I am a pretty friendly guy. Not a whole lot of things bother me but there are a few things that get to my last calm nerve. This is not a rant because at the point that that last nerve is reached, I usually can rein in that last nerve tight enough that I don’t explode off into a cannon made of fury. There are those rare times when the cords that hold my aggression firmly down get tasseled and I loose my cool. I will not go too far into things that may do the latter, but I am all for exposing for my awaiting audience with examples of the former.

For some reason, reckless SUV drivers don’t bother me as much as a reckless, SUV-driving women, wearing sunglasses too big for her face and actively chatting on a cell phone. The SUV itself is a net negative and the aggressive driving makes me uncomfortable, but I only lose it if it’s a woman driver (sad sexist confession, I know, I know) and there is animated cell phone chatter. It probably has something to do with the probability that she is driving her daddy’s big car and has no idea what the implications of a big bad accident would be like for someone else being hit by her car.

Another thing that just gets me, absolutely gets me, is when you meet people who are obviously trying to show themselves up in front of you and they never realize that the constant barrage of self-compliments never seem to add up with you. You try to goad them along with depreciatory questions and there is never any negative. This happened frequently at college during the early years when you meet somebody new and they would think they needed to provide a verbal resume of their spectacular life’s achievements, usually with getting chicks and kicking ass in high school sports. What usually occurs is later he was really talking about his sister’s friends and his year of JV mytho-reality. It is clearly unacceptable in the limited social contact found in the work setting. No, I don't care or believe your astonishing feats of bravery or urban ferocity. Didn't we used to brag about those things in high school?

People who don’t do what they said they would do. This is the worst of the bunch because these people are usually your friends, colleagues or people that you normally would, or want to trust. “I’ll give you a call back,” is usually the most frequent assertion and it’s not so much that you want to get that call back because 4 in 5 surveyed said that it’s just the idea that they had no intention of calling back that makes them annoyed. If these people had some integrity, instead of misleading (lying to) their “friends”, just be more accurate…”I’ll talk to you later.” Simple and no one feels annoyed/mislead.

This next case is a product of our technological advances. When someone texts you and you call them back, they don’t answer. If you just texted me, and you’re inquisitive about something that I can answer, then why not pick up the f'n phone? Obviously there are sometimes when you are indisposed to answer calls, but we’re not talking meetings here folks, these aren’t daytime calls.

Surprisingly, what do not peeve me are calls to my cell phone during work. I recognize that I am quite busy at work, as are most people working for a salary, but I enjoy a chance of a breather, albeit quick, from the monotony of the daily tasks. I see a call as a welcome reprieve as long as I am not directly busy! So that I am not annoyed by.

There's quite more upsetting things that I have left out. Don't worry, I will include these in a blog article at a later date.