opposed to creepy mustaches? Giving more facial hair rights, or taking away mustaches? Also, talking about the enforcing or lack thereof for this rule.

OE Topics

Possibilities for the topic of my hopefully glorious opinion editorial:

• visiting hour shenanigans
• honor code business (with a focus on facial hair?)
  
• class conduct

By the way, Donut Fence relates to my name because people sometimes call me 'Duncan Donuts Pickett Fence'. Just so you know.

OE topic

Topic: The Honor code is not clear enough.

The Honor Code is too strict, because its vague terms seem to mean a lot of things that are absurd and ridiculous when taken literally. This is probably because it does not mean exactly what it says. It should be written clearly and not be a "shoot for the moon to land on the stars" strategy. It seems to be making rules very broad, yet accept a lower level of conformity - which makes it hard for those who take their promises seriously.

Topic

campus being to strict by shutting everything down during devotional!

OE topic

-Classes: changing registration, offering more sections of classes, freshmen bundle.

Week 2: Disrespect... REALLY?

I cannot begin to tell you how serious I am about respect to substitute teachers. It is a HUGE pet peeve of mine when students are disrespectful and plain out rude to substitute teachers. Is it necessary to go crazy when our teacher is absent? Come on people... we should be mature at our age.

It all started when my mom became a substitute herself. She mostly substituted at the senior high when I was still attending middle school. She would come home exhausted and upset because of the inability of students to listen and obey her. People would yell out inappropriate comments and refuse to finish their assignments. From that year on, I started to really pay attention to my class’ behavior when our teacher was unable to attend class.

I have been appalled by the actions of some of my fellow students. Oh my goodness, I did not know that people could be so rude to an elder. One time a teacher would not allow a student to go to the restroom. Her answer for not allowing him to use the restroom was because of his previous actions from the start of class. He would talk while she was talking, interrupt her in mid-sentence, and make sneer remarks under his breath. So her decision of prohibiting him to use the restroom was understandable. However, he did not take no as an answer. After he had asked four different times (each in a rude tone), he got up, physically pushed her out of his way, and proceeded to the restroom. Words cannot describe how bad I felt for the substitute. At the end of class, embarrassed as all can be by my class’ behavior, I apologized to her for the disrespect she was treated with.

It is horrible how people will treat other people, especially if they are older. I find there is no excuse to not treat a substitute even more kindly then you would your own teacher. It is common courtesy and should always be kept in mind. So if we ever have a substitute teacher for Mrs. Roper, please do not let my pet peeve be your course of action! :)

OE Topics

Possible Topics:

• Class registration: try to make it easier to navigate and more convenient for people to get into the classes they want.
• Campus maintenance: ice in the winter, statues, railings, lawns and buildings etc.

OE Topic

For my opinion editorial I think I'm going to talk about how I wish it there was more advertising for the Center For Service and Learning. (AKA the Service Center). I think if more people knew about it and how easy it is to get involved that we would have a lot more volunteers and there are a lot of solutions to the problem.

OE topic

For my topic I will write on the Honor Code, stressing the issue of facial hair.

OE topic

Having iClickers and taking attendance in class.

OE Topic!

My topic for my Opinion Editorial paper: Freshman Rules

OE Topics

Sportsmanship/pride of fans in collegiate sports or players in intramurals

Pedestrians disregard of traffic signs or crosswalk laws

Maintenance of school grounds i.e. care for statues, filling soap dispensers, etc.

Topics For OE

Honor Code, Attendance

Opinion Editorial Topic

I am writing my OE about how I think visiting hours should be done away with.

(Week 2) A Serious Need for Speed = An Impatience for Slow Drivers

One of the biggest pet peeves I have developed in the last couple years is my annoyance for drivers who drive under the speed limit. In order to accurately understand why slow drivers really hit a nerve for me, I suppose it would be helpful if I were to start at the very beginning…. As I was growing up, my parents were never ones to really obey the rules of the road. My mom and dad enjoyed racing each other to and from certain places for the reward of bragging rights and a temporary postponement of diaper duty. When I began learning to drive, it was my dad that encouraged my speed. He always urged me to go just a little bit faster; his one rule being to obviously avoid any and all police cars and potential car accidents. His last words before I got my license were ‘drive with caution’; words you can imagine I took as being nothing but simply ironic. The night I got my license, he took me on the freeway at midnight and told me to floor it. To him, that was my initiation into the world of freedom via motor vehicle.

Surprise, surprise, I ended up developing driving habits much like that of my parents. For this reason I am not, by any means, a patient driver. Despite my understanding of the safety needs for speed limits, I am not a fan of the speed limits as they are set, let alone the idea of going any slower than the speed limit indicates. I’m the type of person with a very constant ‘need for speed’.

I understand that my pet peeve has everything to do with my own person and very little to do with the other drivers on the road. I get frustrated with slower drivers purely because of my own previous experiences driving. In order to let go of this pet peeve I know I have to be a little more patient when I drive and somehow persuade myself to follow the speed limit. At one point I had convinced myself that going slower than the speed limit is as dangerous as going over it (completely untrue), yet I continue to be picky about it. I wonder if I’ll ever ease up on the old granny’s and visually impaired drivers out there, but I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.

Week 2 Shhh the Movie is About to Start

Ok lets be honest here, I have so many pet peeves now that i am thinking about it. Instead of going off on all of them and the instances in which they have ruined my life, I will just vent about the most recent instance of tragic annoyance. So bare with me and try not to pull your hair out while we go on a little voyage in my life. It was last Thursday at about 7:00 PM when it all started. I was sitting in the dorms doing absolutely nothing like usual with my friends. When the opportunity presented itself to go see True Grit with some girls for one of their birthdays we seized it with out a second thought, that was my first mistake. The movie started at ten o five and guess what time they picked us up at? Yep you go it ten o five. That means we were going to miss some of the previews, and the previews are the best part of going to a movie right? Well back on the ranch we arrived at the movie, got our tickets, found our seats just as the previews were wrapping up. The boys were very excited about the movie and heard great things about it, but apparently the girls did not get that same memo, you will know what I mean in a minuet. So where was I? O yes right as the movie is about to start, the lights go down, the suspenseful silence of the theater is at its peak, and then what happens next might you ask? O yeah the girls whisper something to one another and burst into laughter killing the movie atmosphere that i pay for into a thousand pieces. How am I supposed to follow the hero hunt down an outlaw with the loud sound of teenage laughter? The girls seemed to have the giggles in them for about ten minutes into the show. So I think to myself I will let this one slide. Then of course about twenty minutes later at a emotional part in the film they burst up laughing again! I cant believe it? How are you supposed to enjoy a movie if you cant get into it? And they where not done, I felt like I was watching a movie with the girls commentating the whole thing. It was ridiculous. If they liked, disagreed, or where disgusted with something they would let every innocent viewer in the theater know about it. Now don't get me wrong I really do like those girls and bless their sweet spirit, but, BUT it is on of my pet peeves when people are loud and disrupted during movies. So lets all have some common courtesy and keep our ideas to ourselves until after the movie or at a more appropriate time,



Thanks a Million :)