new peeve
June 06, 2005
I blame the fact that I'm hugely pregnant and insanely warm for my recent inexplicable rages about trivial things done by strangers. Not, of course, that I tell them how infuriating their behavior is -- I lived in the south for too long to confront anyone directly, like they do up here. Instead, I seethe, then post about it.
So my newest peeve is the folks who, despite being completely able-bodied and presumably adult enough to go out in public without a minder, are completely unable to return shopping carts to an appropriate location after they have finished with them. It's just a matter of public courtesy, really, and one of the things that every decent member of society should do so that the world doesn't descend into mannerless anarchy. I'm not saying that you have to walk the dang thing back to the store itself. Just get it into one of the little corral things. I mean...I mean...on my way out of the grocery this afternoon, while loading my own bags into my car, I watched a woman (who, it should be noted, had no broken limbs or a screaming toddler or a flaming pocketbook) dump her cart in her parking space, just in front of her car. Here's the kicker -- the cart corral was a mere ten feet away, in the space one space over and could be easily seen. Grrrr, I say. And grrr again.
It's not that I worry about one of these buggies ramming into my car and damaging it. If you saw my car, you'd realized that one more ding isn't going to keep me up at night nor, in fact, be noticed through all of the dirt. It's just rude, is all, and it's hard to teach the Diva the rules of getting along with others when others flout them because they can shave ten seconds off of their grocery routine. It's a small thing, I know, but small things count, too.
Call me passive-aggressive. Call me a pacifist. Just don't call me. I'm pretty crabby. And very, very, very hot. Summers here aren't that bad, generally, but we're in the middle of a hot and humid spell that may send me around the bend. The Hub, because he is a good guy (and is tired of the grumbling, I suspect), put a window AC unit in my office, which has taken the edge off. Now if that promised cool front would just work its way here, then all would be bliss.
Except for the shopping cart thing. That chaps my ass, cool weather or no.
My Dear Adrienne, this is one of my personal pet peeves, too, and I'm not, that is, as far as I know, pregnant.
And thanks for using the word "buggies." It's not a term I ever hear outside of the 'Burgh.
Posted by: PL | June 06, 2005 at 01:28 PM
I think we should be allowed to use a crossbow on people that don't return shopping carts.
In fact, I might take that hobby up this weekend...
Posted by: Adam | June 06, 2005 at 03:07 PM
Adam, while I admire your, um, enthusiasm, I would like to disavow any knowledge of your plans and of crossbows. And, no, I don't have any crossbow plans lying about.
PL -- "buggies" seems to be a PA thing. I could be wrong, tho.
Posted by: Adrienne | June 07, 2005 at 09:49 AM
Chicken.
Posted by: Adam | June 07, 2005 at 03:12 PM