I never really had pet peeves before. Growing up, nothing really bothered me. During high school, I wasn't phased by much; not the anxious pencil tapping against a desk, not the loud chopping sounds a student made while chewing gum next to me or even kids who would cut in front of me in the lunch line. I always considered myself mellow in that aspect. At least, in comparison to the few high-strung kids, I would socialize with throughout the day. Not even the class clown bothered me. Well, perhaps a few times, but nothing to any type of extreme.

Once, my sister came to visit me; she complained about how slow people moved in the south (She lived in Ohio for quite some time.) She was irritated by unhurried costumers walking through Walmart that she got stuck behind. She was also annoyed by the sluggish Virginian drivers putzing on the highways. I agreed with her. I am a busy body myself but it never enraged me.

I would see my friends and family get annoyed over things such as that, which I found to be understandable but never relatable.

I didn't start to notice my 'biggest pet peeve' until my sophomore year of college (so this year of college.) I first started to notice it in small moments, the moments that you don't really think about such as walking to class. It is a polite gesture to move out of one's way when sharing the sidewalk with them. However, I found myself to be the one moving out of the way. Every. Single. Time.

I basically conducted my own social experiment in my head. I kept track of how many times someone moved out of the way for me and how many times I moved out of the way for someone else. I ended up scoring the lowest. I always seemed to move out of the way for someone else. And I wasn't even noticing it! Well, not until recently.

Now, I always have a standoff with the person I'm about to pass, whether they know it or not. I don't move out of the way, just because I spent all of these years sprinkling politeness around as if I'm feeding breadcrumbs to birds, and stepping off the beaten path for people out of my unconscious politeness. I'm tired of it. I have places to be, and things to do.

This is super small, unimportant thing that shouldn't really bother me. I thought something like this would never bother me. But, it does. So next time you walk to class or to that coffee shop down the street from you, don't move out of people's way. Just do it. You'll be surprised.