I feel like the older I get, the more my pet peeves bother me. Maybe it's because I witness them every day or maybe it's because they just stand out to me so much that I can't help but get annoyed. Anyways, in no particular order, here are my top five pet peeves.
1. The foot shaker
So I don't know if it's just me, but during lecture every once in a while, I feel my chair vibrate and my desk shake. As soon as this happens, my blood starts to boil because I don't even need to turn around to know what it is. I know it's not an earthquake; it's much worse than that. I turn to the person next to me, and I see them shaking their leg, and I feel my eye twitch. I don't understand people who shake their leg because it makes me nervous because they come off as nervous, and I can't focus on taking notes or on listening to the lecture because everything around me is just... SHAKING.
If it goes on for more than a few minutes, I start to give them the "I see you shaking your leg, and I know that you know that you know that I'm looking at you so can you please stop?" look. Unless they had 10 cups of coffee in the morning and are unable to keep it in or because of some other justifiable reason, then I should not see them shaking their leg. Thank you, next.
2. The loud chewer
When you sit in the dining hall or cafeteria of your school where it's usually loud or at least moderately loud from the talking going on around you, you wouldn't expect to hear much beyond where you're sitting. But, NO. Spotting a loud chewer is like spotting the elephant in the room — you cannot NOT notice it no matter how hard you try. I want to concentrate on my food and on talking to my friends, but just like with the leg shaker, I can't. I remember last semester at a general body meeting that I attended, there was someone who brought in a slice of pizza, and during the presentation, all I heard was LOUD CHEWING. Not to mention that there were only about 15 people in the room so you can imagine that it was relatively quiet except for the LOUD CHEWING. Enough said.
3. The dub
Okay, so this can go either way. Well, not really. I understand that a lot of people are doing things when someone else messages them and that they can't always respond right away. Okay, I get that. I understand. BUT, if it takes someone four hours to respond to the first text, five hours to respond to the second text, six hours to respond to the third text, and never responds to the fourth text (especially when it's a question), then we've got a problem. We've got an even bigger problem if no one responds in a group project where communication is KEY, especially if everyone isn't able to all meet up in person. I cannot tell you how many times (I lost count) I've messaged group members to ask them if they could include something in our PowerPoint and received a response the day our project was due. By the time I finished the project, I got asked, "What can I help with?" and then it was my turn to become the dub.
4. The fashionably late
Honestly, this doesn't bother me as much as it used to because I got used to it, but it still bothers me a little... just... a little. Whenever I go out with people who tend to be late 80% of the time, I usually tell them I want to meet up around 12, but I actually want to meet up at 1. This way, they'll get there around 1, and I'll also get there around 1. I learned my lesson the hard way when I asked a group project partner to meet me at 2 to film our video. I knew that she normally wasn't on time for class, but I still gave her the benefit of the doubt, because why not? So, there I stood at the subway station –– cold, hungry, and betrayed –– for over an hour because she ended up waking up late. I don't think I ever recovered from that, but it's fine. It's. Fine.
5. The pencil-less
I need to take a moment before I talk about this one... okay. I'm ready. So, I usually give people the benefit of the doubt as I said before, so if someone was rushing to class and forgot their pencil case, fine, I get it. However, this doesn't apply to every scenario. My blood pressure goes up the slightest bit when right before an exam, the person next to me turns to me and asks, "Can I borrow a pencil?"
Sometimes, I just stare blankly at them because I can't even believe it half of the time. Forgetting a pencil for a class is one thing, but forgetting even a writing utensil for a major exam is another. Speaking of major exams, when I went to take my SAT, I was sitting there with sharpened pencils and a new eraser laying on top of my desk. I was calm and ready to go, and then all of a sudden, the person sitting in front of me turned around, and I'm sure you can guess what was asked. "Do you have a pencil that I can borrow?" It annoyed me for some reason, but I knew that I couldn't let it affect me before the exam, so I just gave them one of my pencils without saying anything. The worst part is that I didn't even get it back.
