You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? #1

Welcome to the first blog post of my new weekly series based on the question “you know what really grinds my gears?”
At the end of every work week, I am going to be writing up a post about things that really get on my nerves. I’m aiming for five points a week, however they may vary depending on my moods and what I take note of throughout the week, so forgive me if it drops to three or so every now and then.
Whilst I’ll be writing up about my small, petty gear grinding annoyances, feel free to send me your own and if they apply to me I’ll be sure to include them in the next week’s post! You can contact me via email, comment here, or even talk to me over Twitter.
Okay, let’s get these gears grinding!

1. When people eat with their mouths open. I cannot stand being in the hearing range of someone crunching and slurping their food with their mouth. Did your mother never teach you good manners?! Can you not hear that you are drowning out any conversation in the room with your constant noisy eating? It’s not that hard to chew with your mouth closed rather than having it gaping open.

2. When girls claim to hate all other girls because they are “bitchy”. We’ve all seen this before, I’m sure – some girl who over-complains about how horrible females are and how they much prefer men. Okay, fair enough that a lot of women out there do simply get along with men easier and have more male friends. However please, please don’t go around making this big ordeal about it. It makes you look like such an attention seeking teenager who wants guys to think they’re “so cool to get along with”. In fact, it really grinds my gears when women try too hard to be a “guy’s girl”. Just be yourself! Stop trying to impress the opposite sex by acting like them or making out you hate your own gender.

3. People who creep up to the line at the traffic lights. The light is red, and yet for some reason people try and creep as far as they can out into the intersection. What is this even achieving other than you looking like an impatient tool? – Nothing. Just stop at the line and wait; you really don’t need to creep a few centimeters forward ever few seconds – you’re not going anywhere any quicker by doing so.

4. On the subject of traffic lights, something that really grinds my gears is when people feel the need to press the button on the pedestrian light more than once. They sit there and tap it over and over and over and over again as though pressing it fast and more than once will make it change to green. Are people stupid and actually believe this is how they work, or is it just an impulsive thing? As I stand there internally pulling my hair out and waiting for the little red man to change to green I wonder why the heck people do this. I just feel like screaming at them “TAPPING IT A BILLION TIMES WILL NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE!” then walking into on coming traffic just so I don’t have to hear it anymore.

5. People who spend ridiculous amounts of money on ridiculous things just so they can have a brand stuck on them. I see people buying shoes for $200 – $300 because they’re ”brand name” while I go to K-Mart and buy a pair for $8. I know that you get what you pay for, and that some brands are better than others and last longer; blah blah blah. But the fact that people can be so materialistic just astounds me. Perhaps because I was always brought up in an environment where it was all about getting the most out of your dollar, but I just feel that buying a pair of Bonds underwear for $20 is insane when you could get a not so well known brand for $2. It really grinds my gears when people do it just to slap a name that everyone knows onto themselves.

That’s my first five gear grinding issues! Keep a look out for my next five!