h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And waiting in line is a necessary evil of any company that lots of people are going to want to call at the same time. Think up a better system and you'll probably be get very rich selling it.

Would you rather leave it to random chance that the precise second you are dialing, no-one else is? Without the queuing system it would probably take you days of constant redialling before you hit it lucky. Instead you have to wait in a queue for half an hour or so Like i say- think of a better way that doesn't cost the companys a fortune, and you'll be very rich.

My friend's boyfriend's habit of dumping his boots in the middle of our hall, between the front door and the door to the lounge. Never mind the fact that all the rest of us put our shoes in the large space to the side, which is just as close. I've taken to kicking them out of the way.

My brother-in-law does exactly the same thing and it is infuriating!

I did once have a good shoes-being-in-the-way moment though. When my siblings and I were young, my father was forever telling us not to leave our shoes where someone could trip over them. Some ten years later, I was back home during a uni vacation and I tripped over his shoes. Normally I'd have been spitting feathers but I couldn't help but laugh.

Talking of shoes has reminded me of another petty hate I have:
One side of your shoe lace ending up much longer than the other. How does it happen?

Or when your laced get wet in a puddle or long grass then spend the rest of the day whipping your legs! Then when you get home they've dried and can no longer be untied.

Our upstairs bedrooms are tiny, and I think even my little boy dares not go upstairs with his shoes on at bedtime. My radiant husband, on the other hand, plants his clown-sized shoes in the middle of our tiny room. I took to throwing them down the stairs. They make a very satisfying noise going down...

I always used to have one pair of shoes/boots etc at a time, always buying a new one when the old ones fell apart. Now I have so much assorted footwear that I can hardly move for it!

Here's a minor one indeed.

The Watch Tower Society, in its publications, occasionally quote a certain scripture from the New World Trasnlation of the Holy Scriptures:

"Remember, now, your Grand Creator in the days of your young manhood [or, womanhood]." - Ecclesiastes 12:1.

It would be so much neater if they quoted it thus:

"Remember, now, your Grand Creator in the days of your youth." - Ecclesiastes 12:1, footnote.

TRiG.

Lets see a petty hate.When americans spll words like colour with no u

Hmmm. That is the accepted "correct" American (note capital A) spelling though. Also note that spell has an "e" in it, and "let's" should have an apostrophe.

Kinda destroys your argument on spelling if you don't do it correctly yourself!

* cue someone to give "grammar pedants" as a petty hate*

A real petty hate...

You're alone in the house. You go up to the bathroom to do what a man's gotta do(don't make me spell it out)

Whilst contenmplating nirvana and taking physical ease, there is a knock on the downstairs front door. Youy know you are never going to finish what you're doing in time to be able to get downstairs and answer it.

In the meantimme the visitor carries on knocking.

This kind of breaks your communion with the mystical unknown and spoils the moment.

You strive to finish and tidy up andf get downstairs but by then, whoever it is has got tired of wairting and gone.

worst of all possible outcomes and a "AAARGH!" moment.

Oh, we've *all* been there.

Cooking a beautiful steak but, in the act of lifting it from the griddle to the plate it falls onto the floor. Before the slap of meat hitting tiles reaches your ears, the dog's got it.

People who knock on your door quietly. Why? Are they scared of disturbing me? If they are scared of disturbing me then don't knock on the door in the first place! Give it a good BOOM BOOM.

Pubs that play awful music too loud and don't let you choose it
Either don't play it or have a jukebox and let customers choose, don't leave it to the spotty adolescent behind the bar

No smoking in pubs! It hasn't started yet and I hate it already. OK in restaurants but not pubs.

Inconsiderate smokers who ignore non-smoking signs - they are the reason I, as a non-smoker, am forced to breathe in cigarette smoke *each and every day* of my life. I'm serious - not a single day passes by without me breathing in cigarette smoke.

People who ignore non-smoking signs annoy me too, and I'm a smoker!

smokers who smoke over their kids' heads. smokers who smoke over MY KIDS' heads!

Just to be Devil's Advocate you understand:

Non-Smokers who insist on standing around in smoking areas complaining about the smoke.

If smoking in restaurants bothers you, (and it bothers me), get up and leave. If enough people do it, the owner will get the message. If not enough people do it, you're in a minority. Same with pubs. If you look in the door and see people smoking, don't go in.

Alternatively of course, have the law changed to potentially criminalise millions of people so you can feel morally smug and superior.

Petty? i'll give you petty.......

people (who shall remain nameless) not wiping the crumbs off the chopping-board after using it.... grr

people (who, again, shall remain nameless) putting the tv remote on top of the telly.... grrrrrr

people who dawdle on the street...grrrrrrrr

old ladies (sorry, but it is ALWAYS an old lady) who take about 20 minuites at the ATM AND THEN DONT EVEN TAKE ANY MONEY OUT!....grrrrrrrrr

and, still at ATMs..... people who stand to close to you in the queue or, even worse, when youre using it..........grrrrrrrrrrrr

oh, i could go on......

i'm soooooo glad i found this vent your 'sadly petty nature' thread!!

Ooh! People at ATMs who, for reasons known only to themselves, take money out from three different accounts.

People at ATMs who once finished stand in front of the ATM and slowly count their money/carefully read the receipt.