An MK Pet Peeve

Day 9: Pet Peeves

I remember some where along the way hearing that the things that annoy you the most in others is usually a trait you possess. As I have grown older and met more people, I find that statement to be more true than not. I think this is why my mom and I will have tension in a visit – what bugs me about her turns out to be something that I actually do too and then I get even more annoyed. Sick little cycle in our relationship. I fear the same will be happen between Rylee and me unless she is able to break the pattern. Considering she loves pink, tutus, and sparkles, there may be some hope of that.

Chad, while being the most perfect husband for me, does possess habits and quirks that may not always gel with my mood. However, I have to put it in perspective – I do crap all the time that even I find annoying, so to even point out something he may do that I might find slightly irritating seems a bit hypocritical. The fact that he has not called me out on some stuff I do – leaving shoes everywhere, leaving half folded clean laundry on the couch or on a chair for the whole week, talking to him when he is trying to read, shedding hair in our bathroom, letting the kids eat dessert when they clearly have not eaten their dinner, etc – is shocking. He may go mental one day and explode when I ask – “have you seen my keys? I swear I left them in my purse.” Knowing that my list of maddening habits is a mile long, how can I in good conscience ask him to please put dirty dishes in the left side of the sink and not the right side with the disposal? (He already knows this one – not a passive aggressive message here!)

Why this very typical long introduction? Because when selecting a pet peeve to discuss, I didn’t want to make it something that my children will read and say – “ummm Mom – you do this all the time.”

So what can really set me off that I know 100% I do not do – flick cigarette butts. I do not get why people throw their cigarette butts on the ground or flick them out their car window. Completely unnecessary! Most people would never even consider throwing their McDonalds’ wrappers on the road or dropping their empty Starbucks cup on the ground but a cigarette butt is tossed without a care. While I understand the cigarette might still be hot – too bad! You decided to smoke then figure out a way to deal with it until it is cool enough to toss in the trash.

Please understand that while I am not a fan of smoking, and in all honesty probably not a very tolerant person of smoking, I am not writing a tirade about smoking. Some of the people dearest in my life are smokers and while I am not crazy about the smoke, I love the people with all my heart. I even asked one such sweet smoker why the littering. She couldn’t answer. She agreed it is littering and she said she makes every effort to dispose of it properly but she doesn’t always get that chance.

When I am driving and I see someone flick their butt out their window, I (in a very nerdy/goofy move) mentally fling that butt back into their car. As if I had some magic power to move objects, I stuff that butt back into their lap and make them jump like a hot potato.

Spending time and energy on something I can’t control seems a bit ridiculous. I mean I can get truly bent out of shape and go postal when I see the butt flick. But isn’t that kind of what a pet peeve is– something you can not control that just crawls under your skin and gnaws at you. Irritating isn’t it?