Pet Peeve Essay

Have you ever walked out of a public place such as a store, doctor’s office, or even a restaurant directly into a huge cloud of smoke? Maybe even just sitting at the traffic light and a huge gust of cigarette smoke enters your window? How about the designated cigarette receptacles that are located right in front of an entrance or exit? What if your child took the time to hold a door for a stranger and they did not say thank you or even crack a smile, or when you are home alone watching television since it started and it is almost over, in walks a family member and they change the channel as soon as the program you are watching goes to a commercial. By the time they change it back to your program, the commercials are over, but you have missed the end and the most important part you have been waiting for since the beginning of the program. I think that this is not only unfair, but also inconsiderate and most definitely rude. Another one, when someone thinks their driving skills are so good that they can just text and drive at the same time or that they do not have to follow the laws of driving.

Riding with someone who has road rage is horrible too. How about people that are just plain rude. I raised my kids to be respectful and to have manners. If someone compliments you, say thank you, and please if you are requesting something, and yes ma’am, no ma’am or sir to elders if a question is asked. Do not be rude. When my 12- year old son stops to hold a door open for you, please say thank you, and when my 2- year old granddaughter says hi, please speak back. They have feelings and do not understand why that grown man or woman did not say thank you or did not say hello back. Children deserve respect also, especially when they are being respectful. These things get on my nerves and are my pet peeves.

I am not a smoker nor have I ever smoked. I cannot stand the smell of smoke, and I do not like cigarette ashes or butts. My mom and step dad are smokers. They contributed to one of my pet peeves. My step dad started smoking at the young age of 12, but my mom, on the other hand, started at the later age of 18. I believe that they do not have any intentions of ever quitting, it was pure torture living with them. You could smell the smoke in the hallway before you would even enter our condo. As you open the door you would be greeted by a thick cloud of smoke. There would be cigarette ashes on the bathroom sink and floor from them smoking while using the bathroom, then there would be cigarette butts floating in the toilet from them disposing of them there after smoking instead of in an ashtray. There would also be ashes on the sink that is if they were even considerate enough to take an ashtray in with them. The end tables would have ashes all on them. Of course they were not bothered by this, so I had to be the one to clean the mess up. This was not fair to me.

I thought they were very inconsiderate for that. I had my first child before I moved out, only then did the smoking decrease, but it did not stop. My mom started to go outside to smoke, and my step dad started to smoke only in their bedroom and only after my daughter started to develop frequent ear infections and respiratory issues. Her pediatrician stated that the cigarette smoke was contributing to her health issues. This is what upsets me so much about smokers when they smoke in public areas not having consideration for others. They do not know if anyone around them has health issues or not. And if they have to breathe in your smoke, you may be contributing to them. Another one of my pet peeves is rude people. This includes the ones I mentioned earlier, the ones that have no manners. How hard is it to say thank you? Why is it so hard to speak? If you work as a customer associate representative, this means you deal with the public, which also

means you chose to work with the public so why be so mean and rude to customers or clients? I expect to be greeted with a smile; I also expect for you to thank me after our transaction is done. I want to feel like I made the right choice by coming to your business. I want to leave your establishment and be able to refer it to others. I have experienced the most inconsiderate people working in customer service. I have even encountered this type of negativity in my workplace where family members would be unhappy about a situation. I do as much as I can, but some things are out of my control, and have to be referred to my supervisors. I have gotten responses like “She is rude, I do not want to deal with her” or “Why, she is not going to do anything.” There is a way to communicate negative results without being rude. I want to satisfy our client so that they will have a great positive experience, this way, they would be happy to go into the community and refer our establishment to others, which means more clientele.

We have had numerous family members relocate their loved ones to other facilities all because of someone being rude. This also could have been prevented. My next pet peeve is when I am watching television and someone changes the channel, because a commercial comes on. When they do change the channel back the part I have been waiting for has gone off. Another thing that irks me is when someone watches more than one program at one time, and flips the channel back and forth every time a commercial comes on, missing parts of all the programs. I like to watch from beginning to end, not missing a thing. Which is probably why I read more than I watch television. My last pet peeve has to do with driving.

There are a lot of people that need to refresh in Driving 101. For instance, the ones that block an intersection, or not having at least two car lengths between cars. This drives me crazy. How about the ones that feel that they can just take out their phone and search the web or text while driving. This probably gets under my skin more than anything, because most of the traffic tragedies occur from texting or talking on their cell phone while driving. These things are not only harmful to yourself, but innocent people also. I have even seen someone put on make-up or read while driving. I have heard of too many tragedies in the news due to these inconsiderate dangerous acts of selfishness. People lose their lives, and you could very well lose yours. You may think these things are small, but they are major to me. My pet peeves may not bother you, your pet peeves may not bother me, but just know, everyone has at least one!