What's mildly irritating you today?

[Shawnee123]

Really loud people irritate me.

[DanaC]

People who stroll casually on walkways and corridors, two or three abreast, blocking my fucking way. There are times of the day that are especially busy in campus walkways and corridors. It doesn;t take a genius to realise some people might be in a hurry. Who is so unaware of themselves in the world that they don't realise they and their mates are blocking the way entirely?

Pisses me off in town too. Again, who is so unaware of themseves in the world that they don't realise that they and their three friends take up the entire fucking pavement?

Why do people walk so damned slow anyway?

[sugarpop]

Yes, it is pretty irritating how unaware some people are of their surroundings.

[DanaC]

It winds me the fuck up. It's one of the few things that bypasses my capacity for patience entirely.

[Shawnee123]

Heh. A cow orker and I were going to do an information session, and she was pushing a cart full of materials down the hallway. People were milling about, almost running into her, and I said "I'm amazed how many people are completely oblivious to the fact that other people inhabit the planet." A student walking ahead of us turned to me and just very knowingly nodded her head in agreement.

[Juniper]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Heh. A cow orker and I were going to do an information session, and she was pushing a cart full of materials down the hallway. People were milling about, almost running into her, and I said "I'm amazed how many people are completely oblivious to the fact that other people inhabit the planet." A student walking ahead of us turned to me and just very knowingly nodded her head in agreement.

I noticed this especially last quarter, after befriending a young lady with cerebral palsy in my literature class. You'd think that people would want to be helpful to someone in a wheelchair, get out of the way, help them with doors, etc. and not behave like those mentioned above with the cart-pusher. Not so. How incredibly annoying it must be to deal with that every friggin' day of your LIFE.

Me, I get mad when I am walking along a sidewalk and have to get out of everyone's way as I pass them, and not the other way around. People act like others are invisible.

You know when this is especially annoying? When people walk along a path, at least adults generally follow road traffic rules - they stay on the right side (in the US that is ). So that when you're approaching someone coming the other way, there's rarely a last-second shuffle about who's going to pass on which side. Yeah, except for people who don't do this and instead walk smack in the middle, leaving you to play a game of chicken with them to see who's going to get out of the way first. Why does walking down the road have to be some kind of social challenge?

This reminds me of one of my pet peeves about driving. I hate those folks who pass other cars just to be passing other cars, not because those cars are going too slow or anything. They drive like they're in some kind of race. I don't care where you're going, you will never be the first one there.

[glatt]

Dealing with sidewalk blockers is easy if you are heading toward each other. You just walk up to them, and if they don't move out of your way, you come to a stop and force them to walk around you. (Just make sure you are as far to the right as possible when you do this, so you don't come across as a sidewalk hogger yourself.) I refuse on principle to step off a sidewalk to let a group coming from the opposite direction continue merrily blocking the entire path.

If you are heading in the same direction though, and the blockers are walking slower than you and are in front of you, you're pretty much fucked. Not much you can do without coming across as an impatient jerk.

[lookout123]

Trip one of them and walk over their back. problem solved and they'll certainly move out of your way next time.

[sweetwater]

I've been known to say, "Red rover, red rover...". After a second or two, someone will suddenly whirl around to look at me, and I take advantage of the gap. I bet the sidewalk blockers are the same as those who block aisles in supermarkets.

[jinx]

Originally Posted by Juniper

This reminds me of one of my pet peeves about driving. I hate those folks who pass other cars just to be passing other cars, not because those cars are going too slow or anything. They drive like they're in some kind of race. I don't care where you're going, you will never be the first one there.

How about the people that take offense to being passed, or try to not let you pass them... blows my mind. I've been behind people going 5-15 mph below the speed limit, but you come to a passing zone and they want to freakin race - or lay on their horn and high beam you for the crime of wanting to go a little faster than they were. I'm not judging you, I'm passing you, get the fuck over it.

Also, on small roads with no lines in the middle... why does that become a free for all with everyone trying to take their half in the center?

And moms with those giant ass baby movers the size of minivans.... why do they tend to walk thru the doorway of places and then just stop, blocking the whole place up so they can fix baby's hat or whatever... gtfo!

[classicman]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Why do people walk so damned slow anyway?

Its that metabolism thing

Originally Posted by jinx

How about the people that take offense to being passed, or try to not let you pass them... blows my mind. I've been behind people going 5-15 mph below the speed limit, but you come to a passing zone and they want to freakin race - or lay on their horn and high beam you for the crime of wanting to go a little faster than they were. I'm not judging you, I'm passing you, get the fuck over it.

How bout when you finally try to pass them they speed up and get all pissy and try to not lewt you pass....WTH?

[glatt]

Originally Posted by jinx

you come to a passing zone and they want to freakin race

Originally Posted by classicman

How bout when you finally try to pass them they speed up

Just to play devil's advocate here, it's natural to speed up in the passing zones, even for slow drivers. The passing zones are usually straight and wide, so it's safer to go fast there. Just because they speed up in the passing zone doesn't mean they are trying to race you or are being passive aggressive. They are just driving faster in an area where they think it's safe to do so.

[jinx]

If you're not aware of the other cars on the road and vary your speed by 20-30mph because you're scared to go around corners, you're doing it wrong. Get out of the car and throw your keys in the bushes.

Obviously I'm not talking about the same drivers you're talking about glatt. People have literally raced me when I'm passing them. That's fucked up and dangerous.

[glatt]

That's the problem with playing devil's advocate. You're advocating TEH DEBBIL!

[Juniper]

About blocking the aisle with a shopping cart--here's a new thing I've noticed, the people who block an entire shelf as though they are guarding it while they alone are browsing its contents. This happened to me recently in the greeting card aisle. There was some holiday coming up - V-day maybe - and this woman had maneuvered her cart so that she was the only one that could access the entire section of holiday cards. And unless she was deaf, she ignored anyone who said "excuse me" so everyone else had to just wait for her to pick out her card.

It's happened in other places too - say, in front of all the soup cans, or all the steaks in the meat dept. - I swear these people are deliberately placing their cart so as to block competition while they make their selections.

Ah, never mind me. I just hate people. There are just so damn many assholes out there it's hard to bitch about just one group or action.