Lisha Cassibo has been writing for the Uxbridge Cosmos for two years, both as a freelancer and as a columnist. She has also written for several parenting magazines both here in Canada and for English publications in Switzerland. She graduated from Carleton University with an honours degree in Journalism and English Literature. She lives with her family in Sunderland.
Peeves and peccadilloes
This past Saturday I just about lost my mind. It was that really horribly, terribly, awfully windy day, remember? Very windy. I hate windy days. Not in an I'd-really-rather-stay-in-bed-because-it-feels-like-Monday kind of way. I really, really hate them. For some odd reason, they make me incredibly irritable and irrationally grumpy. I get aggressive and nasty, and I haven't one iota of an idea as to why this happens.
Sunday night I happened to be watching a movie, and two characters were discussing their levels of odd-ness. One decided she was weird. The other was “quirky”. Various other people they knew were “crazy”, “odd”, or “completely nuts”. This conversation made me think about the previous day's misery - was I perhaps “quirky” in my distaste for the wind? I got to wondering - why do any of us passionately like, or dislike, certain things that, to others, are simply innocuous or even non-existant?
Think about your pet peeves. List them, even. It's kind of interesting. Nails on a chalkboard? Wet towels on a floor? Dirty socks left on a chair? I have a little list, and I could not give you one good reason as to why any of the things that are on the list are there.
Changing milk bags. I want to jump off a building every time I see the bag in the container with nothing at the bottom (which is often, because, let's face it, I live in a household with a man and three small-ish people. The job is mine.) First I curse the nimrod that left the bag empty and put it back in the fridge, then I set about changing the bag. The bag changing itself isn't so bad, it's cutting the perfect corner that gets me. I invariably ruin it every time. And the first pour out of the bag always goes all over the place. When I do it. My middle daughter is quite good at it, but refuses to take on the job. I hate it.
Toilet paper rolls that are on backwards. If I visit your house and the paper on the roll is sneaking out from behind, you can be sure that, during a visit to the loo, I will remove the roll and turn it around so that it flows nicely over the top, ready for use. It just shouldn't go the other way!
When getting fuel for my van - the amount purchased must always be an even number. As in no cents. Just dollars. I don't care if the litre number is wonky, just don't let the purchase price be even a few cents off. $40.02 makes me crazy. I have squeezing the nozzle just so when it gets to the 90s down to a fine art. When I'm finished filling my van to an even $93 (does outrage over horrific petrol prices count as a pet peeve?), I have to put the cap in and have it click three times, just to be sure it's on correctly.
I'm sure that you're beginning to think I don't have pet peeves, but rather a little condition called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. To put your mind to rest, I did actually suffer from this illness while in university, and let me assure you, these little quirks are nothing like that horrible state.
We all have things that set us off, for no apparent reason. I don't know why I don't like windy days, why they affect me the way they do. I just don't like them. Why do I have milk bag issues? Don't know. Why does someone chewing loudly go unnoticed by one person at the table, while another person has to leave because the sound is so grating. My brother is one of these people. Cannot stand to hear other people chewing. Normal, mouth-closed polite chewing. He hates it. Gum-chewers beware!
A friend of mine hates when hoses and extension chords aren't coiled just so. Messy cords make him kind of funny. My mother-in-law hates being called “Ma”. Anything else would be just fine with her, just not Ma. My husband deplores unflushed toilets. Really, who doesn't, but he can go over the top. For me, I'm just happy if the hose or cord gets put away, I don't care about the symmetry of the object. Being called Ma, while not my favourite, doesn't bother me at all. Toilets go unflushed quite often in our house, I just flush as I pass by and move on.
It's an interesting human phenomenon, I guess, and I am sure that there are people out there who study this behaviour and write about it in medical journals and the like. I don't know that I need to know why these things affect me, I just think it's amusing. I love learning about other people's quirks and pet peeves. If you have anything funny you do, let me know! Then I'll know I'm not completely crazy.
