Pet peeves and aggravations

There are certain things in human society and in everyday life that strike deeper and more noticeable than others. While I am able to maintain my composure and "keep cool" when faced with some of them, there are, however, others that grind at my bones! I am talking about those small things that each and every one of us get worked up or annoyed at, like leaving the toilet seat up, forgetting to put the cap back on the tube of toothpaste or some such inanity. We all have them, and I think we all will agree that some are worse than others - at least to the person affected by them.

I am no different; I have several. So, as an example I can tell you that I like symmetry. I appreciate, for instance, having the various glasses in our cupboards lined up and sorted according to type, shape and size. It does not only look better in my opinion, it's also more practical to keep the same kinds of glasses grouped together. However, if I find that a glass is misplaced, or the lines are messed up I am able to deal with it rationally and calmly, and then I will sort it out. But I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me, it's just that I am able to handle that particular grievance. And of course, that's how it should be. It doesn't do to fly off the handle at every minor annoyance or niggle, no, we rise above them in a magnanimous way.

However, there are a couple of other ... annoyances ... that I simply am just about unable to deal with, and which has me grinding my teeth in discomfort and revulsion. I am referring to people who talk with food in their mouths, and people who chew with their mouths open - or worst of all; people who talk while chewing food at the same time. There is absolutely no conceivable situation in which this is acceptable, and personally I find it to be nothing short of revolting.

There is this one guy at work, for instance, who has a tendency to do this - loudly and without inhibition, and particularly whilst standing behind me in my office. He will barge in with a sandwich in one hand and chewing with his mouth open whilst at the same time talking unabashedly at me, spraying saliva and bits of food that invariably escape this person's considerable gravitational field and the pit that is this man's mouth. And there I'm sitting, trapped by the bulk and shade of what is definitely neither a moon nor a space station, but a man whose bombastic demeanor and repulsive eating habits has repeatedly had me on the verge of projectile vomiting. No, by the way, I am not exaggerating.

How is it that some people find this kind of disgusting behaviour to be acceptable? Or is it just me? Do you think I'm overly sensitive, or that my expectations of certain standards of class from my fellow human beings are unrealistic?


Footnote of completely unrelated origin: I also collect words. The word of the day is: Pandiculation - the act of stretching oneself.