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What Are Your Peeves?
I encountered one of my pet peeves on the way to work today. About seven or eight bicyclists were ahead of me on the road. The road had a fairly wide bike lane — easily wide enough for one rider, and perhaps wide enough for two. The riders, however, were ignoring the bike lane and riding in the (only) traffic lane, generally two abreast (occasionally three abreast).
I live in a scenic and hilly area outside the city, which is quite popular for bicyclists. There are “Share the Road” signs up in the area. But I regularly encounter bicyclists whose idea of “sharing the road” is to block the entire car lane.
So, these are two of my pet peeves: (1) bicyclists who use the traffic lane even when there is a bike lane provided, and (2) bicyclists who ride side-by-side, blocking traffic.
I do understand that there are occasionally good reasons for this behavior. For example, there may be rocks or other obstacles in the bike lane, or a rider may be passing another. Neither of these exceptions were present today (or generally in my area).
What are your pet peeves?
Published in General
Try adding ten-foot snowbanks and people wearing earphones to the joggers and bikers on those roads.
I admire what they are doing, but they are giving my heart the wrong kind of exercise. :)
Unrealistic patients with a mean streak.
I had a similar encounter when there was a nice smooth freshly paved bike path next to the road. I pulled up beside them and asked them why they weren’t using the path that I was taxed to provide for them. They just cursed at me.
Subwoofers.
Finding the chokepoint in any public traffic, walkway, or aisle. Then stopping right there. Then standing still, oblivious to anyone else trying to get by.
Bonus: when someone says “excuse me,” shifting no more than two inches.
I share the very same pet peeve you posted, actually – – both with bikers, and poky pedestrians who insist on walking 2-6 abreast on busy NY sidewalks.
I’d also add people who stop in their tracks the second they reach the top of the stairs or escalator, and anyone who won’t let the people off the train first.
Huh . . . seems to be a commuter theme in my peeves. Maybe I’d be happier working from home. Or Alaska.
Following on Probable Cause, any vehicle that is intentionally made louder to the annoyance of others. In this category – most motorcycles (at least in my part of the country), “rice rockets,” and the aforementioned sub-woofers.
Mine are mostly language peeves which, strictly-speaking, are not technically incorrect (because usage determines correctness in language), but which still bug me.
1)
The use of words like “male”, “female”, “youth”, etc, as nouns rather than adjectives. i.e. The male went for a bike ride. The youth came home from school.
It’s “male person” or “young person”, dang-it!!!
2)
The incorrect use of the word “factoid”. The -oid suffix refers to something that resembles something else, but is not that thing.
A humanoid resembles a human but is not a human. An android resembles a man but is not a man. A steroid resembles a sterol but is not a sterol.
A factoid is therefore something that resembles a fact but is not a fact (i.e. a fiction), and a trivial fact would be better described as a “factlet” since the -let suffix denotes a diminutive.
3)
The excessive and imprecise use of the word “we”. Except when referring to a specific and easily identified group of people (i.e. “Do we, the people in this room, all agree to get pizza for lunch?”) the use of the word “we” betrays a socialist and totalitarian impulse (i.e. “We believe in x. We cannot allow y. We must do z. Etc.”)
People driving at less than the speed limit in the left lane – because they plan to make a left turn five miles down the road.
The first person in line at a red light at a busy intersection delaying movement for 5-10 seconds after the light turns green. He/she gets through but many cars that could have gotten through do not.
On a two lane road, someone who hurries to pull out and go in the same direction as you even though there are no cars behind you – then drives 10 miles below the speed limit.
Drivers who have the right-of-way but don’t take it, thinking they’re somehow being “courteous” by holding up the flow of traffic and causing confusion.
People who pass me just in time to turn right, right in front of me.
Leaf blowers.
I’ve threatened for years to write a book about my pet peeves as a frequent business traveler. In no particular order:
When the plane arrives at the gate, the aisle is usually full with business travelers who already have their bags in hand, ready to go. Why don’t the people at the front of the plane wait 60 seconds and let them all walk off? Instead, the people in the front rows, one-by-one… move into the aisle… open the overhead bin… pull their bag(s) down… pull the bag’s tow handle into position… and depart. As they do this, they avoid making eye contact with the already-ready people farther back.
Preach it!
KC – The operative word you used is “oblivious.” I contend there are two types of people in this world: Those who are aware of others and the oblivious.
And if I may add one more – and this is extremely politically incorrect:
Wheelchairs. This is particularly acute in the summer months. I’ve been on flights where there were 8 wheelchairs lined up, causing a delay of about 20 minutes in boarding. Inevitably, most of these people get up immediately upon arriving at the gate rather than waiting for the rest of the plane to clear and make it manageable for them to deplane.
Amen to all three of these. Especially the red-light dawdler.
My pet peeve about bicyclists is that most of them violate many traffic laws: they go the wrong way on one way streets and don’t stop for red lights.
oh, I pretty much hate everything about bicyclists. I recently saw a bumpersticker that said “save a life, look twice!” and had an extended rant to my wife… Save a life, get a freaking car! It is amazing how absurdly stupid the whole thing actually is when you think about it. We mandate seatbelts and all sorts of crash testing in cars, the nanny state has that totally figured out, right? Yet, if you want to drive around in a car with no motor and literally no protection at all, suddenly it is everyone else’s fault that you’re not safe. Bikes are for sidewalks and trails and beaches and country roads where there are no cars. If you’re going to ride around pretending to be a car, don’t expect me to keep you safe, and don’t expect my sympathy when you’re not. It’s your exercise, it’s your hobby, blah blah freaking blah. You don’t see skateboarders in the middle of the road asking to be treated like cars. Guys on roller blades? Joggers? Kids on pogo-sticks? I’m not allowed to go put-putting around the streets in a weed-eater motor go-cart, so why the hell do we bend over backwards to accommodate these idiots on bikes?
or aggressive drivers in general.
But on the flip side of that is the crazy angry drivers. My wife and I were driving the other day and came to a four-way stop. It was pretty close between her and another car, and I think the other car actually stopped first, but my wife hadn’t noticed and took off. The lady waited until we were into the intersection and then floored it and attempted to actually pull in front of us, very nearly causing an accident… I wasn’t sure what she was trying to do, but it really appeared as if she was trying to ram us. She threw her hands up in the air and seemed to be mouthing vulgarities before laying on the horn. My wife looked really confused and had to do this huge wide emergency turn to get around the lady without getting hit. The whole thing was so amazingly unnecessary, but there’s something about being in a car that allows people to behave in ways that even the biggest jerk wouldn’t (ok, well most people) dream of behaving in person. I’m an extremely polite driver, and I’ve had people honking and flipping me off for ordinary things like merging into traffic or making a left turn with no turn-lane (something annoying, but unavoidable). Or, my favorite, for pulling up behind a lady at a stop sign – maybe she thought I was too close or somethign? – she sat there tapping on her breaks and literally shaking her fist at me in her rear-view mirror. Once I figured out what she was doing, I smiled and waved.
Driving an automobile is a privilege. You need a driver’s license, you need to register the vehicle, and you need car insurance.
A bicycle requires no licenses, registration, or insurance.
Therefore, the risk/cost/benefit calculations are totally different for cyclists than for motorists.
The odds of being caught by a police officer when committing a minor infraction is almost as remote for a driver as it is for a cyclist, but the potential penalties are much greater, therefore fewer drivers take the risk.
Ryan, I wish you’d tell us how you really feel! (haha) I’m right there with you. And don’t ride you bike during morning or afternoon rush hour.
People at the lake who operate motorboats before noon on a Sunday.
I’m on vacation, people!!!
People who ride on the street WHEN THERE’S A BIKE PATH RIGHT THERE!!!
You people lobbied for the bike path. My property taxes went up to pay for the bike path. Use the bloody bike path!!!
Departing planes should be done on a row by row basis, period. There is nothing more obnoxious than the “business traveler” that thinks his time is more valuable than everyone else’s so he’s just going to elbow his way forward before the freaking door is even opened. Sit down and wait. You are a jerk if you walk up the row while others wait to depart the civilized way.
Ryan, loved your rant, but bikes are definitely not for sidewalks. They may annoy drivers, but can seriously maim us pedestrians.
^^^Tourist^^^ ;-)
That one. They’re not displaying courtesy, they’re forcing others to take up the slack for their self-indulgent fear and incompetence. Predictability is a requirement for all human interaction. They should be shamed. And caned. Pants down and whipped with a piece of rattan beside the highway, then sent forth to sin no more and go to driving school.
Quibble: Do any traffic laws actually grant right of way? Or do they merely require that the other party yield right of way?
Very true!