Are you "starting" a family or expanding it? Pet peeves!

It's the holidays, and I'm in a free-wheelin', fun-loving spirit, so let's burn a post this week by talking about something unrelated to personal finance. Yup, we're talking about pet peeves. The things that shouldn't bother me so much, but do.

My biggest pet peeve? Like, ever? It's when someone describes having a baby as "starting a family". The implication being unless you have a child, you aren't truly a family? Poppycock!

You're expanding your family, and that's wonderful. But, I would submit that a husband and wife are very much a family even if they do not have children. Besides, try telling our dogs that they aren't a part of our family because they aren't human, and you'll get stared down. Like this:

My pet peeves

I'm at the gym and looking to finish off my workout with a set of flat bench presses. I grab a couple of 50s and pound out a set of 10. Strangely, my left arm feels significantly stronger than my right arm. But, I'm also right-handed. What gives?

Oh, damn! It turns out someone put a 40 pound dumbbell in the 50 pound spot. Stupid me, I didn't notice because I incorrectly assumed the well-labeled dumbbell racks provided enough information for the weights to be replaced in their proper places.

Or, I consistently avoid using a machine that I want to use because weights are still on it, only to finally realize by the end that nobody was using that machine after all. The problem was the last person to use it neglected to re-rack their weight plates.

Or listening to music through the speakers on your cell phone rather than using a headset like everybody else.

Basic consideration for your fellow man (or woman) is hard.

Traffic circles - what a cluster! It's almost as if our drivers education we all supposedly took back in high school made no mention of those confusing intersections. Wait, am I supposed to cut directly in front of someone already in the circle or wait my turn?

A blinking red light - do those mean I treat them as if they were a solid red stop light?

A right turn - do I need to stop and wait for a minimum of 10-seconds, even when the intersection is completely clear of any and all cars and people, before continuing my perfectly-legal right turn?

No...no to all! :)

Bummer. Yeah, I don't care for the word bummer. To me, it means "Oh well, but I really don't care. As in:

"Yeah, I didn't get that promotion that I was after".

"Oh, bummer".

How about when you're in the middle of a conversation with someone and the person whom you are speaking to can't seem to remove their head from their cell phone long enough to make eye contact with you?

"Uh dude, I'm actually up here, not in your phone."

And then they take a week to respond to one of your text messages even though you KNOW they're always on their phone and probably saw it immediately after you sent it.

Chewing. Not a fan of listening to people chew, even though it's super hard to avoid!

Oh, and gum. I hate gum. I hate having to do something with the piece of gum after it loses its flavor (or worse yet, stepping in it). I hate listening to people chew it. Gum. Is. Evil.

Those who never seem to be on-time, which is almost everyone that I've ever met - unless they were at one time in the military. Military people seem to be on-time, or even a few minutes early.

Singing out loud to songs on the radio. I get the head bob. I can even understand humming along to the tune, but please, don't actually sing along. For the love of Mike, please don't.

Two people who are walking down a sidewalk or aisle in the very center and refuse to move when you're walking the other way - at best, they might give you a subtle shoulder turn. It's your responsibility to get out of their way, you know.

People who don't understand that the left hand side of escalators (and moving walk ways) is for walking; the right hand side is for standing still.

That co-worker who insists on CC'ing my boss on emails because they believe I won't help them without my boss knowing about their stupid little request.

Alright, let's hear it, y'all. What are your pet peeves?