Am I Crazy or Do These People Annoy You Too?

I want to tell them, but conventional courtesy holds me back

If there was a tax applied for anytime someone was daft, governments would have enough money to ensure no country in the world ever lived in poverty.

You see basic stupidity everywhere around you — the most recent examples being people wearing masks and sliding them down onto their chin, in a public setting — because they’re talking on the phone!

Hello there genius — your voice will travel just fine through that mask, but that potential virus you’re putting yourself and others at risk of won’t wait for your phone call to end.

Well, the mask case is very specific to the current times, there are plenty of other things that annoy me, and yet I can do nothing but “let it go”.

Here are some — and I’ll bet you’ll agree with the way I feel, yet our collective cringes won’t change these acts of mass stupidity.

The Smiley and LOL/LMAO/OMG Overdose

Do you have that one friend who will have more emoticons and LOLs on their texts than actual words?

What about those acronyms that only they know the meaning of?

WYD?

IDK.

HRU?

NM.

If you’re wondering these are short forms for “what you doing?”, “I don’t know”, “how are you”, and “not much”.

And the LOL, LMAO, and the endless emoticons when you’re really just sitting their straightfaced, without a smile or without an expression, yet you feel the need to show all your emotions overdone in the text.

The Fake Compliment Queen/King

So there are some people that are naturally good at conversation.

While there are others who can’t really strike genuine conversations and need the worst excuses, and I am OK when those excuses are “it’s lovely weather outside” or “so what did you do for the weekend?”

What really irritates me is the fake compliments.

“Oh my God! That is such a lovely sweater — where did you get it from? I love it…”

“You look sharp today! Where did you get those sunglasses from?”

If you’re expecting me to return the compliment, sorry — I don’t do lies. Or if you’re expecting me to walk into that fake flattery — nope, not gonna work either.

“How Are You?” and “What’s Up?” When You Don’t Want an Answer

We all exchange pleasantries alright. And, mind you, there is nothing wrong with being courteous and exchanging a few words as niceties.

Yet, if you’re seeing someone in passing or don’t really mean to start a proper conversation and actually find out, WHY would you ask something like “How are you?” or “What’s Up?”.

Coz when you do ask me, I feel the need to tell you how I am and what’s up with my life, but the reality is you’re either passing by me and don’t have more than half a second, or are in a hurry to get to your point. This is how the typical conversation ends:

Situation 1:

Person A while walking past me: “Hey, man! What’s Up?”

Me: “Well, not a lot, I was actually working on…”…and A has already crossed the point where I am even audible anymore

Situation 2:

A colleague at coffee catch-up: “So, How are you?”

Me: “I am doing OK. It’s been a tough couple of weeks with office stuff getting hectic, and the kids going back to school…,” when I realize the colleague is eager for me to stop so she can get to the point of our discussion, and so I cut short my answer.

Well, why ask a question when you either don’t have the time or the interest to know the answer. There are other perfectly acceptable things you can say such as “Hey, good to see you!” or simply a “Hi there!” and just end it at that.

Mile-long Queues to Board a Plane

This might seem like a distant memory, coz most of us haven’t boarded a plane in a long time.

But, can someone please explain to me the benefits of standing in a long-ass queue for boarding a plane that has pre-assigned seats, and you’re all going to get in anyway?

Are there special prizes for getting in first? Or do you have a shot at an upgrade if you get in there first? If that’s the case then clearly I didn’t get that memo.

Newbie and experienced travelers alike LOVE to line up even before the first boarding announcement, in anticipation of the gate to open as if you were going to secure a better seat if you got there first! The logic to this one continues to elude me.

The Noisy Chewer or The Loud Breather

Science or Google tells me, I’ve got a disorder on this one. According to a Time article,

If you’ve ever been tempted to confront someone slurping their soup in a restaurant, or if a person breathing loudly next to you in the movie theater is enough to make your blood boil, then you’re not alone: You’re one of many people suffering from a genuine brain abnormality called misophonia.

Misophonia, a disorder which means sufferers have a hatred of sounds such as eating, chewing, loud breathing, or even repeated pen-clicking, was first named as a condition in 2001.

Well then, yes — I am Misophonic.

But what I also don’t get is what is the dire need to chew with a sound unless you’re three years old? Or why would you breathe so loudly when you’re on a conference call with 10 other people, or not at the least mute yourself?

Aren’t these basic courtesies you should follow? I guess not.

The Ones that Never got the Concept of a Phone

Well, we’ve all met this kind.

You’re in a subway headed to work, and this one person starts to talk at the top of their voice on the phone — whether it is an angry work call or a loud personal check-in with family.

These people have no respect for personal space, even in a public setting. And they, for some reason, think that they need to be loud enough so the person on the other end of the phone can hear them directly, and not via that cellphone.

This isn’t just in a public setting, there are also these aggressively loud talkers at the workplace — they have fake loud laughs so the other person knows that they found them funny, and they have to over-express every word with loud exclamations. Utter disregard for their surroundings and the people around them!

It does feel a lot better penning this all down and hoping that some of these are things that annoy others too — and I am not the only one, but I’d love to find out if these are genuinely annoying things — or is it just me?