Do You Have A Pet Peeve List?

By Cheryl Ryan

I’d ask if you have any pet peeves if I didn’t already assume that you do. But maybe I’m wrong about that, maybe I’m just more peevish than most. 

A few of my ongoing peeves are tailgaters and dog poo. It’s the tailgaters that zoom up inches from your bumper with the intention of forcing you to change lanes and then once you move over they zoom up to torture the next unsuspecting car that makes me crazy. 

Dog poo is another story altogether. There are so many problems with poo.  There are the people that don’t pick it up at all.  Then there are those that put it in bags and just leave it.  Who do they think is going to pick it up?  There are no little dog poo garbage trucks on the way, people.  No, it’s the next poor person to come along and almost step in it or the homeowner whose house they leave it in front of, they’re the ones who pick it up.

On a recent hike, I counted 5 bags left on the trail. So when I witnessed a woman with two large dogs put the poo in bags and walk away, I called out “Hey are you going to take those bags with you.”  She tried to ignore me but I called out again. She sheepishly returned to get them. I’d rather not have to do that but I was peeved. The thing is that I don’t want to carry my own dog’s crap either.  It’s all so gross.  But it’s even grosser to carry other people’s dog’s excrement. And that day I had already picked up and discarded four bags of poo! Ok, I’m done talking about sh*%.

Just one last thing and the reason I even thought about writing this piece is that while planting my garden recently, I noticed how much plastic comes with every plant. Why can’t they just grow things in burlap?  It’s biodegradable and then you can plant all of it in the ground and it’ll naturally break down without all that plastic waste. This may not count as a pet peeve but more of a seasonal peeve.

I am hoping that as you read this, you’re not finding me on the extreme peevish spectrum but maybe I am.  I’m very interested to hear any of your pet peeves. If for no other reason than to make myself feel better about my own irritability.