WTF lmao Oh, but in the UK, a man can wear a <#$@&&@ing> skirt and that is COMPLETELY HETEREOSEXUAL?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! ROTFLMMFAO
Do you have this culture of pedestrians getting visibly peeved if you ring the bell? The looks I sometimes get, it's as if I had just gone murdered their cat or something! And all I want to do is signal to them they should move to their side of the line (there's a line dividing the pavement to two lanes, one for the bikes, one for the pedestrians). Granted, I guess I too give the evil eye to dog-walkers who walk on the right side while their dog is on the left, so they've set up a tripwire across the pavement... Yeah, the thing is, you can haul a twin pram to the bus and inconvenience already cranky morning people, but you can't transport a bike. It's allowed on trains, but I've only done it once because I hate inconveniencing already cranky people. And thanks to cellphones and earphones, I think whatever awareness people used to have has diminished greatly. I admit, I too listen to Spotify while I'm out and about and I type the odd text message every now and then, but I do try to look where I'm going or where I'm walking. Maybe these people just trust other people to give them way or step aside...
I never move out of the way for someone staring at their phone. Ever. One day one of them is going to smash their iPhone and thump me, but it'll be worth it.
Nothing wrong with a button-down and a tie. Rules like that are for people who lack confidence being fabulous. This one is definitely stupid, though. I don't understand how the same species that put people on the moon has yet to work out this fairly basic piece of tailoring. Mine: men's clothing is largely boring. I don't mind spending money on good suits, and I like how they look, but I'd like a few more options. I want to find stuff like this without a five-figure designer price tag:
Yeah, the "no tie with a button-down" rule is new to me, so I googled it and the top eight results all said it was fine. More casual than a regular-collared shirt, but still fine. Might be a bit of a US/UK thing - some of the sources mentioned that button-downs are more common in the US. So, a true "pet peeve" I'd say - like, something that only bothers a small group of people! ETA: Which I guess connects to my pet peeve - people expressing their opinion as if it's absolute fact.
Oh, absolutely this. I would love for men to dress all sorts of ways that suit their personalities, and if I never see a suit and tie again it will be a year too soon. It's funny, but it's only since Victorian times that men's dress became such a uniform and so bloody boring. I feel sorry for men, really. I'd happily swap flamboyance in men's clothing for more pockets in women's clothing and watch faces that can actually be read. Mind you, men's clothing does come in better colours these days. Maybe that's a start in the right direction.
Okay, here's another pet peeve. Men who whistle. I don't mean men who produce elaborate, jauntily-whistled tunes that echo down a country lane in springtime. I mean men who emit occasional five-note whooshing noises—like aimless wind meandering down a drainpipe—usually because they're either bored (and want you to know it) or are awaiting attention (and want you to know it.) I encounter these guys mainly in queues—in grocery stores, the post office, the bank—or sitting on buses (sometimes it's the bloody driver) or the doctor's waiting room, etc etc etc. Anyplace (in public) where they should be just sitting or standing quietly, showing a bit of patience, mindful that other people are in the same boat as them. Is there such a thing as Passive-Aggressive Attention-Seeking Behaviour? I'm not being sexist either. After years and years and years of dealing with this, I have NEVER ever encountered a woman doing it. Not ever. Not even once. It's usually older men, although sometimes it's younger ones as well, who have picked up the habit. Why? Why why why? It's so irritating. It makes me want to wring their necks—cutting off the damn wind for sure. I got semi-hysterical (laughing) when a male friend of mine, in answer to my why-why-why rant, said (after thinking for a minute or so): "Maybe they're just trying to distract themselves from staring at women's boobs." Could be. Could be—with the possible exception of the bus driver, who should be staring at the road. But maybe it's the distracting thought of boobs...?
We live in the age of information. You have the answers at your fingertips, just Google it. Ignorance is a god damn choice, stop complaining about not knowing shit.
And I'm the reverse - I'd love to be able to wake up and just put on a shirt and tie and dress pants and go to work, without feeling like I have to make a statement or express myself through my clothes!
Um, what's stopping you? Can't you not feel that way? I mean, I spend probably a minute deciding what I wear to the office, usually jeans, a tee, and a hoodie and I put on make-up very rarely. Sure, sometimes you might get odd looks or comments from women (I think I mentioned this in another thread), but I suppose even that's pretty rare. It's possible I simply live in a more gender neutral country or something, but I've honestly never had this problem in adulthood or felt any pressure to express myself through my clothing. Sounds like a wonderful privilege, actually, to have so many options to express yourself and identity through clothing! Women's suits look kinda cool and sharp too, and you don't even need to wear the constriction device known as a tie if you don't want to (or heels!) in order to look professional, although I'm not personally a fan of stuff that needs ironing.
I work in a professional environment, so the jeans and hoodie thing wouldn't work. And I think that a suit-based outfit would work some of the time, but not every day. For some jobs, appearance isn't important. For other jobs, it is. I'm in one of the jobs where it is, unfortunately.
I guess this could be one more pet peeve of mine. Obsession with appearance (generally, so not saying you're obsessed). On one level I can understand it, but then, often the substance is really in the work people do and the things they say, not in the way they look (unless you're a model or some such). I think there's been a shift for a long time in the professional environment and office etiquette in my country, resulting in casual dress becoming the norm. I work as a trainer for a multinational corporation, but because of the regional dress codes and culture, I'm getting a lot more leeway than e.g. my British colleagues, as it turned out. When I was a teacher, I could also dress super casual (Converses, skinny jeans, a print tee) while a British colleague said he always wears a suit to work. That's expected. I feel sorry for him while a Finnish teacher, like my brother, happily strolls to school in shorts and a band shirt on a warm spring's day. Needless to say, I'm very glad about this kind of freedom. /bragging over.
I'm quite happy to ring the bell, but just once and quite loudly, in a "I am here" kind of way. The best I had with a dog-owner was down a quiet country lane, young couple on the left, small terrier on the right...tripwire right across the road...I found out when it got caught between front wheel and front mudguard.
Pet peeves? Bras. Why the hell do we bloody need bras? When I was 11/12 and started growing some (breasts, not bras), I had a massive fight with my mum who insisted I must absolutely wear a bra. I hated them because they're damned uncomfortable, and what on earth is it that they do anyway? Hide our protruding nipples? I mean, c'mon, we have breasts. If someone wants to look, they're gonna look. If it's a matter of decency maybe we ought to be hiding our actual breasts, but no one would ever suggest something so ridiculous so why the hell are we hiding our nipples!? I understand some women need them because they have large breasts. But why are bras mandatory? I have small breasts - quite honestly I don't need them. And then there was once a guy at uni asked my then-boyfriend, "Is she deliberately not wearing a bra in order to tempt you into having sex with her?" WTF you creep? I rarely wear bras now. Admittedly I look better with a bra, so if I was dressing up I'd put one on, but in general these days? Nah. I agree re the clutch bag, heels and lack of pockets too @jannert . I've never worn a pair of heels in my life - this also means it's rare for me to find any pretty shoes because all the pretty ones are bloody heels. And I'd rather trek around in my comfy trainers (or sneakers, tennis shoes for the Yanks) and actually be able to walk. These days I don't care how I look anyway. I care about whether my top is loose enough for me to pull down to breastfeed on demand and if my nappy bag has the bare minimum in it to reduce its weight because the baby's already 7+kg and I'd rather not lug around more unnecessary weight
Hahaha that's funny I'd never buy a watch without numbers on it. I've always looked at those things and wondered just how you're supposed to tell the time, because for a start, I could never figure out which way is up and which is down. How should I know if it's pointing at 6 or 12?
I can actually imagine this could make a good joke in some chick lit, some typical ambitious heroine thinking she's gonna nail this interview or presentation and she walks in, bang on time, only she's got her watch upside down and it's not 3 o'clock - it's 3.30...
One more pet peeve - people who are inflexible and get annoyed by stupid things I don't care if this is not the "proper" way to hold a fork. If I can get food to my mouth, I'm happy, and why does it concern you? (besides, table manners vary from country to country - what makes your practice more proper than mine?) I don't care. I don't. I don't care if this is proper English or the technical meaning of a certain word as long as the meaning is understood. I don't care if the toothpaste was squeezed the right way. I don't care how the plates are put away as long as they are put away. I just don't care as long as the job is done. Oh I don't know if this counts as a pet peeve, but BABY CLOTHES! Everything baby-related is unnecessarily expensive because companies know parents would pay for it. Range for baby boys absolutely suck, because I've looked before when I wanted to buy something for my nephews. Range for baby girls is awesome, only little did I know, baby dresses are absolutely useless. It gets all bunched up and annoying and you spend half the day straightening her clothes out over and over and over and over again - and if you didn't want the baby to catch a chill because her clothes have all pulled up, you'd have to put on an extra layer underneath. Only babies wriggle, like mad. You really don't wanna put on more layers than is necessary.
YES, THANK YOU! I get so irritated with people who insist on ridiculous table "manners" that don't make any sense. Like yeah, okay, insist that nobody chews with their mouth open because that's off-putting and unhygienic (food spray ew). But holding the knife in your right hand only? No. Doesn't affect anybody else, isn't rude, isn't off-putting, isn't unhygienic, and is a matter of personal preference.
That sounds like bad design. How would you change it? Get that right, and you could be on to a new career.
Yes, exactly. I'm a right-handed ex-Yank who was taught to hold the fork in the left hand and steady the food while cutting with the knife in the right. And then to set the knife down and switch the fork to the right hand to eat the food. I've taken no end of stick about this, since moving to the UK. You know what. Naff off. American moms taught us to eat this way. The reasoning? If you're still clutching your knife in one hand while you jam the fork (upside down) into your mouth with the other, it looks as if you just can't wait to glom that food down. Switching hands implies a lack of greediness and more self control. So there. I've tried eating the British way, but I just end up stabbing myself in the cheek with the upside-down fork.
Oh I've never understood the upside-down fork. Never eaten that way and never will As for the baby clothes, bad design - could be. Like, would it hurt to include buttons on the inside of the dress? You know, a flap that wraps around between your legs with a few snap-on buttons. But baby t-shirts - I don't know what would solve that one because if you add the flap/buttons thing then it becomes one of those baby undershirts and no longer a t-shirt. Oh and anything that buttons up on the back is just naff. One or two buttons at the back of the neck - no problem - but a whole row of buttons!? Besides, how on earth could that be comfortable for the baby to lie on an entire row of buttons? (traditional buttons, not snap-ons)
