What catches your hair on fire?

[Ulla dances in a silly way]

"You go to college for that?"

I always get this reply when someone asks me my major. I'm an Interior Design major. I design, I do not "decorate." No, I don't know how to Spackle your wall, I design spaces for maximum comfort, efficiency, growth potential, resale value, and well being of my client. I will not redo your house for free. Yes, I'm just a student, but I cannot afford that much time unless you will pay me. I need to buy books/food/alcohol (just kidding on the alcohol. I only buy that when I've got the money )

-Ulla

[RoseRose]

Reading all of these makes me agree STRONGLY with two:

"Get over it"

and

"You're too sensitive."

I've had "get over it" used in ways that were deliberatly trying to make me feel guilty for feeling bad- and it worked until I realized the person who was doing it had so many issues, and it was her way of not dealing with them.  Now I just wish she'd get help.  And I don't talk to her unless I don't have a choice.  (fiance's twin brother's GF, and fiance's twin brother happens to be the person I'm second most close to in the world.... fortunatly she's a long distance GF, so she's blocked on my instant messenger).

Another time, it was used by a friend who kept REPEATING it as I cried...




And a last one- anyone trying to convert me.  I don't care WHAT religion you are, if I give you a polite refusal, and you KEEP doing it, you will loose my friendship.  I lost a friendship (in 6th grade!) over this one.  Would have lost another if the person had backed off any later.

[Cellardoor14]

When someone goes on a tangent about how immigrants are the source of all evil, and then says "But not you... you're ok."

Gee, thanks.

And the other one, courtesy of the mother:

"You can't possible feel that way."

I can feel however I want, thank you. 
What isn't possible is telling someone else how or what they are feeling!

[behindbj]

I can't stand it when someone feels the need to "defend" me - as in someone makes a rude comment about my weight and then someone feels they need to take the other person to task over it (and then it is usually patronizing to me, too - like "You don't need to take that" or "There's nothing wrong with how you look.").

I always ask the person jumping in "Are you new?" 

What about me indicates I need your help?  Ever?

And I don't care that a skinny person thinks I look just fine and wants to show the world how progressive they are - and that they want to make me feel great about myself.

Folks who know me from this board should know by now that I don't need help in the "thinking I'm pretty darn snazzy" category. 

Keep your knee-jerk patronizing garbage for someone else.

behindbj

[Julia Mercer]

The term "simmer down"! What do I look like, a pot of water? Sheesh!

Jules

[Thipu1]

A phrase that can make me dig in my heels is, "There's a first time for everything".

I don't mind it in many situations but I hate it when we tell a patron that we don't do things the way s/he wants to do them.  Here's an example.

"I'm sorry sir but it isn't our practice to copy more than 50 pages from any one book."

"Look, I really need this and what harm would it do.  Ther's a first time for everything.

(To myself)  "Perhaps, but this ain't it".
     

[Gyro Widget]

Not a phrase that sets me off - but a gesture.  If someone arches an eyebrow at me, even if its in jest I immediately get SO ANGRY. 

[kingsrings]

I hate it when people say, "Everybody does it that way nowadays". Nope, not everybody does, so don't use that as an excuse. And if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you too? Heh. That phrase often given to us by our parents in answer to peer pressure still rings true today.

[NEDESAPIO]

"Don't take it personally."  How does one follow this advice?

[Slartibartfast]

I get superbly annoyed when people assume that just because I don't belong to a particular race/nationality/religion, I will appreciate a bigoted joke about the group.  My father-in-law constantly refers to stupid things his renters do as being "n*gg*r-rigged" (as in, shoddy construction or repair).  I told him I didn't want to hear that word, so now he's switched to "Afro-engineered."  Sigh.

I know I've ranted here before about people saying "that's so g*a*y" or "that's retarded" and then getting flustered when I call them on it - "But I didn't mean anything by it!"  Yeah, you didn't, which is why it's so offensive - you say homosexuality or mental illness correlates to some aspect of being horrible or annoying, and you don't even think."

[hobish]

Not a phrase that sets me off - but a gesture.  If someone arches an eyebrow at me, even if its in jest I immediately get SO ANGRY. 

We can never ever hang out.

[housewife2k]

Not a phrase that sets me off - but a gesture.  If someone arches an eyebrow at me, even if its in jest I immediately get SO ANGRY. 

We can never ever hang out.

I'm with hobgoblinish on this one...I often arch just one eyebrow at people, I;ve been doing it so long I hardly notice anymore, but I would hate to do it around you and anger you!

[kingsrings]

Arching eyebrows squicks me out, too. I also don't like being peered over glasses at.

[Lisbeth]

Not a phrase that sets me off - but a gesture.  If someone arches an eyebrow at me, even if its in jest I immediately get SO ANGRY. 

I do too.  It strikes me as sarcastic, mocking, and passive-aggressive.

[scooter2071]

When someone asks for your honest opinion, and you give them your honest opinion and they immediatly become defensive and argue with you about your honest opinion. Its like, why did you even ask me in the first place?