I'd like to throttle everyone who has their stereo turned up so loud astronauts could dance to it from space. Or maybe we could ship them off the really big island - Earth - and let them enjoy the noise in a vacuum. Like you, I work at home and require concentration. My neighbor playing 'Bette Davis Eyes' over and over for two hours straight isn't conducive to my working; the teenagers who drive by with their bass turned up high enough to shake my windows aren't helping either. Off they go. All of them.

I'll play, I'll play!

Little old ladies who think that because they are little old ladies that makes it okay for them to push in front of me on line. It's happened to me twice, recently. Once when I was visiting relatives in the UK, and once the other day in the supermarket. Sigh.

Men on the tram/bus/metro who sit next to you and then sprawl in their seat so that they're taking up half my seat. (This is where the pointy elbow technique comes in handy.)

Ditto people on the tram/bus/metro who put their bags on the seat next to them, even when the tram/bus/metro is full and the only spare seat is the one occupied by their bags (I always ask them to move the bags).

People in groups who walk two or more abreast on the sidewalk and will not move to allow for people moving in the opposite direction. I am always forced onto the curb or even the roadway or have them slam into my side because they are so inconsiderate of those around them. Bastards.

I've thought of another one:

People who hover over you in stores.

I swear, the store could be empty save you and one other shopper and whatever you decide to look at, that other shopper will immediately gravitate over and try to shoulder her way in.

There's so many I could be here all day. I'll limit myself to people who take two parking spots (I so want to key their car) and neighbors who get up at 7 AM and run their weed wackers, lawn mowers, leaf blowers right under my bedroom window when they are retired and could do it any time of the day.

Right now on my list we have litter bugs and impatitent people on the bus who feel the need to shove past me before the driver even comes to a stop (much less opens the door), when really since we are all getting off the bus, it will be fine.

As a bus driver, Random, I can relate to you gettting irritated with those idiots that rush to the doors of the bus to be ther first one off. As a bus driver, however, I can tell them to sit back down until I come to a complete stop--they are in my line of vision and they aren't going to get off the bus any sooner by standing there. Those same people are the ones who push past wheelchairs to get on the bus first, and I usually throw out a rather imperious hand in their face and say "STOP! I didn't ask you to get on the bus yet!!" and they have to back off and then I leisurely proceed to load the wheelchair while muttering obscenities under my breath at the rudeness of some people... (Wow--THAT was a long sentence!).

My personal issue right now is also concerning a dog. Like you, Whitney, I can't stand a barking dog and I have three that do like to vocalize a LOT if they are outside. Chula likes to bark at the one neighbor behind us, Boo yaps while he is playing with Lucy, and South--well, he just likes the sound of his own voice. I keep them inside most of the time because of this. But lately my neighbor's little dog is getting in my yard and four of my other neighbors' yards. Not only is he getting into their yards, apparently he is now getting into my one neighbor's HOUSE through the doggy door. The other day she came home to find him chasing her cat through the house! Her dog was quite upset with his prescence in the house but there wasn't much she could do about it--she's not aggressive at all.

My daughter has the guy on speed dial that owns the little pest--he's at his wit's end on how to keep him in his own yard. So I would say people who just let their dogs run loose are my particualr rant--so unsafe, they poo and pee on MY property, and they bother MY dogs who must bark and carry on because they see him in their front yard (or back yard, depending on the little nuisance's mood that day). I can understand once or twice, but this is a several times a WEEK sort of occurance anymore. I would be absolutely mortified if one of my dogs caused such a ruckus!

Sheri!

The wheelchair thing! I just spent the weekend travelling to San Diego and back with my mother who is in a wheelchair. What are these people thinking? Add the people who sit in the spots reserved for the Disabled and don't move out of them when they see someone approaching with a person in a wheelchair.

On our way down to SD, there was a man travelling with his father who was in a wheelchair and he actually wanted to strategize an organized assault on the airplane door with us. We called him Colonel and made him sound the cavalry charge when they announced pre-boarding. I'm not sure he thought it was as funny as Sissy #2 and I did. . .

I'm a little late to comment on this but I couldn't pass it up! LOL I seriously have contemplated many times how living on my own deserted island is ideal.

The first people to go would be the people who leave their young children unsupervised. Like my neighbors who expect their 8 year old to be responsible for their 3 year old and don't think anything of their brood playing in the street (without shoes and at one point with only underwear.)

The other are people who put their children in danger in the car. There are seatbelt/car-seat laws for a reason. Seeing a toddler in the front seat is not my idea of good parenting. Grrr

By the way, Whitney, I had the same dog problem as you. I annonymously sent my neighbor a letter about how there are many methods to keep a dog from barking and thoughtfully provided a list of things proven to help with a barking problem. I then also mentioned what the law in our county said about the problem which could result in fines. Funny enough... I never had a problem after that... :)

My turn, My turn!!!
Freakin' Customer SERVICE people who would rather be totally bitchy than to answer a simple question or two. Have they forgotten that I'm the customer? And while that doesn't mean I'm always right, it does mean I deserve a little common freakin' courtesy. And car salemen who try to convince you to get a different car than what you want. "It's ONLY $3,000 more," he said. I replied, (through clenched teeth) "I don't want a 4 door Jeep... I want a 2 door Wrangler." And still he tried to convince me, the dumb chick, of what I really wanted. I knew more about that freakin' Jeep than he did - and he treated me like I was the dumb one. BLAHH! Okay, my heart is racing and I need a smoke now. Time to calm back down to my normal self who doesn't say freakin' every other word. Thanks for giving me the chance to get that off my chest! Whew!

Whitney, are you living my life? The other day a man ran a red light and then cut me off, pulling into my lane. When I honked, he slammed to a halt, then pulled up alongside me (illegally of course) at a red light and screamed, "F*** you!!!!" out his window. That's right: f*** me, because he ran a red light to cut me off.

AND my neighbor's dog yaps at me IN MY OWN HOUSE until I call my neighbor, who is always shocked to hear that it's bothering me.

Although today, the person who is bothering me is the mom at gymnastics who has an opinion on everyone. else's. kid.