What little things drive you completely up the wall....?

[cabbagegirl28]

My hate it 'salt to taste'. I usually cut the salt in half anyway, but I need a place to start! I finally decided to try 1 tsp. per quart of product and go from there. Sigh.

That makes me N-V-T-S nuts. How on earth do I know how much salt is to my taste until after the dish is cooked?

OT, but I love History of the World, Part I, and it makes me really happy to see someone make a reference to that movie.

People keep telling me that my life will "experience a wonderful change" if I decide to have children. Probably not. I don't have a child-shaped hole in my heart. My least-favorite arguments are "kids make your life better" and "we had kids to be happy" and "you learn to be less selfish with children". Kids only make your life better if you want them, and even then they don't make you happy. They make you feel fulfilled, sure, but again that's only if you want them. You have PLENTY of struggle ahead if you have them. And excuse you, but I'm going into a field that's all about helping people, my family donates thousands to charity every year, and I do volunteer work on the side. Not having kids won't make me the epitome of American selfishness/materialism.

As someone who has spent much time in social services (in one form or another)  I must say kids are NOT the magic they are made out to be.

The other day I actually had a conversation with a woman about how she still was angry at (her now adult) daughter because she "faked" toilet training at 14 months and then "regressed."  She thought the kid was just messing with her to be mean.  When I hear that level of self-absorbedness, I'm pretty sure kids don't cure selfishness. 

Wow. Because kids never get ill and need to go back to diapers, like I did. Or, for another possibility, she just...had a memory mess-up. It's not like it's easy to remember to use a contraption that you haven't had to use until you were at least a year old.

That lady really annoys me.

[BabyMama]

That makes me N-V-T-S nuts. How on earth do I know how much salt is to my taste until after the dish is cooked?

OT, but I love History of the World, Part I, and it makes me really happy to see someone make a reference to that movie.

I just watched that last week! (My boss took us all the see Young Frankenstein at the movie theater a couple weeks ago, so I was in a Mel Brooks mood ) It's good to be the king.

[Piratelvr1121]

My bff, who is childfree, says the only maternal instinct she has is towards her cats, and I once saw a magnet on her fridge that says "If I wanted to hear the pitter patter of little feet, I'd put shoes on my cats." I thought that was funny.

And I wish it were true that becoming a parent rid a person of self-absorption, cause if it were true, there would be far fewer dysfunctional families in the world...

[Julian]

Getting an itch where you can't scratch it.

This morning, scalp, under a motorcycle helmet at highway speed.  Grrrr.

[mbbored]

An ingrown hair. In the worst of all possible locations. OUCH.

Oooh, I'm wincing in sympathy.

[Lynnv]

Getting an itch where you can't scratch it.

This morning, scalp, under a motorcycle helmet at highway speed.  Grrrr.

I feel your pain. 

It is super annoying because it always seems to happen just AFTER a good place to stop and remove your lid for a moment. 

I always seem to get one on my nose.  I could scratch it.  But is it worth it to pull off my glove, open my faceshield and set my eyes to watering, and then scratch that itch?  Because I will probably get a bug in there while I am doing so.  Which is at least as annoying as the unreachable itch.  Grrrr.

[Allyson]

When someone gets mad at you for not being upset enough. I have a coworker who is really awesome, but sensitive and easily upset. And if *she* is angry about a coworker/customer issue, and I shrug it off, she will huff at me and be really passive-aggressive for the rest of the shift. I used to try to say things to defuse her, but her response was a loud "I have the *right* to my opinion!" When I answered "I know, but so do I" she became so angry I now don't even try anymore,but just tune it out and nod along. I still absolutely will not fake outrage so she can have someone to vent with, though.

There are times when something does bother me, or I feel like she's justified, and on those occasions I'll absolutely rant along with her. But I'm not going to agree someone was absolutely awful if I don't feel they were.

[Adelaide]

Getting an itch where you can't scratch it.

This morning, scalp, under a motorcycle helmet at highway speed.  Grrrr.

I feel your pain. 

It is super annoying because it always seems to happen just AFTER a good place to stop and remove your lid for a moment. 

I always seem to get one on my nose.  I could scratch it.  But is it worth it to pull off my glove, open my faceshield and set my eyes to watering, and then scratch that itch?  Because I will probably get a bug in there while I am doing so.  Which is at least as annoying as the unreachable itch.  Grrrr.

Here's a trick that sometimes works for that: because of the way your nerves are (I can't remember the exact rationale, something about how the signals feed into the spine before being sent to the brain) if you scratch any place, it doesn't have to be the one that itches, you can sometimes trick your body into thinking you've alleviated the actual itch. Good for me when I get an itch on the ball of my foot and I'm sitting in class.

[BarensMom]

Getting an itch where you can't scratch it.

This morning, scalp, under a motorcycle helmet at highway speed.  Grrrr.

Pipe cleaners, twisted together lengthwise, rolled up in your pocket, makes a good under-helmet scratcher.

[girlysprite]

An ingrown hair. In the worst of all possible locations. OUCH.

Me too. Let's start a club together, you can be president!

[Luci45]

An ingrown hair. In the worst of all possible locations. OUCH.

Me too. Let's start a club together, you can be president!

I had to look up 'ingrown hair'. Doesn't look like they would hurt particularly. I'll probably get one tomorrow and find out the hard way. And it's all your fault!

[Outdoor Girl]

"If I wanted to hear the pitter patter of little feet, I'd put shoes on my cats."

Mine don't need shoes.  And it definitely doesn't sound like pitter patter; it sounds like a herd of elephants!  Especially at 3 in the morning.

[elephantschild]

DH and his reaction to questions. I know where it comes from, but ... ugh!

This morning, I ask him where he thinks we should hang a Christmas decoration and give him three places I was thinking of. He picks one.

Me: "Hmm, why?" (turning over the pros and cons of the places and honestly wondering why)

Him: (acts annoyed) "I don't have a reason, I just picked one because you wanted me to!"

Me: Huh? "No, I wanted to talk about which spot was the best!"

Him: "OK ... other one!"

Me: "Why?" (thinking, OK, now we can have the conversation!)

Him: "Then pick it yourself!"

Me: "What part of 'talk about it' do you not understand??"

And a similar situation. I asked him to get a certain brand of something at the store. He comes home with something different.

Me: "Why did you get X?"  (thinking, "Huh, this is new! Maybe it was a better deal or the other one sold out. Maybe he just liked something about it. I wonder what?")

Him: Throws hands up in the air. "Then get it yourself the next time!" 

After 10 years of marriage, I know that the latter (which doesn't happen much anymore) is him hearing my question as "You screwed up!" That's how his mom operates. She wants DH to do all sorts of things for her and then nitpicks them to death.   I tell him he should know me better by now. He admits this.

The first example ... I don't know. Perhaps it stems from the same dynamic. MIL doesn't usually want to have conversations, she wants to tell you how to do things. Because she always knows best, of course.

[Luci45]

DH and his reaction to questions. I know where it comes from, but ... ugh!

This morning, I ask him where he thinks we should hang a Christmas decoration and give him three places I was thinking of. He picks one.

Me: "Hmm, why?" (turning over the pros and cons of the places and honestly wondering why)

Him: (acts annoyed) "I don't have a reason, I just picked one because you wanted me to!"

Me: Huh? "No, I wanted to talk about which spot was the best!"

Him: "OK ... other one!"

Me: "Why?" (thinking, OK, now we can have the conversation!)

Him: "Then pick it yourself!"

Me: "What part of 'talk about it' do you not understand??"

And a similar situation. I asked him to get a certain brand of something at the store. He comes home with something different.

Me: "Why did you get X?"  (thinking, "Huh, this is new! Maybe it was a better deal or the other one sold out. Maybe he just liked something about it. I wonder what?")

Him: Throws hands up in the air. "Then get it yourself the next time!" 

After 10 years of marriage, I know that the latter (which doesn't happen much anymore) is him hearing my question as "You screwed up!" That's how his mom operates. She wants DH to do all sorts of things for her and then nitpicks them to death.   I tell him he should know me better by now. He admits this.

The first example ... I don't know. Perhaps it stems from the same dynamic. MIL doesn't usually want to have conversations, she wants to tell you how to do things. Because she always knows best, of course.

It sounds to me like he really doesn't care and was just choosing something random to get it done.

[Diane AKA Traska]

That would drive me nuts.  Stone.  Cold.  Nuts.