PET PEEVES

Is it fun to read about another person's pet peeves, or does it just bring you down and make you grumpy? Let's find out. Here are mine.

1. When someone says, "I'm bad with names."

If you say this, shame on you. Have you ever noticed that EVERYONE says this? Did God place a genetic defect in 99 percent of the human race that makes people psychologically unable to remember a person's name? No. He didn't. People are bad with names because either they are not really listening when someone tells them their name, or they are not intentionally trying to remember the name. To anyone who claims this lame untruth, when someone tells you his name, say to yourself (silently of course), "His name is John. John is his name. People call him John." Notice something unique about John. Associate John with another John you know. You will be amazed that suddenly you are not so bad with names anymore.

2. When a friend has a blog or any new contact information, and they don't tell me.

How am I supposed to get ahold of this person? How am I supposed to read their thoughts and share in their virtual ponderings? When someone does this to me, I feel unloved. That's the bottom line.

3. Usage of the (not really a) word, "irregardless."

This is my number one pet peeve of all time. "Irregardless" is not a word. It does not appear in the dictionary. When I spell checked this blog entry, the spell checker highlighted all occurrences of it. The word is just "regardless." I had an English teacher who used this supposed word all the time. An English teacher! It was too disheartening for words. I judge anyone who utters this word.

But of course, kind reader, you do none of these things. Thank you for being so considerate.