Microwaves, potties and other pet peeves

  Pet peeves: We all have them and the pesky things won’t go away.

I hate it when people leave time on the microwave oven. I don’t know how many times I’ve been stuck trying to punch in the cook time only to be thwarted by that blinking second or two still on the clock from the previous user. If that is you, STOP IT! Be courteous and clear the timer. It’s not hard.

Another thing that bothers me and blows my mind is in public restrooms when some guy walks up to the urinal, flushes it, does his business, and then walks away without flushing. That’s backwards and it’s sick. Ugh! Did your parents not teach you how to go potty? What are you thinking? Flush after you’re done. I don’t know if this is a problem in the ladies’ room, but guys, if you do this, it’s gross and you need to change your ways.

Some of my other pet peeves happen behind the wheel of my car. I know I’m not alone in these. Blinkers are not optional! They’re there for a reason. I don’t know how many near-misses I’ve been in because some idiot suddenly changed lanes without signaling. And when I turn mine on, it means I’m turning or switching lanes. It does not mean speed up to keep me from moving over.

My lead-foot tendencies often have me passing a lot of cars on long trips. On four-lane highways and interstates, the left lane is for passing. I can’t even begin to count the number of times on any given trip that I have to pass multiple cars on the right. What’s worse — and this is one of my biggest pet peeves — is nine times out of ten the moron cruising the left lane is usually on their phone.

Speaking of passing, when it comes to alternating double lanes, like we have on highways 16 and 87, why do people speed up when there are passing lanes and then slow down below the speed limit when the road narrows to one lane? I don’t get it, but I experience it a lot on those and similar roads. The speed limit doesn’t change, so what gives?

And don’t even get me started on door dings. The side of my car looks like it’s been riddled with bullets it has so many dings in it.

Some other things that bother me happen with the swipe of a debit card. Most of time now when you go to a restaurant, the barber, or some other place where a service is performed, the machine will ask if you want to leave a tip. Usually, they have buttons for suggested tips. They are typically 18%, 20%, 25% or more. I’m from a time when tips were between 10-15%. I’m still cheap that way.

In general, the quality of service isn’t any better now (and often worse) than when we left 15% tips. If I don’t feel the service was worth more than that, I don’t want to have to go through the hassle of figuring out the amount and pushing all the extra buttons to make a change. Nor do I want to reward bad service. Just give us cheapskates a simple 15% option.

Another thing that really irks me is when you purchase tickets online and the venue nails you with a “convenience” fee. I don’t find them very convenient, especially when they don’t charge them if you buy your tickets on site. The other day, I bought a pair of tickets for $25 each for a Christmas concert in December. The tickets came to $50, plus I sprang $20 for parking. Yet my $70 bill cost me $105 after the fees were added.

If I had gone up to the venue window and had an actual person wait on me, it would have been $70 and the company would still have to pay the person to help me. Online, they don’t pay anyone and they collect exorbitant fees. (In this case it was as much as the cost of third ticket and another parking spot). The same thing happens with movie tickets. The last time I bought movie tickets online, I got four $5 matinee tickets for $20, but paid almost $30 for them. That’s highway robbery!

I think the only ones being convenienced with these fees are the venues who are raking in 30-50% more per ticket without anyone helping you and for not having to pay an employee to handle the transaction. I honestly think this is a practice the attorney general ought to be looking into.

So now, I can expect to pay 50% more to go to a show, pass someone on the right to get there, get cut off by someone not using their blinker, and have to put up with a filthy toilet when I use the restroom. And for all this there is a demand to make the minimum wage $15 an hour? Sheesh!

Monkee business

This weekend, I am going to see the remaining Monkees on their farewell tour at the Tobin Center for Performing Arts in San Antonio (not the aforementioned concert). They are playing tomorrow (Sept. 23) in Austin at Stubb’s Austin Waller Creek Amphitheater, and then Saturday in San Antonio.

I’ve been a fan of the band since 1986 when MTV starting airing episodes of their 1960s TV show. I’ve seen them (Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones) several times, and even had a backstage interview with Mickey once. But I’ve never seen Mike Nesmith. Now, he and Mickey are all that’s left and this is the last chance to see them as the Monkees. Look for my review in an upcoming edition of the paper.

 

joe@fredericksburgstandard.com